Chess in Uzbekistan

Chess is an old game in Central Asia: ivory chessmen from the 7th–8th centuries have been found at Afrasiab near Samarkand.

At the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India, in 2022, a young Uzbek team won gold in the open section; its top board, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, had become World Rapid Champion in 2021 at just 17.

The victory sparked a chess boom in Uzbekistan, with chess taught in schools and a new generation of grandmasters emerging.