Winners of the 2025 Turkmenistan Chess Federation Cup announced

Twenty-year-old Master of Sport Vepaly Halynyazov emerged as the winner of the 2025 Turkmenistan Chess Federation Cup. The student of the Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Construction achieved this success by winning the 11-round Swiss-system tournament with a classical time control, held in Ashgabat.

The third edition of the TCF Cup brought together 444 chess players from Ashgabat and all velayats at the Specialized Chess and Checkers School, reflecting the growing interest in chess throughout the country. Of these, 81 players competed in Category “A” with a FIDE rating of 1700 and above, while 363 players competed in Category “B” with a lower rating.

Over 11 games, Vepaly scored 9 points, which increased his rating by 22.2 points and solidified his status as one of the leaders of national chess.

Vepaly Halynyazov is a graduate of the Lebap Chess School, but he currently trains at the Ashgabat Specialized Chess and Checkers School under coach Aynur Isayeva.

Just half a point behind the winner was Ahmet Gubatayev, a student of the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports, who increased his rating by 20.6 points. Ahmet is also a student of the Ashgabat Specialized Chess and Checkers School.

The top three was rounded out by last year’s TCF Cup winner, Amanmukhammet Hommadov, also a student of the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports, who scored 8.5 points. He lost second place to A. Gubatayev on tiebreaks but still managed to increase his rating by 3.6 points. Amanmukhammet, too, is a student of the Ashgabat Specialized Chess and Checkers School.

Among the female players, who competed in the same group as the men, the best result was achieved by 18-year-old Woman Candidate Master Leyla Shohradova from Lebap velayat, who scored 7.5 points. She studies at the Yagshygeldi Kakayev International University of Oil and Gas and currently trains at the Ashgabat Specialized Chess and Checkers School under the guidance of experienced coach Serdar Annaberdiyev.

Second place among the women went to Gulmira Seyilkhanova, a student of Specialized School No. 41 in Turkmenabat, with 7 points, while third place went to 15-year-old promising chess player from Lebap velayat, Jahan Rejepova, the 2024 TCF Cup winner, who scored 6.5 points.

In addition to medals, the main tournament of the Federation Cup (Category “A”) also offered qualification spots for the 2026 Turkmenistan Higher League. These were earned by Leyla Shohradova and Ahmet Gubatayev. The latter qualified for the top tier because Vepaly Halynyazov, who finished ahead of him, already possessed a Higher League qualification.

In Category “B”, for players with ratings below 1700, the winner was Agajan Ybrayymov from Mary velayat, who scored 10 out of 11 points, finishing one point ahead of Myrat Ibragimov from Lebap and Mukam Ahmedov from Mary velayat, who took second and third places, respectively.

Among female players in Category “B”, the best results were achieved by Zalina Iminova, Nurana Serdarova, and Jasmin Rahmedova (a representative of the private Chess Academy “Küşt Älemi”), all scoring 8 points and taking the top three spots in that order.

After the conclusion of the classical tournament, competitions in rapid chess (quick chess) and blitz (lightning chess) were also held.

In the rapid event, the medalists were: in Category “A” – Mergen Kakabayev, Nedir Sylyyev and Amanmukhammet Hommadov; in Category “B” – Azymgeldi Japarov, Mukam Ahmedov and Zalina Iminova.

In the blitz competition, the prizes were distributed as follows: in Category “A” – Maksat Atabayev, Amanmukhammet Hommadov, and Ahmet Gubatayev; in Category “B” – Abdyrahim Ovganov, Soyench Hojayev and Ahmet Janbekov.