Athletes from the national chess team from Turkmenistan won 4 medals in the first Turkic Teams Chess Championships among men and women (Turkic Teams Chess Championships 2026) and the Turkic Youth U16 Chess Olympiad 2026, which were held in Astana from May 14 to 17.

Seven national teams participated in the tournaments: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan (hosts, with two teams in each tournament), Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, and Uzbekistan. Teams consisted of four players, one substitute, and a captain. The time control was the "new classic" 45+30 (45 minutes per game with a 30-second increment per move).

Thirteen grandmasters and 18 international masters participated in the men's tournament. The leaders of the Turkmenistan team were grandmasters Saparmyrat Atabayev (FIDE rating 2471) and Meilis Annaberdiev (FIDE rating 2425). In the men's competition, teams from Kazakhstan took first and second place, while Azerbaijan took third.

Saparmurat Atabaev took 3rd place on the first board.

In the women's team match, the team from Azerbaijan defended first place. The women's team from Turkmenistan took a respectable fifth place with 6 points.

Lala Shokhradova (Turkmenistan) also finished third on the first board.

Rejepova Jahan (Turkmenistan) - 2nd place on the third board.

In the youth tournament, Turkmen chess player Dilber Khupbyeva showed a good result on the fourth board, taking 3rd place.

The tournaments were organized by FIDE, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kazakhstan Chess Federation (Kazchess), the Kazakh National Sports University, and the Astana City Administration. The general partner was Freedom Holding Corp.

The finalization of the Turkic Chess Association (TCA) also continued during these tournaments. Vepa Myalikgulyev, Chairman of the Turkmenistan Chess Federation, actively participated in working meetings and discussions on the TCA's strategic development. As a reminder, the Turkmenistan Chess Federation, along with the national federations of Kazakhstan, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, signed a memorandum establishing the Turkic Chess Association (TCA) last October.