International chess master Saparmyrat Atabayev won the chess festival "Castling–2023 Masters", held from December 5 to December 9 in the Uzbek capital. Tournament It was held according to the Swiss system in 9 rounds and gathered 62 participants from 6 countries.

Having received 6 points at the end of 6 rounds, Saparmyrat beat his main competitor, international grandmaster from the USA Timur Gareev, thus gaining the championship in the tournament. The American chess player took the second step of the podium, and the third place went to the young master from Tajikistan, Muhammad Khusenkhodzhaev.

It is worth noting that this is not the only achievement of the Turkmen chess player at the Tashkent festival. Having an international rating of 2,497 points by the beginning of the tournament, Saparmyrat rose by another 7 points at the end of 9 rounds, thus crossing the threshold of 25 hundred points and fulfilling the last requirement for becoming a grandmaster. It is expected that at the next congress of the Council of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) he will be officially awarded the highest chess title. Thus, the 24-year-old chess player will become the tenth international grandmaster in Turkmen history.

Earlier this year, his cousin Yusup Atabayev received the grandmaster title, and last year, the ranks of the country's titled chess players were joined by the multiple champion of Turkmenistan Meylis Annaberdiyev. Earlier, in 2015, Saparmurat's older brother, Maksat Atabayev, became a grandmaster.

ORIENT news