The first stage of the new chess tournament, the Turkmenistan Grand Prix, which ended in the capital's Chess and Checkers School, brought together 130 participants.

It was established by the National Chess Federation to provide chess players from all over the country with playing practice, diversify the options for getting into the major league, and popularise chess among the general population.

The new tournament is a series of six stages covering all five velayats and the capital of Turkmenistan. By participating in each of them, chess players will score points that are important for the overall standings. The final stage will be held in the capital. Based on its results, the winners in the open and women's categories will receive direct tickets to the 2026 Turkmenistan Major League, where the national team will be formed to participate in international competitions.

At the Ashgabat stage, 86 participants in the open category and 44 in the women's category fought for the title of the strongest.

In the open category, where women have been allowed and even encouraged to participate on an equal basis with men in recent years, the student of the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Education and Sports Amanmuhammet Hommadov (rating 2251) won. Having won 7 games and drawn 2, the student of the honoured coach of Turkmenistan Serdar Annaberdiyev scored 8 points.

Four chess players were 1 point behind the winner, whose fate was decided by the coefficients. As a result, silver went to a student of the International University of Oil and Gas Lale Shohradova (rating 2137), and bronze to a student of Secondary School №31 of Turkmenabat Serdar Bayramov (rating 1998).

The champion of the 2025 Higher League in the women's category Jahan Rejepova scored 6.5 points and took 7th place.

The winner in the women's category was a 12th-grader of Ashgabat Secondary School №17 Enesh Arazmedova (FIDE rating - 1811), who last year won a small gold medal in the «C» category at the World Chess Olympiad in Budapest as part of the Turkmenistan national team.  Despite the fact that Enesh started the competition as the sixth seed, she outpaced her more experienced rivals with a score of 7.5 points, increasing her rating by 96 points. E. Arazmedova trains under the guidance of Serdar Annaberdiyev.

Second place with 7 points was taken by Gulmira Seyilhanova, an 11th-grader from Turkmenabat Secondary School №41 (rating 1926).

Four chess players scored 6.5 points, but the bronze medal for additional indicators went to FIDE Master Candidate Bagul Ezizova (rating 1939), who is also currently training with Serdar Annaberdiev.

It is also worth noting the performance of young chess players, who competed with dignity with their older opponents. Among the cadets, Aya Bayramova (6th place, 6.5 points), Nurana Soyunova (7th place, 6 points) and Dilber Hupbyyeva (9th place, 6 points) distinguished themselves. N. Soyunova was especially impressive, improving her rating by 126 points. The head coach of the women's team of Turkmenistan, Shahruh Turayev, has high hopes for the future performances of these girls in international tournaments.

The Ashgabat stage of the Grand Prix tournament was organized with the support of the «Küşt Älem»i Chess Academy, the TurkmenExpo company, the Belle application and other partners of the SFT.  

Let us remind that one of its striking innovations was the introduction of online broadcasting of games in real time, which was a real step forward for chess in Turkmenistan. In test mode, 7 boards were presented in the open category and 3 boards in the women's category. This became possible thanks to cooperation with the Dutch company DGT - a manufacturer of specialised chess equipment and the leading Turkmen IT company «Imdat Elektronika». 

The next stage of the Turkmenistan Grand Prix chess tournament is planned to be held in May of this year in the Balkan velayat.