Boys and girls in Uzbekistan

Known as the "Garden of Uzbekistan" surrounded by Tjan-Shan and Pamir Mountains and crossed by the Syr-Darya and Naryn rivers, the Fergana Valley is the most picturesque oasis in Central Asia.

In the centre of the valley is the city of Fergana. Just a small village only two hundred years ago, it developed into a political center in the time of Russian expansion in Central Asia and played a significant role in the "Great Game", a rivalry between the Russian and British Empires for domination of Asia.

The province of Fergana includes two oldest Central Asian Towns – Margilan and Kokand, which still retain their traditional medieval silhouette.

The palace of XIX century Kokand Khan Khudayarkhan

The social life in Fergana is a fascinating combination of western and traditional Uzbek cultures. Along with the modern restaurants, hotels and night clubs, you can see oriental bazaars, old historical buildings and craftsmen's shops.

Entrance to oriental bazaar

Since the Silk Road era, Fergana has been known for its silk and pottery.

A woman working with silk thread

Samples of Uzbek silk


A potter in his shop

Ceramic pieces of Fergana

Nowadays, famous for its beautiful landscapes and ancient history, Fergana is home to a variety of industrial and agricultural enterprises as well as to numerous cultural events. And various local and international chess tournaments have become an inseparable part of Fergana's cultural life in the recent years.

One of the most important recent chess events was Asian Under 16 Boys and Girls Championship, held 21-30 April. On the one hand, the Uzbek Chess Federation and Fergana municipality made their best to properly organize the event. But on the other hand, it was a little disappointment both for the organizers and chess fans because many countries failed to send their players. We were expecting to see some strong players from India, but they didn't turn up, probably because they were all busy in All-India chess tournament. A girl from Afghanistan was also expected to, but didn't come for unknown reason. Her coming would be very important for popularization of chess in Afghanistan, where it was forbidden in the Taliban regime. There was no one from China because of fears with the SARS outbreak. But in general, the championship was very well organized, the venue, the hotel and all other conditions were excellent.

All the players and coaches stayed in the Ziyarat hotel

The venue of the tournament was the Army Officers' House located right in the centre of the city.

Army Officers' House

The writing at the entrance reads: Greetings to the participants of Asian Under 16 Boys and Girls Chess Championship

The playing hall

The board of arbiters at work

In the girls section, Hoang Thi Bao Tram of Vietnam took clear first with impressive 8.5 out of 9 points. The most noticeable game was played by two co-leaders in round 5, which was very lucky a game for the will-be champion:

Dauletova,G (2010) – Hoang Thi Bao Tram (2152) [B43] Asia2003 U-16G (5), 25.04.2003: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.Nc3 Qc7 7.0-0 Be7 8.Be3 d6 9.a4 b6 10.f4 Nbd7 11.Nb3 Bb7 12.Qe2 0-0 13.g4 Nc5 14.Nxc5 bxc5 15.g5 c4 16.gxf6 cxd3 17.cxd3 Bxf6 18.a5 Bxc3 19.Rfc1 Qd7 20.Rxc3 d5 21.Bc5 Rfc8 22.Rac1 dxe4 23.dxe4 f5 24.Rd1 Qf7 25.e5 Qg6+ 26.Rg3 Qe8 27.b4 Be4 28.Kf2 Rc7 29.Rd6 Rc6 30.Rh3 Qg6 31.Rg3 Qh6 32.Ke3 Rxd6 33.exd6 e5 34.Qf2 Re8 35.d7 Rd8 36.Qa2+ Kh8 37.Qf7 exf4+ 38.Ke2 Qxh2+

39.Kd1?? Here Bf2 would be a complete win for White. This is what the time trouble does! 39...Qc2+ 40.Ke1 Qc1+ 41.Ke2 f3+ 42.Kf2 Qd2+ 43.Kg1 f2+ 44.Bxf2 Qd1+ 0-1. [Click here to replay the game]

Hoang Thi Bao Tram (left)

Final standings of CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP ASIA GIRLS U-16 FERGANA 2003

No.  Pno.  Name                Score  Wp    Sb    Ps    Rat. Tpr  W-We
---------------------------------------------------------------------
  1.   2  Hoang Thi Bao Tram 	8.5  44.0  40.75  41.0  2152 2456 +2.29
  2.   7  Khamrakulova Yulduz	6.5  45.5  30.00  30.5  2000 2189 +2.27
  3    5  Dauletova Gulmira   	6.5  43.0  26.25  33.5  2010 2188 +2.18
  4.   9  Kim Tatyana        	6.0  44.0  21.75  28.0  2000 2128 +1.40
  5   11  Nodirjanova Nodira 	6.0  42.0  20.25  25.5  2000 2120 +1.24
  6.   3  Tilenbaeva Janyl    	5.5  43.5  19.75  31.5  2085 2092 +0.10
  7.  14  Tohirjanova Hulkar 	5.0  41.0  12.50  24.5  2000 2020 +0.24
  8.   4  Ergasheva Sarvinos  	4.5  44.0  13.50  24.0  2015 1977 -0.42
  9   13  Turdialieva Tahmina	4.5  41.0  14.75  24.5  2000 1972 -0.34
 10.  15  Djumabayeva Akerke  	4.0  37.0   7.25  21.0  1946 1925 -0.28
 11.   8  Kim Irina           	3.0  34.5   7.75  16.0  2000 1843 -1.60
 12.   6  Antonova Nadejda    	2.5  41.0   4.00  15.5  2000 1761 -2.34
 13.  12  Norhodjaeva Nazira  	1.5  35.0   1.75   8.5  2000 1563 -3.42
 14.  10  Nasseri Soria       	0.0  37.5  16.00   0.0  2000 1408 -0.38
 15    1  Zhang Xiao-Wen       	0.0  34.5  16.00   0.0  2241 1323 -0.80

In the boys section, Rauan Mankeev of Kazakhstan became the champion beating
his main rival Timur Gareev of Uzbekistan in round 5 and will be awarded the
title of FIDE Master.

Champion Rauan Mankeev, runners up Alavi and Timur

I thought for many hours trying to select the most beautiful game in boys section and decided that the vice-champion Sayed Alavi's (Iran) game played in round 8 would be a very nice example of kingside attack and a useful lesson for beginners.

Alavi,J (2276) – Kairbekov,R (2133) [B29]: Asia2003 U-16 B (8), 28.04.2003: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 e6 6.c4 Nc6 7.Qe4 f5 8.Qe2 Nde7 9.h4 Ng6 10.Bd2 Qc7 11.Bc3 d6 12.exd6 Bxd6 13.g3 0-0 14.Bg2 f4 15.g4 Nce5 16.Nbd2 Nxg4 17.h5 Ne7 18.Ne4 Nc6 19.h6 Nxh6 20.Rxh6 gxh6 21.Nxd6 Qxd6 22.Ne5 Nxe5 23.Bxe5 Qe7 24.Be4 Qg5 25.f3 Qg1+ 26.Kd2 Qe3+ 27.Qxe3 fxe3+ 28.Kxe3 Rf7 29.Rg1+ Kf8 30.Bd6+ Ke8 31.Rg8+ Kd7 32.Be5 a5 33.c5 a4 1-0. [Click here to replay the game]

Many young learners of chess will think it was too early for Black to resign, but it is not! This position is a very good example for chess coaches to explain to children the power of two bishops.

Final standings of CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP ASIA BOYS U-16 FERGANA 2003

No.  PNo.  Name                 Score WP    SB    PS    rat. TPR  W-We
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  1.   3  Mankeyev Rauan        8.0  49.5  43.00  38.5  2232 2469 +2.06
  2.   2  Alavi,Sayed Javad     7.0  48.5  36.00  36.0  2276 2333 +0.52
  3.   1  Gareev Timur          6.5  45.5  27.50  33.5  2449 2239 -1.69
  4.   6  Sydykov A             6.0  49.0  30.25  34.0  2148 2231 +0.96
  5   15  Turdialiev Hurshid    6.0  46.0  26.00  30.0  2000 2244 +2.94
  6.  14  Khamrakulov Djurabek 	5.5  45.5  22.25  28.0  2000 2236 +2.89
  7.  22  Yashin Aleksey        5.0  45.0  19.50  27.5  2000 2168 +2.03
  8   10  Al-Sulaiti,Ghanem     5.0  44.0  21.75  25.5  2056 2112 +0.68
  9    5  Nasri,A               5.0  38.0  15.50  22.5  2196 2023 -1.84
 10.  20  Toshtemirov Olim      4.5  46.5  17.50  25.0  2000 2122 +1.53
 11   17  Rezin Ruslan          4.5  36.0  12.00  17.0  2000 1988 -0.16
 12.   7  Kairbekov Rustam      4.0  39.0  13.00  20.0  2133 2035 -1.22
 13   18  Son Andrey            4.0  38.5  13.25  21.0  2000 2012 +0.12
 14   19  Mirboboev Farhad      4.0  37.0  11.75  18.5  2000 1987 -0.20
 15   13  Do Quang Tung         4.0  36.5  10.50  20.0  2000 2092 +1.12
 16    8  Alaguzov Maksat       4.0  33.0  13.00  19.5  2112 1980 -1.58
 17    9  Al-Marri,Omar         4.0  29.5  11.00  18.5  2099 1975 -1.49
 18.  16  Rakhimov Furkat       3.5  41.5  15.00  22.0  2000 1980 -0.28
 19   21  Tyukaev Ilgiz         3.5  37.5  11.50  18.0  2000 1928 -0.70
 20.  11  Al-Obaidli,Rashid     2.5  34.5   4.75  11.5  2048 1800 -2.50
 21   12  Al-Sulaiti,Fahad      2.5  32.5   6.00   8.5  2000 1840 -1.54
 22.   4  Wang Hao              0.0  38.0  16.00   0.0  2215 1323 -0.77