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International Chess Federation
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Tuesday, 22 Jun 2021 20:59
Turkish Women’s Championship: Atalik clinches her fifth title

IM Ekaterina Atalık won her fifth national title after outperforming all the competitors in the 2021 Turkish Women’s Championship. Sponsored by a major Turkish home appliances company, Arzum, the event, a 7-round Swiss tournament, took place from June 13-19 in the beautiful halls of Çorum Museum which is also home to many important archaeological findings from Hattusa, the ancient capital of Hittites, and other settlements that lie inside the borders of the modern-day city of Çorum.

The championship was expected to be a two-horse race between IM Ekaterina Atalık and WGM Kübra Öztürk Örenli and so it turned out to be in the end despite all the best efforts of the young and upcoming players in a dense field of 32 participants. The two regulars of the Turkish national team took the first two places with 6.5 and 6 points respectively after seven hard-fought rounds.

Their eagerly awaited game ended in a draw after a tense battle, so the half-point loss WGM Öztürk Örenli suffered at the hands of the young Azra Ece Koç in the second round proved to be decisive for the championship race. 17-year-old WFM Esma Doga Duran finished clear third, a full point ahead of the rest of the field.

The utmost care was given to the epidemiological regulations throughout the championship. The successful completion of the event without any health concerns sets an important example for the long-awaited full-scale return to OTB chess.

Final standings

1

 Atalik, Ekaterina

2

 Ozturk Orenli, Kubra

6

3

 Duran, Esma Doga

4

 Onur, Cigdem

5

 Sahin, Hayrun Nisa

6

 Kocyigit, Buse Naz

7

 Gokbulut, Julia

8

 Kalayci, Nino

4

9

 Incecik , Seyma Zeynep

4

10

 Akti, Ezgi

4


Text: Tarik Selbes

Photo: official website

Official website: kadinlar2021.tsf.org.tr