Turkey will be represented at the EUSA Chess Championship to be held in Budapest, Hungary between 24th and 28th July by Ozyegin University, Istanbul, both in the men’s and women’s competition.
The men’s team is comprised of Doğukan Aslan and Tuna Tucer. Doğukan started to play chess at the age of 6. At this time, he played by himself and his friends. Three years ago he saw a movie about chess and it has changed his life completely. This is when he started to take this beautiful game more seriously and began to participate in tournaments. His rating was 1,200 first and it has risen to 1,900, which is a 700-point increase in 2 years.
Tuna Tuncer is 19 years old and he has been playing chess since 2007. He came sixth at the World School Chess Championship in 2013 in his age category and he finished third at the European Youth Chess Championship in the under 16 category in 2015. He also won the WFM title in 2015. He participated at five Olympics and he loves playing chess.
As for the women’s team, Burcu Melis Temel started to play chess at the age of 8. Her main achievements include 2nd and 3rd places at the Turkish Youth Chess Championship but she won the title in this age category in 2013. She finished third at the European Schools Chess Championship in 2012.
Sinem Cagla Gundogan fell in love with the game when she was 7 years old. Her main achievements include a WFM, a WIM and WCM title, gold and bronze medals at the Turkish Youth Chess Championship and she finished second at the European Schools Chess Championship in 2012. Moreover, she was 4th at the World Youth Chess Championship in 2008.
photo: Ozyegin University