The Süper Ligi, sponsored by Türkiye İş Bankası, was held this year to mark the 100th anniversary of the bank's foundation. The tournament was held at the Green Park Hotel in Ankara. The tournament started on Sunday (14 July) and ended last Friday (26 July).
16 teams qualified for the Süper Ligi and played a massive 15-round round-robin tournament. However, the withdrawal of Hatay Büyükseheir Belediyesi Genclik Spor meant that the tournament had to be played with 15 teams.
The matches were played on six boards, one of which was reserved for a woman and one for a junior player.
The majority of the participating players came from Turkey, but a number of clubs also fielded international guest players, especially at the top boards. Players from Azerbaijan were well represented. Nihat Abasov occupied board one at Darüssafaa Biofet Spor Külübü. Vugar Asadli played behind him on board two. Bayegan Pendik Satranc Spor Külübü, one of the favourites, had Shakhriyar Mamedyarov on board one and the young Turkish star Yadiz Kaan Erdogmus on board two. Anton Korobov from the Ukraine was on board three. Türk Hava Yollari Spor Külübü had signed grandmasters Parham Maghsoodloo and M. Amin Tabatabaei from its southern neighbour Iran. Nihal Sarin (India) played for the team on board three. Hans Niemann (USA) sat on the top board for Aquamatch Deniz Su Satranc Genclik VE SP. Other top grandmasters in the service of Turkish Süper Ligi teams were Vladislav Artemiev (Russia), Ivan Cheparinov (Bulgaria) and Nodirbek Ykubboev (Uzbekistan).
There were also some top international players on the women's boards. Anna and Mariya Muzychuk played for Bayegan Pendik Satranc Spor Külübü and Nana Dzagnidze for Türk Hava Yollari Spor Külübü. Pamukale Üniversiteli Satranc VE Akil O had secured the services of Harika Dronavalli.
The battle for the title was very close. At the end of the long tournament, Bayegan Pendik Satranc Spor Külübü came out on top by two team points. The team remained undefeated and only conceded two team draws over the course of the tournament. Pamukale Üniversiteli Satranc VE Akil O finished second on tiebreak ahead of Türk Hava Yollari Spor Kulübü, who had the same number of points.
Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus plays, Mamedyarov kibitzes
The best player in the winning team was the 13-year-old Turkish youngster Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus: He played 11 games and had a performance of 2730.
But the best player of the tournament was Hans Niemann, who played on board one for Aquamatch Deniz Su Satrance Genclik VE SP and finished with a rating performance of 2744.
Final standings
| Rk. | Team | Games | + | = | - | TB1 | TB2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BAYEGAN PENDİK SATRANÇ SPOR KULÜBÜ | 15 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| 2 | PAMUKKALE ÜNİVERSİTELİ SATRANÇ VE AKIL O | 15 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 2 |
| 3 | TÜRK HAVA YOLLARI SPOR KULÜBÜ | 15 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 0 |
| 4 | GÖKTÜRK SATRANÇ SPOR KULÜBÜ | 15 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 22 | 0 |
| 5 | AQUAMATCH DENİZ SU SATRANÇ GENÇLİK VE SP | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 1 |
| 6 | BURHANİYE SATRANÇ SPOR KULÜBÜ | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 1 |
| 7 | ROTA KOLEJİ SPOR KULÜBÜ | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 0 |
| 8 | HUFEDER FENERBAHÇE SATRANÇ TAKIMI | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 2 |
| 9 | APAYDIN SATRANÇ SPOR KULÜBÜ | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 14 | 0 |
| 10 | ALAÇATI SATRANÇ SPOR KULÜBÜ | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 2 |
| 11 | TARSUS ZEKA SATRANÇ SPOR KULÜBÜ | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 0 |
| 12 | TAŞ DUVAR SPOR KULÜBÜ | 15 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 4 |
| 13 | DARÜŞŞAFAKA BİOFET SPOR KULÜBÜ | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 1 |
| 14 | KARAMAN FUTBOL KULÜBÜ | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 1 |
| 15 | BEYAZKALE SATRANÇ EVİ SPOR KULÜBÜ | 15 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 0 |
| 16 | HATAY BÜYÜKŞEHİR BELEDİYESİ GENÇLİK SPOR | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
Games
