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Thanks to the victories of International Master Saparmyrat Atabayev and Grandmaster Meylis Annaberdiyev on the 1st and 2nd boards respectively, as well as a draw by Allayar Shirliev on the 4th board, the Turkmen national team defeated Iceland (seed number - 46; average rating - 2483) with the score 2.5 to 1.5 in the 8th round of the ongoing World Chess Olympiad in Budapest (Hungary). This victory against a team consisting of three grandmasters and one international master allowed our chess players, seeded 73rd, to move up to 55th line in the standings with 10 points out of 16 possible.

In the 9th round, on 20 September, our national team will have to play against Canada (seeding number - 50; average rating - 2468), which is in 42nd place and has made several surprises at the Olympics-2024.

The women's team (73rd seed number; average rating - 1956) met Switzerland (21st seed number; average rating - 2282), where former world champion Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk (personal rating - 2483), also nominated for the title of the best chess player in the history of chess, played at the first board in the 8th round.

The vice-champion of Turkmenistan, Lala Shohradova (personal rating – 2030), drew the game, despite having an advantage and good chances to deliver her renowned opponent’s first defeat in the tournament. According to the national team coach, Mergen Kakabayev, "in decisive moments of the game, Lala played too cautiously and missed her advantage." It is worth noting that the 18-year-old Lala demonstrated an accuracy level of 95.9 per cent, in this game, which corresponds to grandmaster standards.

Meryem Agajanova (board 2; rating – 2007) also drew her game against FIDE master Lena Georgescu (2266), but our players on boards 3 and 4, Leila Shohradova and Jahan Rejepova, unfortunately lost. Jahan made a blunder early in the opening, while Leyla, having an advantage, miscalculated on the approach to the time limit. As a result, the team lost 1:3 and dropped from 25th to 37th place in the standings, with 10 points out of 16 possible.

In the 9th round the girls will face the team of Montenegro (42nd seed number; average rating - 2142), which is currently ranked 34th in the standings. This result so far allows our girls to maintain their lead in their C category.

The Indian team continues to lead in the men's overall standings without any defeats so far. But in the women's category Indian chess players experienced their first loss to Poland, resulting in a three-way tie. India, Poland and Kazakhstan have 14 points each out of 16.

ORIENT news

Photo: TKF