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24 years old Turkmen chess player Saparmurat Atabayev won the title of international grandmaster, winning the “Rokirovka 2023 Masters” chess festival held in Tashkent, reports the publication “Turkmenistan: Golden Age”.
62 chess players from 6 countries took part in the Swiss system competition, including 3 international grandmasters, 5 international masters and 5 FIDE masters.
After a victory in the sixth round over his main competitor, American Timur Gareyev (rating 2570), Atabayev became the sole leader, gaining 6 points. In the last three games he added another 1,5 points and finished the tournament with a score of 7,5 out of 9 possible points. Gareyev scored the same amount, but according to additional indicators, Saparmurat took first place. The bronze medalist was the Tajik master Muhammad Husenhojayev.
Before the start of the tournament, Atabayev’s rating was 2497 points. Over 9 rounds, he scored 7 rating points, which permitted him to overcome the 2500 bar and receive the title of international grandmaster. Now there are 10 active grandmasters in Turkmenistan.
Last year, the country's eighth grandmaster was the multiple champion of Turkmenistan, Meylis Annaberdyev. At the beginning of this year, Saparmurat’s cousin, Yusup Atabayev, received this coveted title.