A new phase of preparation for Türkiye’s national chess teams

The Turkish Chess Federation is putting into action a more structured and comprehensive support model to make the achievements of the Open National Team and the Women’s National Team more sustainable. The announced program goes beyond an approach focused only on short-term tournament results and aims to build a holistic performance system that addresses players’ technical, psychological and competitive development together. This approach is based on the reality that consistency in chess is only possible through strong opening preparation, deep middlegame understanding, sound endgame technique and high tournament resilience.

The players included in the federation’s support program are GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş, GM Ediz Gürel, GM Mustafa Yılmaz, GM Işık Can, GM Vahap Şanal, GM Emre Can and, on the women’s side, IM Ekaterina Atalık, WIM Gülenay Aydın, WFM Ceren Tırpan, WIM Sıla Çağlar, WFM Elif Zeren Yıldız and WFM Elifnaz Akat. This squad combines the experience of established names with the momentum of a rising younger generation. Bringing together players from different age groups and with different playing styles under the national-team structure not only strengthens team identity but also creates efficient knowledge sharing during the preparation process.

Another notable element is the collaboration with highly respected coaches from the world chess scene in order to raise the teams’ technical level. After productive work last year with GM Ramesh Ramachandran Balagurunathan and GM Loek van Wely, this year a long-term preparation cycle is being planned with GM Ivan Cheparinov, GM Evgeny Miroshnichenko and GM Vladislav Nevednicii. These coaches stand out as figures capable of making major contributions in building top-level opening repertoires, opponent analysis, modern preparation methods and improving decision quality in critical positions. In team events such as the Olympiad, individual strength matters, but pairing strategy and opponent-specific preparation can be just as decisive.

Another key pillar of the program will be regular online meetings, performance reporting and special head-to-head training matches against strong grandmasters. In chess, such controlled matches improve training quality by testing not only calculating ability but also practical decision-making speed, opening choices and resistance under pressure. This sustainable model presented by the federation reflects Türkiye’s ambition to secure a more lasting place in international team chess. If implemented effectively, these steps on the road to the Olympiad will create a strong development foundation not only for today’s squad but also for future generations of national players.