Chess Olympiad: Uzbeks face stiff test from defending champions India

Chess Olympiad in Samarkand (FIDE photo) Former champions Uzbekistan will be sorely tested as their men try to reclaim the Olympic chess title they won in India four years ago.Uzbekistan will feel the added pressure of domestic expectations in Samarkand coupled with the might of defending champions India in the 11-round classic across the board. India’s winning spree came to a halt with draws in 2022 and 2024 in the biennial team event. Their then-captain Vladimir Kramnik called the match two years ago in Budapest “real chess” (all drawn games with no mistakes) as the other teams crumbled against the marauders of individual gold medalists D Gukesh on the top board and Erigais Arjuna on the third.Most importantly, the 46th Olympics – with a record 399 teams across the two sections – also gives Gukesh a chance to regain his form in a team atmosphere with motivation to play for the tricolor ahead of his title defense against Sindarov in Geneva starting on November 24. He was player of the tournament in the last two Olympics before winning the world crown at the age of 2024, which seems difficult.Now captained by V Anand’s former second-in-command Rustam Kasimdzhanov, the Uzbeks have a new chess star in Javokhir Sindarov as their top-ranked player, world No. 4 with 2,778. “It was unimaginable that we would have held an event of this magnitude six or seven years ago,” Nodirbek Abdusarttorov, 21, said at a news conference on Tuesday. “But thanks to the support and hard work of the players, it is possible.”India won the double gold in both the sections last time. They too have high expectations to deal with. The women’s team comprising K Humpa, World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh and World Cup challenger R Vaishali are the top seeds as Russia remains banned from team events and China did not send its full strength team. And despite having the most exciting trio – world champion D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Arjuna – in their ranks, the Indian men are not the top seeds in the open competition. That honor goes to the USA, which includes Fabiano Caruna (formerly of Italy), Wesley So (formerly of the Philippines) and Levon Aronian (formerly of Armenia).