History is being made right before our eyes: young Turkmen chess players secured a series of victories at the Central and Northern Asian Youth Chess Championship (ages 8 to 20), setting a new national record for the total number of medals won.
The championship took place from 30 June to 9 July 2026 on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan. The participating countries included Kazakhstan (122 athletes), Kyrgyzstan (188), Russia (54), Tajikistan (11), Turkmenistan (19), and Uzbekistan (85)—totaling 479 athletes from 6 nations.
Classical Chess (Standard)
In the classical tournament, Turkmen athletes won 6 medals: 1 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze. The competitions were held over 9 rounds under the Swiss system, with a time control of 90 minutes plus a 30-second increment per move.
- Gold Medal (U10): Won by the young Byagul Jumaeva (rating 1597), a 4th-grade student at Secondary School No. 2 of the Danev etrap, Lebap velayat (born in 2017). She scored 8 points and increased her rating by 67.6 points.
Silver Medals:
- Annamuhammed Hommadov (rating 2396, U20 category) – A 3rd-year student at the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports and a trainee of the Specialized Chess and Checkers School of Ashgabat. He scored 6 points and raised his rating by 13.2 points.
- Lala Shokhradova (rating 2153, G20 category) – A student at the Yagshigeldy Kakaev International University of Oil and Gas. She scored 6.5 points and increased her rating by 6.2 points.
Bronze Medals:
- Meryem Rustamova (rating 1585, G8 category) – A 3rd-grade student at Specialized School No. 41 in Turkmenabat, Lebap velayat (born in 2018). She scored 7 out of a possible 9 points.
- Dilber Khupbyeva (rating 1889, G12 category) – A student at the 7th Specialized Foreign Language School in Dashoguz. She scored 6.5 points.
- Jahan Rejepova (rating 2084, G16 category) – An 11th-grade student at Specialized School No. 41 in Turkmenabat, Lebap velayat. She scored 6 points.
Notable performances: A. Khammadov and M. Rustamova were both on track for gold medals but fell just short due to bad luck. Khammadov missed out on first place solely because of tie-break criteria. He tied in main points with a player from Kazakhstan, but his opponent edged ahead in one of the final tie-break metrics. Such occurrences are rare, and Khammadov unfortunately found himself on the losing side of it.
M. Rustamova held a confident lead throughout the tournament, but a loss in the decisive game prevented her from taking the gold. Two other Turkmen representatives finished just a step away from the podium, placing fourth due to tie-break results.
The full tournament results can be viewed via this link: Chess-Results
Blitz Tournament
The Blitz competition took place on 8 July. Following the tournament, chess players from Turkmenistan secured 5 medals: 2 silver and 3 bronze.
2nd Place (Silver):
- Ali Akhmedov (U14 category) – A 9th-grade student at Specialized Secondary School No. 49 in Ashgabat, with an advanced focus on English and mathematics.
- Shageldy Kurbandurdyev (U18 category) – A 12th-grade student at Secondary School No. 31 of the Danev etrap, Lebap velayat.
3rd Place (Bronze):
- Meryem Rustamova (G8 category).
- Dilber Khupbyeva (G12 category).
- Nazar Narimanov (U12 category) – A 7th-grade student at Specialized Secondary School No. 41 in Turkmenabat, Lebap velayat.
Summary of Success
As previously reported, Turkmen chess players also claimed 5 medals (2 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze) in the Rapid discipline.
In total across all tournaments in Kyrgyzstan (Rapid, Classical, and Blitz), Turkmen athletes brought home 16 medals: 3 gold, 6 silver, and 7 bronze. This marks an absolute record for the highest number of medals won within a single championship in the entire history of chess in Turkmenistan.
The participation of Turkmen athletes in the championship was organized under the auspices of the Chess Federation of Turkmenistan, with the support of the State Committee of Turkmenistan for Physical Culture and Sports.///Chess Federation of Turkmenistan