Uzbekistan wins home gold at record-breaking Chess Olympiad in Samarkand

The biggest Chess Olympiad in history brought almost 400 teams from around the world to Samarkand, where host nation Uzbekistan won gold in the Open competition after defeating Ukraine in the final round.

Uzbekistan won its first Chess Olympiad title in India's Chennai in 2022 and followed it with bronze in Budapest two years later.

“This is our second Olympiad victory. Winning it at home feels different,” Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov said. “I think we played the tournament at the highest level.”

Sindarov’s next major test will come later this year. After winning the Candidates Tournament, he will challenge India’s Gukesh Dommaraju for the world title in Geneva from 22 November to 12 December.

Both players will be 20 when the match begins, making it the youngest World Championship contest in chess history.

How the Chess Olympiad works

Organised by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the Chess Olympiad is the leading international team competition in chess.

Unlike most major chess tournaments, players compete for their countries rather than only for themselves.

Four players from one national team face four from another at the same time, with their individual results combined to determine the result between the two countries.

Teams compete over 11 rounds, facing different opponents as the tournament progresses.

Uzbekistan finished the competition with 20 of 22 possible match points, winning 10 of its 11 matches. Among the teams it defeated were defending champions India, China and the top-seeded US. Its only loss came against eventual bronze medallists Germany.

Uzbekistan claims second Open title

Nodirbek Abdusattorov was another key member of the winning team. Playing on Uzbekistan’s first board, meaning he generally faced the strongest player from each opposing team, he completed the Chess Olympiad without losing a game and received an individual gold medal for his performance.

“I think we can now confidently say that Uzbekistan is unrivalled in the world of chess,” Abdusattorov said after the victory.

India finished with silver, while Germany took bronze.

For Germany, the result marked its first Open team medal at a Chess Olympiad since 2000, when it won silver in Istanbul.

“I think it’s by far the best Olympiad we’ve had in recent years, at least as long as I’ve been playing,” German grandmaster Vincent Keymer told Euronews.

Several European countries also finished near the top, with Hungary, France and Spain all placing inside the top 10, alongside Azerbaijan and Armenia.

In the women’s competition, China won gold, Kazakhstan finished second and defending champions India took bronze.

Indian grandmaster Koneru Humpy was part of the bronze-medal-winning team.

“There is a lot of attention from all the spectators and followers, and this is one of the widely followed tournaments from all over the world,” Humpy told Euronews.

The biggest Olympiad yet

The final field included 205 teams in the Open and 189 in the Women’s competition.

For almost two weeks, hundreds of games were played simultaneously in the same competition hall, bringing national teams from around the world together in Samarkand.

The tournament also coincided with a change at the top of international chess. Timur Turlov, then president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, was elected president of FIDE during the federation’s General Assembly in Samarkand. At 38, he became the youngest person ever elected to the post.

“The interest in the game is definitely rising year over year,” Turlov told Euronews. “It’s not just a professional sport. It’s a sport which is getting more and more popular almost everywhere.”

At the end of the tournament, the Olympiad flag was handed to representatives of the United Arab Emirates.