Chess conquers the Balkans with the support of “Dragon Oil”
The largest-scale chess tournament in the history of the Balkan region was held from 23 to 25 August in the city of Hazar (Cheleken). The open tournament, which gathered 32 participants, including children, women and simply chess enthusiasts, was organized by “Dragon Oil” (UAE) with the assistance of the Chess Federation of Turkmenistan.
The winner of the tournament was the candidate master of sports Shahrukh Turayev (Dashoguz), who managed to score 7 points out of 7 possible. Schoolchildren Davut Meredov (Ashgabat) and Serdar Kabekhanov (Mary) scored 5.5 points each and took the 2nd and 3rd places respectively. The winners, young participants and female representatives were presented with valuable gifts from the company “Dragon Oil”.
At the requests of thelocal tournament participants, the tournament winner Shahrukh Turayev also held a simultaneous game session, i.e. played with five opponents simultaneously within the allotted time. The coach of the women's national team won with a score of 4.5 to 0.5 points, but this did not spoil the mood of local fans of the ancient game, who rarely get a chance to play with the master.
Director of the first professional chess academy in Turkmenistan “Kuşt Älemi” Gurbangeldi Amangeldiyev, who, incidentally, is himself a pupil of the Balkan chess school, acted as the main arbiter of the tournament.
In the course of the tournament, he also managed to hold talks with potential local chess coaches. According to the plan of representatives of “Dragon Oil” Company, the “Kuşt Älemi” Academy and Chess Federation of Turkmenistan, the first children's chess club is soon to appear in the coastal city of Hazar.
The chess tournament itself is intended to become traditional and annually gather not only Hazar amateurs, but also the best chess players of the country, according to “Dragon Oil” representatives.
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