Chess Olympiad: Uzbeks face tough test from defending champs India

Chess Olympiad in Samarkand (FIDE Photo)

Former champions Uzbekistan will be severely tested as their men will try to regain the Olympiad chess title that they won in India four years ago.Uzbekistan will feel the added pressure of home expectations at Samarkand coupled with the might of defending champions India in the 11-round over-the-board classical tournament.

They had stopped India's winning spree with draws in 2022 and 2024 editions of the biennial team event. Their then captain Vladimir Kramnik had dubbed the match two years ago in Budapest as "real chess" (all-drawn games with no blunders) when other teams crumbled against marauding individual gold medallists D Gukesh on the top board and Erigaisi Arjun on the third.

Most importantly, the 46th Olympiad - with record 399 teams across two sections - also provides Gukesh a chance to regain his form in the team atmosphere with the motivation of playing for the tricolour before his title defence against Sindarov in Geneva that starts on Nov 24.

In the last two Olympiads, he was the player of the tournament before winning the world crown at age 18 in late 2024 that seems to be weighing heavy on his shoulders.Now captained by V Anand's former second Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Uzbeks have the new chess star Javokhir Sindarov as their top rated player, a world No. 4 at 2778. "It was unimaginable that we would host an event of this magnitude six-seven years ago," said Nodirbek Abdusarttorov (age 21) at a press conference on Tuesday.

"But thanks to the support and hard work of players, it is made possible."India had won the double gold in both sections last time. They too have high expectations to deal with. The women's team, comprising K Humpy, World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh and world championship challenger R Vaishali are the top seeds because Russia remains banned from team competitions and China have not sent their full-strength team. And despite having the most exciting trinity - of world champion D Gukesh, in-form R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun - in their ranks, the Indian men are not the top seeds in the open event.

That honour belongs to the USA, comprising Fabiano Caruna (formerly Italy), Wesley So (formerly Philippines) and Levon Aronian (formerly Armenia) among others.