Samarkand R9 (open): Uzbekistan retake sole lead after beating the US

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
9/26/2026 – Uzbekistan regained sole first place in the Chess Olympiad by beating top seeds United States 2½–1½ in round nine, with Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Nodirbek Yakubboev again providing the decisive points - like they did against China in round seven. India, Armenia and the over-achieving Uzbekistan 2 are one match point behind, the latter after a striking 3½–½ victory over the Netherlands. Two rounds remain in Samarkand. | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE
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The Nodirbeks do it again

Uzbekistan returned to sole first place in the Chess Olympiad after defeating the top-seeded United States 2½–1½ in Friday's ninth round. The hosts now lead on 16/18 match points, one ahead of India, over-performing Uzbekistan 2 and Armenia with only two rounds remaining.

The result was an immediate response to Uzbekistan's first defeat of the tournament, suffered against Germany a day earlier. Once again (like in round seven against China), Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Nodirbek Yakubboev supplied the decisive points, beating Fabiano Caruana and Hans Niemann respectively. Wesley So defeated Javokhir Sindarov for the United States, while Levon Aronian and Mukhiddin Madaminov drew on board four.

Abdusattorov's victory came after Caruana appeared to have the position under control for much of the game, while Yakubboev eventually overcame Niemann in another long struggle. Sindarov, meanwhile, suffered his first defeat of the Olympiad as So reduced the deficit, but the two victories by the Nodirbeks were enough to give Uzbekistan the match.

Abdusattorov is now unbeaten on 7/9, while Yakubboev continues to be one of the standout performers in the Uzbek squad. Their results have been central to a campaign in which the hosts have won eight of their nine matches.

Yakubboev v. Niemann

Niemann had three pawns for Yakubboev's knight in a holdable endgame, according to engines. The US star, however, faltered here with 50...h4?. Necessary was 50...Kh7 to prevent White from further constraining the black king with 51.g6

Yakubboev kept the situation with the black passer on the h-file under control while creating checkmating threats against the black king. After 64.Ne7+ Black was already completely lost.

Of course, 64...Rxe7 cannot be played due to checkmate on the back rank. There followed 64...Kf8 65.Rf2+ Kxe7 66.Re5+

Niemann resigned, as 67.Rd2+ is coming, and the rook on f8 will fall.

Nodirbek Yakubboev, Hans Niemann

Nodirbek Yakubboev looking for the win in his key encounter against Hans Niemann | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

Nodirbek Yakubboev, Hans Niemann

Hans Niemann resigns the game | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Nodirbek Yakubboev

Team captain Rustam Kasimdzhanov congratulates Nodirbek Yakubboev, who bounced back from his loss in round eight | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

Gukesh delivers for India

India also needed a win on Friday after falling one match point behind Germany, and the defending champions edged the fifth seeds 2½–1½.

The first three games ended drawn, leaving the match in the hands of Gukesh Dommaraju and Alexander Donchenko on board four. Donchenko had been the one pressing and at one point appeared well-placed to give Germany the advantage, but the position turned around as the game became more complicated. Gukesh eventually emerged with the victory that lifted India to 15/18 match points.

Gukesh remains unbeaten in Samarkand and has scored 7½/9. After a difficult period in terms of rating before the Olympiad, the world champion has been India's most productive player during the team's pushback towards the top of the standings.

India now share second place with two considerably less expected members of the leading group: Armenia and Uzbekistan 2.

Donchenko 0-1 Gukesh

Annotations by Martina Gerdts

Gukesh Dommaraju

Gukesh Dommaraju fully focused as teammate Arjun Erigaisi follows the game alongside the team captains of the two Indian squads (open and women's) in Samarkand | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

Gukesh Dommaraju, Javokhir Sindarov

The two protagonists of the upcoming match for the Classical World Chess Championship, Gukesh Dommaraju and Javokhir Sindarov, attentively watching the Uzbekistan v United States battle | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

Uzbekistan 2 stun the Netherlands

The biggest surprise of the round came from Uzbekistan's second team, seeded 30th, who defeated 6th-seeded Netherlands by a remarkable 3½–½ score.

Jakhongir Vakhidov beat Anish Giri on board one, while Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov defeated Loek van Wely and Ortik Nigmatov got the better of Erwin l'Ami. Only Jorden van Foreest managed to avoid defeat, drawing Abdimalik Abdisalimov.

The victory took Uzbekistan 2 to 15/18 match points and third place on tiebreaks. With two rounds to go, the host nation therefore has two teams among the top three in the standings.

The Netherlands, by contrast, dropped to 13/18 after what had been a strong run through the middle stages of the tournament.

Chess Olympiad 2026

Uzbekistan 2 facing the Netherlands | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

Tenth seeds Armenia remain unbeaten

Armenia also reached 15/18 after beating Azerbaijan 2½–1½. The first three boards ended drawn, leaving Gabriel Sargissian to decide the match against Rauf Mamedov on board four. Sargissian converted his advantage to give Armenia another narrow victory and preserve their unbeaten match record: six wins and three draws after nine rounds.

China and France, meanwhile, cancelled each other out in a match featuring four draws. The 2–2 result left both teams on 14/18, alongside Germany, Spain, Ukraine and Hungary.

Spain joined that group with a 3–1 victory over Czechia, while Ukraine defeated Georgia 2½–1½. Hungary also won 3–1 against Austria, though their match featured two wins for Hungary and an upset victory for Felix Blohberger over Peter Leko.

Maxime Lagarde, Wei Yi

France's Maxime Lagarde failed to make the most of a winning position against Wei Yi | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

Uzbekistan to face Armenia

In Saturday's penultimate round, Uzbekistan will face Armenia, the only team in the leading group yet to lose a match, while India will take on Uzbekistan 2. With the two Uzbek teams currently first and third, those pairings also leave open the possibility of the two host squads meeting in the final round.

Further down, Ukraine will face China, Germany will play France and Hungary will meet Spain.

Standings after round 9

Rk. SNo FED Team Group Games + = - TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
1 3 UZB
Uzbekistan A 9 8 0 1 16 292,5 26,5 105
2 2 IND
India A 9 7 1 1 15 262 23 106
3 30 UZB
Uzbekistan 2 A 9 7 1 1 15 249,5 24 97
4 10 ARM
Armenia A 9 6 3 0 15 241 23,5 100
5 4 CHN
China A 9 6 2 1 14 260,5 24 107
6 5 GER
Germany A 9 7 0 2 14 254 23 109
7 9 FRA
France A 9 5 4 0 14 248,5 24 101
8 13 ESP
Spain A 9 7 0 2 14 239,5 24,5 96
9 12 UKR
Ukraine A 9 7 0 2 14 233 23,5 95
10 8 HUN
Hungary A 9 6 2 1 14 196 19,5 97
11 1 USA
United States of America A 9 6 1 2 13 259,5 23 108
12 7 AZE
Azerbaijan A 9 5 3 1 13 243,5 23,5 102
13 19 GRE
Greece A 9 6 1 2 13 240 23,5 98
14 14 TUR
Turkiye A 9 6 1 2 13 240 23 98
15 23 ROU
Romania A 9 4 5 0 13 235,5 24 95
16 6 NED
Netherlands A 9 6 1 2 13 233,5 22 103
17 17 CRO
Croatia A 9 6 1 2 13 230,5 24,5 89
18 37 LTU
Lithuania A 9 6 1 2 13 226,5 24 92
19 28 BUL
Bulgaria A 9 6 1 2 13 216,5 22,5 96
20 15 SRB
Serbia A 9 6 1 2 13 208,5 22 93
21 24 ARG
Argentina A 9 6 1 2 13 208 23,5 89
22 31 BRA
Brazil A 9 5 3 1 13 194 21,5 80
23 18 IRI
Iran A 9 5 2 2 12 242,5 24 99
24 16 POL
Poland A 9 5 2 2 12 223,5 23 97
25 11 ENG
England A 9 5 2 2 12 222 22,5 100
26 47 VIE
Vietnam B 9 5 2 2 12 219,5 25,5 86
27 20 CZE
Czech Republic A 9 5 2 2 12 216,5 22 100
28 39 BLR
Belarus A 9 5 2 2 12 215 23,5 93
29 26 ITA
Italy A 9 5 2 2 12 212,5 23,5 91
30 29 GEO
Georgia A 9 5 2 2 12 212 23,5 89

...205 teams

All games - Round 9

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Topics: Chess Olympiad 2026
Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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