The 2024 Turkish Chess Championship took place from 13-23 December in famous resort city of Antalya. The event was played with a new knock-out system, with 16 players and a total prize fund of 1.2 Million Turkish liras (~32.000 euros).
The Grand Final for the title was played between three-time Turkish Chess Champion GM Mustafa Yilmaz (Turkey, 2574) and two-time Turkish Chess Champion GM Vahap Sanal (Turkey, 2553). The finals featured two classical games, as Vahap Sanal won the match with a score of 1.5-0.5 to clinch his third title. Winning the title, Vahap Sanal won a prize of 500.000 Turkish liras (~13.500 euros).
Vahap Sanal was victorious in the first game, using the starting advantage with white pieces. Sanal was pushing for a win in a clearly better but unclear position, when Yilmaz made a major mistake in the time trouble moving for 38…Kd8? He entered a lost position and Sanal used the opportunity to take lead in the match.
Despite the fact that he needs only a draw in the second game, 26-year-old Vahap Sanal had an aggressive approach with black pieces in the second game and again gained a clear advantage in the middlegame. Mustafa Yilmaz recognised that he doesn’t have lots of chances to bounce back and the players agreed to a draw by a threefold repetition.
