The key facts
- Humoyun Begmuratov — world rapid champion: 7.5 points out of 9 without a single loss
- Umida Omonova — silver in rapid, Afruza Khamdamova — silver in blitz
- Khamdamova previously won the classical World Championships among girls twice
Three medals in Al Ain
From November 2 to 6, the World Junior Rapid and Blitz Championship was held in Al Ain (UAE) in two categories — open and girls. Uzbek chess players won one gold and two silver medals at the tournament, reports Gazeta. Rapid was played over nine rounds with a time control of 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move, and blitz over 13 rounds with a time control of 3 minutes plus 2 seconds.
Begmuratov's gold in rapid
The 16-year-old grandmaster Humoyun Begmuratov scored 7.5 points out of 9 and never lost: six wins and three draws. The key game was the eighth-round encounter against Indian grandmaster Praggnanandhaa Venkatesh — the top seed with a rating of 2592, who had won six games in a row before that. Begmuratov won with the black pieces, and in the final round drew with another Indian, Pranit Vuppala, keeping first place. Venkatesh took silver, and the bronze went to Azerbaijan's Raad Samadov; both scored 7 points. According to the Chess-Results table, Begmuratov started as the seventh seed with a rating of 2433, and his tournament performance was 2533 points — meaning he won from an underdog position relative to the leaders' ratings.
Two silvers in the girls' tournament
Umida Omonova took second place in rapid with 6.5 points out of 9. After seven rounds she had 6.5 out of 7 and was a contender for the title, but then lost to the Dutch player Eline Roers, and in the last round to her compatriot Afruza Khamdamova. Despite the two losses at the finish, Omonova kept second place on tiebreakers; Roers became champion with 7 points. In total, five participants scored 6.5 points, including Kazakhstan's Elnaz Kaliahmet and Khamdamova.
Khamdamova — silver in blitz
On November 6, 17-year-old Afruza Khamdamova took silver in blitz: 9.5 points out of 13 (seven wins, five draws, one loss). After losing the third game to Yevgenia Satanovskaya, she won four games in a row, including against the rapid champion Eline Roers, and in the tenth round defeated Umida Omonova. The bronze with the same 9.5 points went to Russia's Veronika Yudina — Khamdamova edged her out on the Buchholz coefficient (102 versus 100.5). Russia's Valeria Kleymenova became champion with 10 points. For Khamdamova this is another award: earlier she twice won the classical World Championships among girls — in 2023 in the under-14 category and in 2024 in the under-16 category, and in April 2026 she became the world rapid champion among girls under 18 in Serbia.
Results of other Uzbek players
In the open rapid, Muhammadzokhid Suyarov scored 5 points (22nd place), Muzaffarjon Abdurasulov — 4.5 (40th), Usmonkhon Tokhirjonov — 4 (53rd). In the girls' rapid, Nilufarkhon Imomkozieva with 5 points finished 16th. In blitz, Begmuratov and Suyarov scored 9 points each and took 8th and 9th places, Omonova with 8.5 points finished ninth, and Imomkozieva with 7 points was 19th. The open blitz was won by Indian grandmaster Praggnanandhaa Venkatesh with 10.5 points; silver went to Kyrgyzstan's Eldiyar Orozbaev, and bronze to Armenia's Robert Piliposyan — both with 9.5.
