Gukesh outstanding at the Turkish Super League, reaches 2750

Türk Hava Yollari Spor Kulübü triumph

From 9 to 20 July, the Turkish Chess Federation held its team championship, the Isbank Turkish Super League, as a 12-team single round-robin tournament in Ankara.

The matches were played on six boards, one of which had to be occupied by a woman. With international guest players, some teams were very strong. The Turkish Airline Sports Club (Türk Hava Yollari Spor Kulübü), for example, had Dommaraju Gukesh, Vidit Gujrathi and Ivan Cheparinov on the top boards. Praggnanandhaa’s sister, Vasihali Rameshbabu, played on the women’s board.

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The Bayegan Pendik Sports Club was hardly any worse with Nihal Sarin, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Anton Korobov as their leaders. The other teams mostly fielded international professionals on the top boards as well. Only the Göktürk Chess Sports Club entered an all-Turkish team, with national star Sanal Vahap on board 1.

During the championship, the Türk Hava Yollari Spor Kulübü proved to be the strongest team, winning ten matches and only conceding one match point (i.e. a draw) against Hukukcu Fenerbahceliler Spor ve Kültür, which finished in eighth place.

Gukesh had a formidable performance on the top board.

Dommaraju Gukesh facing Leon Luke Mendonca

The 16-year-old Indian star played ten games and scored 7½ points. His team-mate Isik Can (17) also scored 7½ points, but in 11 games. However, the performances of Ediz Gürel (15) with 8½ points, and of Vaishali with 9 points were particularly decisive for the team’s success.

Vaishali Rameshbabu took home an individual gold medal

With his recent successes, Gukesh has now increased his live rating to 2750 points. The youngster is second in the Juniors’ ranking, behind Alireza Firouzja, and is also already 11^th in the world ranking — at the age of 17!

Check out Gukesh’s visit to the ChessBase studio, where he recorded a great edition of Karsten Müller’s Endgame Magic Show

Gukesh vs Sychev - Analysis by IM Sagar Shah

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In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.

Bayegan Pendik Sports Club

In second place finished Bayegan Pendik Sports Club. The team also conceded a draw in the event, but lost the top match against the new champions.

The title sponsor of the tournament is Isbank, the oldest and second-largest bank in Turkey. Suat Sözen, Deputy General Manager of Isbank, as the guest of honour at the award ceremony, pointed out that Turkey’s Team Championship has become stronger every year and expressed the hope that the Isbank Turkish Super League would soon be one of the strongest leagues in the world.  In his speech, he pointed out a special feature of this year’s event:

This year’s tournament was organised on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the Republic. The idea of introducing young generations to sport, culture and strategic thinking through the championship has an even higher significance than in previous years.

The President of the Turkish Federation, Gülkiz Tulay, was also present for the award ceremony and in her speech she highlighted the importance of chess competitions:

We celebrate World Chess Day in Turkey with enthusiasm every year, on 20 July. Every year, we have also been increasing the popularity of chess in our country step by step.

Final standings

All available games

Links

• Official site
• Gukesh: Attack like a Super Grandmaster - A review
• Gukesh: “Fischer, Kasparov and Carlsen for sure are the top three”