From December 21 to 29, the Turkmenistan Junior Chess Championship for U20s was held at the Ashgabat Chess and Checkers School. The tournament was held in three formats: classical, rapid, and blitz chess. Sixty-two chess players—27 girls and 35 boys—representing various regions of the country participated in the competition.
In the classical chess (90-minute time control with a 30-second increment per move) category, three of the tournament’s leading contenders competed for the gold medal in the girls’ category: the Shokhradova sisters, Lala and Leyla, and the rising young star of Turkmen chess, Jahan Rejepova.
Having drawn with her main competitors but won all her remaining games, Lala Shokhradova, a student in the Language Training Department at the Yagshygeldi Kakayev International University of Oil and Gas and a Women’s FIDE Master, took first place with 10 points out of 11. Half a point behind the leader, the younger Shokhradova sister, Leyla (Women’s FIDE Master), also a student in the same department at the same university, won the silver medal. Rounding out the top three was the reigning national women’s champion, a schoolgirl from the Lebap velayat and Women’s FIDE Master, Jahan Rejepova, who scored 9 points out of 11.
In the junior category, as expected, the tournament’s top favorite, Amanmuhammet Khommadov, a second-year student at the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Education and Sports and a FIDE Master, won with 9 points out of 11. Ilkhan Charyev, a school student from the Lebap region, and Akhmet Gubatayev, a first-year student at the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Education and Sports and a FIDE Candidate Master, each scored eight points, winning the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
In the girls’ rapid chess competition, Lala Shokhradova won the silver medal, Jahan Rejepova took the silver, and Myahri Agamuradova, a student at Sports School No. 13 in the Lebap region, won the bronze medal. Amanmukhammet Khommadov won the youth rapid chess tournament, with Serdar Bayramov taking second and Azim Saryev taking third.
In the girls’ blitz chess competition, Leyla Shokhradova won the gold medal, Lala Shokhradova took the silver, and Myahri Agamuradova again took the bronze. Shageldi Kurbandurdyev won the boys’ blitz tournament, with Amanmuhammet Khommadov taking second place and Ilkhan Charyev taking third.
Following the championship’s results, the winners and runners-up earned the right to represent Turkmenistan at upcoming international junior competitions, including the World Classic Chess Championship in Peru. Results from the rapid and blitz tournaments will be taken into account when forming the expanded national team.
The Chess Federation of Turkmenistan expresses its sincere gratitude to the tournament’s partners and sponsors—Turkmen Congress, Duwmejik, Orient, Bulvar, Export Hyzmat, and Kuşt Älemi—for their comprehensive support and significant contribution to the organization and successful completion of the competition. Thanks to your support, conditions are being created for the development of children’s and youth chess and the discovery of new talent.
