More than 350 schoolchildren participated in the Turkmenistan Youth Chess Championship in classical, rapid, and blitz chess, which took place from December 16 to 22 at the Specialized Chess and Checkers School in the capital. The competitions were organized in categories up to 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, and 17 years old, in 9 rounds according to the Swiss system.

Athletes from Ashgabat, Arkadag, Ahal, Lebap, Mary, and Dashoguz regions participated in the competitions. For the first time, a team from the first private professional chess academy 'Küşt Älemi' was also registered.

According to the press service of the Chess Federation of Turkmenistan, representatives of the Lebap region performed the best, taking first place in the overall team standings with 67 medals out of a possible 108. Of these, 27 were gold.

In second place in the medal standings were schoolchildren from Ashgabat, who won 15 medals, 4 of which were gold. The Mary team took third place, also with 15 medals, but only two of them were gold. Next were the chess players from the country's first private academy 'Küşt Älemi' (6 medals, 2 of which were gold), followed by representatives of the Dashoguz region (4 medals, 1 gold) and representatives of Ahal with a single bronze.

'In addition to cups, medals, and diplomas, the winners were also awarded valuable gifts kindly provided by the sponsors of the youth tournament: the marketplace Ynamdar, the insurance company “Resmi Kepil”, the plastic products manufacturer “Innovapak”, the chess academy “Küşt Älemi”, the robotics center “ImdatBot”, the marketplace “ALSAT”, and the media platform “Orient”,' the CFT reported.

It was also noted that in 2025, the Chess Federation plans to hold more than 30 tournaments across Turkmenistan, with over 100 sets of medals to be awarded, including a new series of Grand Prix tournaments to be organized in each region of the country.