On December 13, the first-ever Turkic-Speaking Countries Chess Championship, organized under the auspices of the Union of Turkic-Speaking Countries, concluded in the Turkish city of Gaziantep. The competition, held at the “Müzeyen Erkül” Science Center, brought together young chess players from six countries in the region.

The tournament, held in the under-16 age category, involved teams from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, as well as three teams from the host country – Türkiye 1, Türkiye 2 and Türkiye – Gaziantep.

The Turkmenistan team finished fifth overall. Turkmen chess players Gurbanmyrat Rustemov and Mahri Agamyradova made the greatest contributions to the team's performance. Following the tournament, Gurbanmyrat Rustemov increased his international rating by 73,6 points.

The Azerbaijani team won the championship, the second place according to additional indicators went to the Uzbekistan team, and the third place was taken by the Turkish team 1.

A meeting of the heads of chess federations of Turkic-speaking countries took place alongside the competition. The agenda included issues of institutional development and the prospects for establishing a Turkic Chess Association. Participants discussed expanding cooperation, organizing joint tournaments, and implementing programs to develop chess in the region.

Dr. Mirvohid Azimov, Deputy Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States, and Mustafa Barış Öztürk, Head of the Department for Relations with International Organizations of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Türkiye, took part in the General Assembly.

The organizers noted that holding the first Turkic-Speaking Countries Chess Championship was an important step toward consolidating the chess community and developing interstate cooperation within the Turkic world.