Uzbekistan’s Afruza Hamdamova became the world champion ahead of schedule at the World Youth Chess Championship’s Girls U16 Tournament in Brazil.

In the 10th round, Afruza won the game with black pieces against Mrittika Mallick from India. Today, in the last 11th round, she will play Zarina Nurgaliyeva from Kazakhstan.

At the moment, A. Hamdamova has 9.5 points, and Charis Peglau from Germany and Zarina Nurgaliyeva, among the top three, have scored 7.5 points each.

In 2023, Hamdamova won the U-14 World Youth Championships in Italy and became the first world champion in women’s chess in Uzbekistan’s history.

Javokhir Tashkhodjayev, UzA