Uzbekistan's Chess Players Blaze A Trail As Nordibek Is On Brink Of Winning London
National dominance in chess goes in cycles. A decade ago Chinese chess was the growing superpower that looked set to dominate the world. Before that, Russia, of course. In recent years, India has taken on that mantle.
Now Uzbekistan appears to be having its moment in the sun as a week of wins has propelled its players to the forefront of chess.
No sooner has 19-year-old GM Javokhir Sinadrov won the FIDE World Cup, becoming the youngest ever winner of the knockout, than another major chess event appears to be headed to Uzbekistan.
It's not quite dominance, but it's mightily impressive.
Going into Round 8 on Thursday, Uzbekistan's number-one GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov is right on the brink of winning the XTX Markets London Chess Classic.
The 21-year-old talent from Tashkent is on 6.5/7, a full two points ahead of GM Alireza Firouzja in second place with two rounds to go.
On Tuesday, he beat England's GM Luke McShane to make it six wins in a row. A dazzling streak that has so far gained him 19.8 rating points.
Wednesday was a rest day—although the players did take part in a charity ProBiz Cup event—as the Premier League hosts Arsenal FC played Brentford at their Emirates Stadium home. On Thursday, Abdusattorov needs just a draw or win to secure the title.
Both Abdusattorov and Firouzja went into the £50,000 tournament having to brush off their disappointment of being knocked out early in the World Cup. It was an event they hope to at least get to the semi-finals in and pick up a coveted spot for the FIDE Candidates tournament next year.
But both ultimately failed in their mission and then saw their chances completely evaporate when every other Candidate ticket-holder also fell, meaning all three tickets were used up in the World Cup.
It's complicated, but the way the cookies crumbled at the World Cup in Goa meant no extra tickets were carried over to the FIDE Circuit leaderboard, and the London event was unlikely to help Abdusattorov or Firouzja get to the Candidates.
With world number-seven GM Praggnanandhaa R entering the event's Open tournament, held in the same hall as the Elite Tournament, that made it even more unlikely. Praggnanandhaa leads the FIDE Circuit points tally and entered London to pick up even more points, to make certain he'd finish top.
It's going fully to plan for the 20-year-old Indian, he is now going into the final round as the sole leader and victory looks inevitable. He is by far and away the strongest player in the Open, so it's no surprise.
Despite that, both Abdusattorov and Firouzja have performed well in London. Even if Abdusattorov does win the overall tournament, which he will, he won't travel to Cyprus next year to fight for the right to challenge World Champion GM Gukesh D.
Sindarov wasn't the only Uzbek who did well at the World Cup, either. GM Nodirbek Yakubboev had an astonishing run to the semis and eventually finished fourth, just missing out on the final Candidates place.
Uzbekistan chess has had many huge successes on the world stage before. In 2021, Abdusattorov shocked the world when he became World Rapid Champion as a teenager.
A year later Uzbekistan pulled off another shock result to win gold at the 180-nation Chennai Olympiad. The team had an average age of 20 and were seeded only 14th.
Next year, Uzbekistan will be hoping for more success when it hosts the Olympiad. Then, of course, there's the Candidates. Sindarov will there—albeit as an underdog.
Is there even more to come from Uzbekistan chess? That would be something.