For the second year in our country, regional qualifying stages for the national chess championship have been held. According to the results of each stage, 10 best chess players from each region will be selected to participate in the I League of the 2025 Championship of Turkmenistan.

The Dashoguz stage will start on 21 October and will be held in the 4th sports school of Dashoguz and will last until 25 October. The next stage will be held in Ashgabat from 28 October to 1 November, which will also include selections for the Balkan and Ahal velayats. Then, from 4 to 8 November, there will be a Lebap velayat stage, which will be held in the sports school №13 in Turkmenabat. The final Mary qualifier will be held from 11 to 15 November at the 1st city sports school.

Sixty-nine participants have already registered for the Dashoguz tournament 18 of them for the women's section. It is indicative that last year only 4 players with FIDE classical chess rating participated in the same tournament in the northern region, while the number of local holders of the prestigious international rating has increased to 20 this year.

“Holding qualifying stages and in general more tournaments in each of the velayats is a deliberate policy of the Chess Federation, as not every chess player has the opportunity to come to the capital. Thus, talented chess youth in remote areas have a chance and motivation to show their skills and pass through all the qualifying stages for possible entry into the national team”, - says the Chairman of the Chess Federation Vepa Myalikgulyev.

Moreover, all those wishing to participate from other regions of the country can also take part in all other stages of the selection process, but without the right to qualify for the next stage from another velayat. According to Mergen Kakabayev, the Secretary General of the Chess Federation, “this allows young chess players to gain intensive tournament practice during these two months without having to travel abroad”.

At the stage of the I League, which is scheduled for early 2025, the chess players selected through velayats will be joined by the holders of the title of “candidate for master of sports” and higher for men and having the 1st category and higher for women, who will compete in one tournament under the Swiss system for three tickets to the Higher League of the Championship of Turkmenistan in 2025.

The first four places of the previous 2024 Premier League, as well as one winner each from the recent Federation Cup (men and women), have already been awarded the right to participate in the next Premier League, which will be played in a round-robin format over two-rounds among the 8 finalists. The first five positions in the Premier League will form the men's and women's national teams for 2025.

The teams formed using the same principle in March of this year have since been training intensively and successfully participated in the 45th World Chess Olympiad in Budapest (Hungary) in September, winning gold medals in their categories (men - in category B and women - in category C), as noted by the Chess Federation of Turkmenistan.

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