A 23-years-old international master from Turkmenistan Saparmurat Atabaev become the winner of the International chess tournament Çeşme Open, held in Turkish Izmir. The “Turkmenistan: Golden Age” website reports it.

In the traditional competition took part 48 chess players from 9 countries. 5 international grandmasters, 3 international masters and 15 FIDE masters are among them.

Turkmenistan was presented by the international grandmasters Meylis Annaberdyev and Hanjar Ovezov, also an international master Saparmurat Atabaev.

The competition was conducted in 9 rounds with a classic time schedule.

Saparmurat Atabaev took the first place with 8 points out of 9 possible. 6.5 points were scored by Meylis Annaberdyev, who closed the top three. Hanjar Odeev took the fifth place with 6 points.

For the first time Saparmurat Atabaev made himself known in 2015 when at the age of 13 took a first place on the third board at the Youth Olympiad under 16 years old in Istanbul. He is an acting champion of Turkmenistan. He was honored with this title by winning a Major League Tournament in 2019. Before that, Saparmurat multiple times won national championships among young people. He is a participant of two latest Worldwide Chess Olympiads which were held in 2016 and 2018 correspondingly in Baku and Batumi. Last year S.Atabaev graduated from the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports with a degree in chess coach.

For Saparmurat Atabaev and Meylis Annaberdyev, the current tournament in Izmir has become a good preparation for the upcoming 44th World Chess Olympiad, which will be held from July 28 to August 10, 2022 in Chennai (India). This is a team tournament for teams that are members of the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

The World Chess Olympiad was held in 1927 for the first time in London. From 1950 the competitions are held in the format of two-years cycle. The last such tournament was held in 2018 in Georgia.