Esra İnpınar Secures Second Place in Turkey at the Championship in Mersin

Residing in the Milas district of Muğla and competing on behalf of the Çankaya Municipality Visually Impaired Sports Club, visually impaired chess athlete Esra İnpınar achieved the success of becoming the runner-up in Turkey in the women's category at the 2026 Turkey Visually Impaired Chess Championship held in Mersin's Silifke district.

Organized by the Turkish Chess Federation in Silifke between November 2-8, 2026, the championship saw the participation of 110 athletes from 26 provinces. At the end of the matches held over nine rounds, a total of 200 thousand TL in cash prizes was awarded to the ranking athletes. In the general standings of the organization, Meriç Pehlivan placed first, Ünal Dönmez second, and Süleyman Saltık third; while in the women's category, Büşra Öztürk reached the championship, Esra İnpınar took second place, and Rabia Doğan ranked third. Muğla was represented by Metin Erat and Fatma Çiçek Çekiç on behalf of the Turkuaz Paralympic Sports Club.

Displaying a consistent performance graph over the past four years, Esra İnpınar had achieved fourth place in the 2023 championship in Denizli, and third place in Turkey as well as third place in the national tournament in Şile in 2024. Following her third-place finish in 2025, she improved her ranking at the 2026 Mersin Championship to reach the silver medal. Turkish Chess Federation Muğla Provincial Representative Serkan Gülen congratulated the athlete and conveyed a message of support.