Mert Yılmazyerli wins 2023 Turkish Championship
The 2023 Turkish Chess Championship, organized by the national chess federation with the support of GURIS Holding, took place in Kemer at Mirage Park Resort from December 1-10, 2023. The competition, a 10-player round-robin, was held in memory of former Turkish champion Ergün Gümrükçüoğlu. In the absence of the defending champion Mustafa Yilmaz, the only GM in the tournament and the top-rated Mert Yılmazyerli entered the competition as a clear favourite, and he really delivered. Coming into the final round a half-point ahead of FM Adar Tarhan and IM Alparslan Isik, Mert confidently outplayed Ufuk Tuncer with the black pieces and secured his second national title, scoring 7/9. Adar defeated Ceren Tirpan and finished second with 6.5/9, while Alparslan Isik managed only a draw against Yanki Taspinar and took bronze but became the only unbeaten player in the tournament. Final standings: 1 GM YILMAZYERLİ, Mert 2524 7 2 FM TARHAN, Adar 2405 6½ 3 IM IŞIK, Alparslan 2452 6 4 FM GÜNDÜZ, Umut Erdem 2318 4½ 5 FM EREN, Ataberk 2429 4½ 6 FM BİÇER, Atakan Mert 2312 4 7 FM TUNCER, Ufuk 2360 3½ 8 FM TAŞPINAR, Yankı 2318 3½ 9 TIRPAN, Ceren 1940 3 10 METİN, Enis 2031 2½ Speaking at the closing ceremony, the President of the Turkish Chess Federation, Gülkız Tulay, said: “On the 100th anniversary of our Republic, we organized the 2023 Turkey Champion in the name of Ergün Gümrükçüoğlu. We had an excellent event with many exciting games. I congratulate our champion and all the participants. We would like to thank our Ministry of Youth and Sports and Osman Aşkın Bak and GÜRİŞ Holding, which has been supporting this championship over the last six years.” Official website: tr2023.tsf.org.tr/ Photos: official website