Turkmen chess player Saparmyrat Atabayev has won the 2nd International Chess Tournament "AL-BERUNIY" (Futures), which took place from February 3rd to 11th in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The 25-year-old international master, with a FIDE rating of 2516, scored 7 points out of a possible 9.

He shared first place with Indian Grandmaster Pa Iniyan (FIDE rating 2523), who also scored 7 points. However, Atabayev was able to defeat his opponent from India in the decisive tie-break. The bronze medal of the tournament was won by Belarusian Grandmaster Mikhail Nikitenko (FIDE rating 2512).

The tournament was held in a round-robin system with classical time control and brought together the strongest chess players, including grandmasters and FIDE masters, from Uzbekistan, India, Russia, Sweden, Belarus and other countries.

This victory at the tournament allowed Saparmurat Atabayev to fulfill the necessary last (third) norm for присвоения звания международного гроссмейстера. The official decision will be made at a meeting of the Council of the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

Saparmurat's mentor is the honored coach of Turkmenistan Aydogdy Atabayev.

ORIENT