Uzbekistan to Face United States at WR Chess in Miami

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan's national chess team will face the United States on 27–28 July at the WR Chess tournament at the Faena Miami Beach hotel in Miami, the organizers said. The rapid and blitz competition will mark the U.S. debut of the WR Chess national team format.

Uzbekistan's team will consist of Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Nodirbek Yakubboev and Shamsiddin Vokhidov, with Mukhiddin Madaminov serving as the reserve player. The United States will field Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Levon Aronian, with Leinier Dominguez as the reserve. The match will be played under the Scheveningen system, with each player facing every member of the opposing team.

The organizers highlighted a renewed meeting between Nakamura and 20-year-old Sindarov as the tournament's main attraction. Earlier this year, the Uzbek grandmaster defeated the American player at the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus and became an official challenger for the world chess title.

According to the organizers, the line-ups reflect a clash between generations. The United States, one of the most decorated teams in chess history with six Chess Olympiad gold medals, has an average player age of 37.6 years. Uzbekistan, the 2022 Chess Olympiad champion, has an average age of 21, with the organizers describing it as the most exciting emerging force in world chess.

WR Chess founder Vadim Rosenstein said the organization's goal is to make chess more entertaining and accessible to new audiences, adding that Miami and Faena reflect the direction in which the game is moving. The tournament comes as WR Chess continues its international expansion. On 26 June, Rosenstein announced his candidacy for the presidency of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), with the election scheduled for the end of September.