Chess player from Turkmenistan Saparmurat Atabayev, who was awarded the title of international master, won a landslide victory at the 1st Neyshekar tournament, held from October 5 to 11 in the Iranian city of Ahvaz. Having scored 7.5 points out of 9 possible, Saparmurat was ahead of his closest pursuer, Iranian grandmaster Masoud Musadehpour, by 2 points.
According to the Chess Federation of Turkmenistan, in addition to the first place in the tournament, Saparmurat also managed to fulfill the second norm of an international grandmaster. Thanks to his successful performances, he moved to first place among Turkmen chess players in the FIDE rating list with a current rating of 2477.
Saparmurat's elder brother, the famous grandmaster Maksat Atabayev, was a little unlucky - he finished fourth with 4.5 points.
The tournament, which was held in a round-robin format with the participation of 10 chess players, featured 3 grandmasters, 4 international masters, 1 FIDE master and 2 national masters from Iran.
In the future, Saparmurat intends to prepare for the upcoming World Championship in rapid and blitz chess, which will take place at the end of the year and will host the elite of world chess, including the leader of the world rating list, Magnus Carlsen.
