Current Affairs » 44th Chess Olympiad: Uzbekistan Win Gold in the Open section, Ukrainian Women Triumph

44th Chess Olympiad: Uzbekistan Win Gold in the Open section, Ukrainian Women Triumph

In the recently finished 44th Chess Olympiad’s Open division, the team Uzbekistan took home the gold medal. Ultimately, Jakhongir Vakhidov’s victory on board 4 helped Uzbekistan defeat the Netherlands. They prevailed over Armenia thanks to a higher tie-break score. The Uzbeks finished with 19 match points and were undefeated after 11 rounds.

Table of Contents

  1. Role of Uzbekistan Team for the Win
  2. Performance of Women in the Tournament
  3. Uzbekistan: Dark House of the Tournament
  4. Event of 44th Chess Olympiad
KEY TAKEAWAYS
  • At the Nehru Indoor Stadium, the opening ceremony of the 44th Chess Olympiad took place on July 28 at 16:00 IST.
  • Javokhir Sindarov, the Uzbekistan team’s youngest player, is 16 years old.
  • Arkady Dvorkovich – head of FIDE. 
  • Due to the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine, FIDE forbade participation from Russia and Belarus.

Role of Uzbekistan Team for the Win

The Uzbekistan Open team had a 20-year-old average age. Javokhir Sindarov, the team’s youngest player, is 16 years old. He also briefly held the title of second-youngest Grandmaster in history. In a total of 23 games out of 44, Nodirbek Yakubboev, Jakhongir Vakhidov, and Shamsuddin Vokhidov were unbeaten. Uzbekistan’s team players only dropped three games throughout the competition. As a team, they never suffered a defeat. Also, scoring 19/22 was Armenia. Through tie-breaks, they won Silver. India ‘B’ won the Bronze with a score of 18/22. There is no denying the fact that GM FST Ivan Sokolov has his trainees adhere to a tight regimen, as evidenced by the outcomes and data.

Performance of Women in the Tournament

  • The top two women’s players, Humpy and R Vaishali, drew their respective matches against Gulrukhba Tokhirjonova and Irina Krush. The India ‘A’ team’s chances of winning a gold medal were hampered by Tania Sachdev’s and Bhakthi Kulkarni’s losses to Carissa Yip and Tatev Abrahamyan.
  • Kazakhstan defeated India’s “C” team 1.5–2.5. (Easha Karavade lost to Zhansaya Abdumalik, P V Nandhidhaa lost to Bibisara Assaubayeva, Varshini Sahiti drew with Xeniya Balabayeva, Pratyusha Bodda lost to Guliskhan Nakhbayeva). 
  • India ‘B’ and Slovakia tied 2-2. (Vantika Agrawal drew with Zuzana Borosova, Padmini Rout lost to Eva Repkova, Mary Ann Gomes drew with Zuzana Hagarova, Divya Deshmukh bt Svetlana Sucikova).

Uzbekistan: Dark House of the Tournament

In Round 4, reigning World Rapid champion GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan defeated world no. 2 and former world championship contender GM Fabiano Caruana (USA), establishing Uzbekistan as the tournament’s Dark Horse. He lost two more games after that and was unable to recover for the remainder of the competition. Uzbekistan is the only team in the competition to achieve four whitewash victories against Nepal, the Faroe Islands, Slovakia, and Peru, further indicating their strength. The USA, in contrast, failed to record a single 4-0 victory. That unmistakably demonstrates that the USA was underachieving as a team.

Event of 44th Chess Olympiad

  • At the Nehru Indoor Stadium, the opening ceremony took place on July 28 at 16:00 IST (UTC+5:30), in front of more than 20,000 players, coaches, and spectators. Meyyanathan Siva V, the minister for youth welfare and sports development in Tamil Nadu, gave the introductory remarks. 
  • Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, gave the event its official start. Participants were also welcomed by Arkady Dvorkovich, head of FIDE. 
  • 188 teams representing 186 national federations competed in the event, which is a record for a Chess Olympiad. India was allowed to field three teams because it was the host nation. 
  • A record-breaking 162 teams from 160 federations competed in the women’s event. Due to the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine, FIDE forbade participation from Russia and Belarus. China declined to send a team.