Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — President Shavkat Mirziyoyev congratulated Uzbekistan’s national chess team on winning the 46th World Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, with the country’s players becoming Olympic champions for the second time, the press service of the President of Uzbekistan reported on 27 September.
The congratulatory message noted that nearly 2,000 chess players from more than 200 countries took part in the tournament. During the competition, Uzbekistan defeated defending Olympic champions India, beat China and overcame the United States, which tops the world rankings and has won the Olympiad six times.
“You are the heroes of New Uzbekistan, the golden generation that has written a new page in the history of world chess,” the President told the team members.
Mirziyoyev highlighted the performance of each player. Nodirbek Abdusattorov completed the tournament unbeaten and won the gold medal on the first board. Nodirbek Yakubboev secured decisive victories for the team against opponents from Türkiye, India, China and the United States. His game against Indian player Nihal Sarin was described as particularly dramatic.
Javokhir Sindarov made a significant contribution to the overall victory. Mukhiddin Madaminov, who was taking part in a major international tournament of this scale for the first time, also remained unbeaten. Shamsiddin Vokhidov secured important points in games against players from India, Türkiye and Hungary.
The President separately highlighted the performance of Uzbekistan’s second team, which was led to the medal positions by Jakhongir Vakhidov. The team defeated opponents from Spain, England and the Netherlands.
Uzbekistan’s women’s team won seven of its 11 matches, competed on equal terms with the United States and finished 13th.
Uzbekistan’s para-chess players won a bronze medal for the first time in the history of the competition. In the individual standings, Selbi took silver, Abdulaziz won bronze, while Ahadkhon completed the tournament without a defeat.
Among the factors behind the success, the President cited attention to chess development, the established training system and the conditions created for athletes to practise. He noted that another presidential resolution in the field had recently been adopted.
In 2026, FIDE also named the Uzbekistan Chess Federation the winner of the “Best Federation” category. Grandmaster Rustam Kasimdjanov was elected FIDE honorary vice-president, while Khulkar Takhirdjanova became FIDE regional president for the Central Asian countries.
According to Mirziyoyev, the Samarkand Olympiad went down in history for its record number of participating countries and chess players. He expressed gratitude to the residents of Samarkand Region, the local hokimiyat and the competition organizers.
The President also recalled that in November, Javokhir Sindarov will compete in a match for the world chess championship title and expressed confidence in his victory.
