One of the young heroes of the hosting country and the underdog of the event is Betül Cemre Yıldız from İzmir, the third largest city and one of the major chess center in the country.
She
started playing chess at the age of 9 and one year later she made her debut in the national
team for the Chess Olympiad in Istanbul back in 2000. She won five consecutive national titles for women from 2001 to 2006 and led her country on the first board despite her young age. She took the bronze medal in Under 18 Girls World
Youth Championship which was held in Kemer, Turkey.
The local hero iis not entirely a rookie in facing the best women players in the world since she already participated in the first edition of İş Bank Atatürk Women Masters last year and was able to cause some upsets against a much higher rated opposition.