Chess · Worth knowing

Samarkand will host the 46th World Chess Olympiad starting September 15, 2026, with a record-breaking 398 teams (208 men's, 190 women's) and 1,974 players including 240 grandmasters competing across 11 rounds until September 27. The United States is seeded first in the men's section featuring Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Levon Aronian and Hans Niemann, while India leads the women's seeding. Uzbekistan's rise in international chess is highlighted by its men's team climbing 15 places to sixth in FIDE rankings and its women's team jumping 17 places to 21st, with young players Javokhir Sindarov (4th globally) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (7th globally) representing the country. The tournament will also feature the 3rd Chess Paralympiad with a record 41 teams, and notably, Uzbek player Javokhir Sindarov will compete in Samarkand before facing world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in Geneva for the world chess title in November 2026.

The Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2026 is in its fourth season, running from September 5-13 with a franchise-based format featuring elite players in mixed-gender teams of six. The competition uses a fixed board arrangement with the highest-rated player (Icon) on board one, designated men on boards two and three, women on boards four and five, and a junior player born in 2004 or later on board six. The preliminary stage employs a double round-robin format with the top two teams advancing to the final and third/fourth-place teams competing separately, all games played at rapid time control with 20 minutes plus a 2-second increment from move 41. Top participants include Magnus Carlsen, Alireza Firouzja, and Alexandra Kosteniuk competing for various franchises.

At the second edition of the Legends & Prodigies tournament in Madrid, defending champion Faustino Oro and David Antón Guijarro share the lead after three rounds with 2 points each, both remaining unbeaten. On the second day, all six games ended in draws, including Oro's match against Antón Guijarro where the 12-year-old Argentine grandmaster initially built a promising position with White after Antón chose the Caro-Kann, even winning a piece, but failed to convert the advantage. In his earlier round, Oro drew with Cuenca Jiménez after the Spanish grandmaster blundered on move 28 then declined further risks with exposed king despite being a knight up. Oro continues to demonstrate he can hold his own against experienced grandmasters despite his youth.