Written By | Sports Desk
Six rounds, six wins and a queen blunder heard around Samarkand. Today the hosts sit down against Ding Liren's China in a match that could decide the 46th Chess Olympiad.
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SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan
Nodirbek Yakubboev had less than ten minutes on his clock and a position he would later admit was worse. Across the board sat Nihal Sarin, one of India's fastest players, holding a comfortable 38 minutes and every reason to think the game was his. Then, on move 37, with the time scramble closing in, Nihal played the knight move that let Yakubboev in. One move later came 38.Ne6, a quiet leap that forced Black to give up his queen. The hall in Samarkand, a city that has hosted Silk Road caravans for two thousand years, erupted.
That single game, played on Monday, handed Uzbekistan a win over India, the defending champions, and sole possession of first place at the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad. After a rest day on Tuesday, the hosts return this afternoon for the biggest match of the event so far: Uzbekistan against China, first against second, with six rounds played and five to go.
A perfect start on home ground
The Olympiad is chess's version of a World Cup: national teams of five players, four on the board each round, eleven rounds across the Swiss system from September 16 to 27. A match win is worth two points and a draw one. After six rounds, Uzbekistan is the only team in the Open section with a perfect 12 points. China and Armenia follow on 11. A pack of eleven teams, including top seeds the United States and second seeds India, sits on 10.
Seeded only third, Uzbekistan has been the story of the fortnight. The team's core is a generation that grew up together and grew up fast: Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who won the World Rapid title as a teenager; Javokhir Sindarov; Shamsiddin Vokhidov; and Yakubboev. This is the group that stunned the chess world by winning Olympiad gold in Chennai in 2022. Their captain is Rustam Kasimdzhanov, himself a former FIDE world champion, who celebrated Monday's win with Yakubboev at the board.
The India match was a meeting of the last two Olympiad champions, since India swept both sections in Budapest in 2024. It was every bit as tense as that suggests. Boards one, two and four all ended in drawn endgames with heavy pieces, with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and world champion Gukesh Dommaraju each a pawn up but unable to convert. That left everything to board three and the time scramble.
"I was worse and almost lost"
Yakubboev did not pretend it was a clean win. "It was at some moment very, very emotional," he told Chess.com after the game. "My opponent surprised me with the opening choice, but then he tried to push on my time and I got time trouble, but in time trouble he hurried and missed... this beautiful tactic. Otherwise, I was worse and almost lost the game, but I am happy he missed that."
Chess.com's reporters called 38.Ne6 likely the move of the tournament so far. For the home crowd it meant more than that: it showed that this team can win matches it is not controlling, the mark of a champion side.
Enter China, and Ding Liren
Today's opponent arrives in form. On the same day Uzbekistan beat India, China ended Germany's perfect run 3-1. Ding Liren, the former world champion, beat Vincent Keymer on board one by steering into an opposite-colour bishop endgame and finishing it with a pair of pawn sacrifices. Xu Xiangyu outplayed Alexander Donchenko on board four with the bishop pair. The result lifted China to 11 points, one behind the hosts.
History favours the visitors, narrowly. China won the last meeting between these teams in Budapest in 2024. But Samarkand is not Budapest, and Uzbekistan has not dropped a match point. According to the official pairings, Uzbekistan will have White on board one. Elsewhere on the top tables, Armenia plays the United States and England plays India. The results could redraw the medal race before the weekend.
Meanwhile, in the Women's Olympiad
The women's event has its own showdown today. China and Kazakhstan are the only teams on a perfect 12 out of 12, and they meet in round seven. China has done it without its four biggest names: Hou Yifan, Ju Wenjun, Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi all stayed home. Twenty-year-old Song Yuxin has scored 5.5 out of 6. Kazakhstan, silver medallists in 2024 despite a tenth seeding, are no longer a surprise. "Last time we were underdogs, but now everyone knows us," said Alua Nurman, whose win decided the match against Azerbaijan. India, the top seeds, are two points back after beating the United States 3-1. Nineteen-year-old Savitha Shri is on a perfect 5 out of 5 in her Olympiad debut.
What this means for you
You do not need to know the Sicilian from the Ruy Lopez to follow along. The Olympiad is one of the best ways into elite chess: team scores are easy to read, several games run at once, and the streams on Chess.com, Chess24, Twitch and YouTube are hosted by names like Judit Polgar and David Howell, who explain the chess as it happens. Round seven begins mid-afternoon in Samarkand, which is early morning on the U.S. East Coast. The time scrambles near move 40, when players rush to reach the time control, have produced most of the drama so far.
The story is bigger than one match. Uzbekistan's rise is one of the best examples in any sport of a small federation building a golden generation through coaching and investment, and then staging a global event to show it off. If you have a young player at home, this is the team to show them.
The final stretch
With four rounds still to play after today, nothing is settled. A loss to China would send the hosts back into a crowded chase. A win would leave them two match points clear with the finish line in sight, and a country waiting to celebrate. Either way, the board-three knight from Monday already has its place in Uzbek chess history. By Sunday, the team may have a trophy to go with it.
