Turkmen chess player Allayar Shirliyev took first place in the Open A category at the 32nd International Chess Festival in Abu Dhabi, held from 15 to 24 August. The 22-year-old Master Candidate from Ashgabat scored 8 points out of a possible 9, according to the news agency Orient.

A. Shirliyev started as the seventh seed with a FIDE rating of 2184. By the end of the tournament, he had finished ahead of, amongst others, International Masters Bashir Eiti from Syria and Richilieu III Salcedo from the Philippines. His international rating rose by 40.6 points.

The festival was organised by the Abu Dhabi Chess Club. Meanwhile, international grandmasters Daniil Dubov, David Paravyan and Pa Iniyan competed in the Masters tournament.

Shirliyev’s success was the latest achievement by Turkmen chess players in August. Earlier, Lala Shohradova won the rapid event and took silver in the blitz at the Asian Junior Chess Championship in Mumbai. The Turkmenistan national team also won 16 medals at the Central and North Asian Chess Championship in Kyrgyzstan.