Turan Asgarova

Turan Asgarova learned chess from her father at five in Azerbaijan and played her first international tournament at ten. She stepped away from serious competition at sixteen before returning a few years later. She earned a degree in sports coaching and taught chess to children in Azerbaijan. After living in Shanghai, where she met her husband, Chris Benson, she moved to Britain and settled in Lichfield. She made an immediate impact on the club's first team, beginning her first season with an unbeaten seven-game run. Encouraging more girls and women to take up chess has remained a personal priority.