On the final round of the 46th World Chess Olympiad, which coincided with Turkmenistan’s Independence Day, the national women’s team defeated Belarus 3.5-1.5 to take second place in the “B” rating category. Overall, the Turkmen chess players finished 33rd out of 190 teams, having started with the 55th seed.
This is the second consecutive Olympic medal for the Turkmenistan women’s team. Two years ago, in Budapest, the team won gold in the “C” category. Following that success and a rise in the ratings, the team was promoted to the stronger “B” category and once again reached the podium. The battle for first place in this category continued until the final round: Turkmenistan and Croatia each scored 14 match points, and the gold went to the Croatians only through tiebreakers. The second team, Uzbekistan, took bronze.
The final two rounds proved crucial, with the team scoring 7.5 points out of a possible 8. In the 10th round, the Turkmen chess players crushed the Kyrgyz team 4-0, with victories secured by Lala Shokhradova, Leyla Shokhradova, Jahan Rejepova, and Myahri Agamuradova. In the 11th round, on September 27, the team defeated the 32nd-seeded Belarus team 3.5-1.5: Lala Shokhradova, Leyla Shokhradova, and Myahri Agamuradova won their games, while Jahan Rejepova drew.
The team’s run through the tournament began with a 4-0 victory over Liechtenstein, followed by victories over Argentina and a draw with Spain—teams seeded 27–36 places higher. The team endured a difficult stretch in rounds 7–9 against England, Turkey, and Sweden and responded with a brilliant finish.
Myahri Agamuradova showed the best result in the team: 7.5 points out of 10 on board four with a starting rating of 1939, a tournament performance of 2253, and an increase of more than 160 rating points. Following the tournament, she achieved the FIDE Women’s Master (WFM) standard and her first Women’s International Master (WIM) norm.
Leila Shokhradova (2101) made a significant contribution to the medal, scoring 7 points out of 11 on board two, including three wins in the final three rounds. Jahan Rejepova (2027) scored 5 points out of 9, Lala Shokhradova (2147), playing on board one against some of the strongest opponents, scored 4.5 out of 10, and Ogulsurai Bayrambaeva (1952) scored 3 out of 4.
Mergen Kakabaev, head coach of the women’s team at the Olympiad and Secretary General of the Turkmenistan Chess Federation, said,
“Each member of the women’s team has demonstrated their intensive progress over the past six months. The average rating of our players was between 1900 and 2100, but we knew their true strength was at least 2200. Therefore, we expected draws, if not victories, against opponents rated 2200–2300. The team confirmed this assessment and performed significantly above their seeding. Thanks to systematic training and coaching, the team approached the Olympiad in optimal playing form.”
The men’s team of Turkmenistan (seeded 65th) took 64th place among 206 teams, scoring 12 match points. The main result for the team was that Amanmukhammet Khommadov (2389), who scored 6 points out of 11, achieved his third and final International Master norm and is now a contender for the IM title. Vepaly Khalynyazov (2257) won all four games played with a tournament performance of 2966, while grandmaster Meilis Annaberdiev (2384) won four games in a row in rounds 3–6 and scored 5.5 points out of 10. Among the team’s results were a 3.5-.5 victory over Denmark (seeded 25th), draws with Slovakia and Austria, and a victory over Canada. Grandmaster Saparmurat Atabayev (2503) scored 6 points out of 11 on board one, while Shakhrukh Turayev (2222) scored 4 points out of 8. The team captain is Honored Coach of Turkmenistan Serdar Annaberdiev.
Following the Olympiad, Turkmenistan’s chess players achieved the following: Myahri Agamuradov achieved the WFM title standard and the WIM norm, while Amanmukhammet Khommadov achieved the final IM norm. The awarding of titles is approved by FIDE.
Both teams prepared for the Olympiad following a systematic program since January: daily training at the Ashgabat Chess School, training camps in Kokshetau, and a final two-week camp under the guidance of International Grandmaster Alexander Rakhmanov, organized jointly with the Kazakhstan Chess Federation as part of the Freedom Asian Chess Initiatives (FACI) program.
The Olympiad, held in Samarkand from September 15 to 27, 2026, saw a record number of participants: 206 teams in the open tournament and 190 in the women’s tournament. Uzbekistan won the open tournament at the home Olympiad, with India taking silver and Germany taking bronze. China won the women’s tournament, with Kazakhstan second and India third. Croatia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan-2 won the women’s tournament in Category B.
