"In cautious optimism." Rustam Kasimdzhanov on Uzbekistan's chances at the Chess Olympiad and the favorites

"In cautious optimism." Rustam Kasimdzhanov on Uzbekistan's chances at the Chess Olympiad and the favorites

Uzbekistan already knows how to win the Chess Olympiad. Now the task is much more difficult — to repeat this success at the home tournament, when the team is among the favorites and much more attention is focused on it.

The opening ceremony of the competition will take place on September 15 in Samarkand, and the first games will begin the next day. Before the start, three men's and three women's national teams of Uzbekistan are playing their final training matches and preparing for team training camps.

Five grandmasters are included in the first men's national team of Uzbekistan. The highest rating at the time of application belongs to Javokhir Sindarov (2778). He is followed by Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2762), Nodirbek Yakubboev (2685), Shamsiddin Vokhidov (2654), and Mukhiddin Madaminov (2611). By average rating (2720), the team ranks third on the list after the USA (2753) and India (2735).

"Gazeta" columnist Georgy Shvanov spoke with the national team coach, the legend of Uzbek chess Rustam Kasimdzhanov, about what to expect from the team and who is capable of stopping Uzbekistan.

— For us, just like for the girls, the final training camps are coming up. But they will be shorter. Our guys, in fact, are still finishing their last training matches in Tashkent. Mukhiddin Madaminov is currently playing against Aydin Suleymanli from Azerbaijan, and Nodirbek Yakubboev is playing against the Iranian Amin Tabatabaei.

By the time of publication, both matches with classical time control had concluded. Nodirbek Yakubboev defeated Amin Tabatabaei with a score of 3:1, while Mukhiddin Madaminov lost to Aydin Suleymanli — 1.5:4.5.

According to the plan, on Monday (September 7), we will also go to the mountains near Tashkent for a few days. More for team spirit than for training.

— At the request of the players and to get into competitive shape. Right now, Yakubboev (FIDE rating — 2685) is beating Tabatabaei from Iran (2737), a fairly top-tier chess player, in a match.

We have reasons for cautious optimism, it seems to me. Our first two boards are widely known, but the third is also approaching in good shape. Our chances, in theory, should only improve.

— His rating is also decently higher than Yakubboev's today. That is, we did not choose weaker opponents; on the contrary, we chose opponents who are a bit more experienced, maybe a bit stronger than ours, at least by rating.

Our guys are not afraid of challenges, and we are not trying to find softer opponents for them to warm up. They are warming up in the most realistic working conditions.

— This is rapid and blitz. There is also a double opinion on this matter. Some people like to warm up, and the hope is that he will reach his optimal form by the Olympiad.

— This could indeed be useful, yes. Sometimes before an important start, it happens that you need to play something else, less important. Sometimes it happens that some elements of negative energy, tension in the body, remain at that event.

— The final decision is still our sporting secret. The lineups that are on the Internet are not yet by boards. The decision has already been made, but it is not being voiced.

For reference: in team chess, the "first", "second", "third", etc. boards are the positions of the players within the team. At the Olympiad, a team fields four chess players for each match: the first board player meets the opponent's first board, the second meets the second, and so on.

The first board is usually assigned to the strongest or most prestigious player on the team. As a rule, it faces the toughest opposition: the leaders of other national teams, super-grandmasters, contenders for the world crown. Therefore, the first board also has psychological significance — its player is largely perceived as the team leader.

The second board also plays against very strong opponents, but sometimes the lineup is used strategically. A team does not necessarily have to put the player with the highest rating on the first board if it believes that a different order is better in terms of form, psychology, or expected opponents.

At the same time, a point on any board weighs the same: a victory on the first is no more valuable than a victory on the fourth. In a team match, the results of all four games are added up. For example, 2.5:1.5 is a team victory.

— The decision is a collective team one. The guys have a very good relationship with each other. In this regard, everything is fine.

— At the previous Olympiad, for example, our team lost to Vietnam. A team that probably would not have appeared on any list of favorites.

There are many dangerous teams: Poland, Germany, Serbia, England, France. Among the Asian teams, Iran is traditionally dangerous. Turkey has a very young, very dangerous lineup. Traditionally, Azerbaijan is a strong team. Traditionally, Armenia is a dangerous team at the Olympiads.

These are all teams that are not in the top three or four favorites. They are all very dangerous.

And then there are the heavyweights themselves. The four heavyweights are China, the USA, India, and Uzbekistan. And, in principle, different people view them in different orders. The Olympiad will not be an easy walk for anyone.

— The second and third national teams are not part of my tasks. I know that our guys there are very good, very young, very promising. And a match, for example, with the second and even the third national team will not be a walkover for us either.

I didn't mention them because it's our country, but in fact, among the potentially difficult matches are matches with our other national teams. It is always difficult. Psychologically too — both for us and for them. It's a whole story. I hope we manage to avoid such a match.

— Our guys have many coaches. I would not like to elaborate, because this is also information that might be of interest to our opponents. Therefore, I would not like to name names.

I think the best, most pleasant thing is to win the tournament and only after that share all the details. To say: "Here, we won, and now we can spend seven minutes reading out the names of the people who contributed to this."

In our case, these are hundreds, thousands of people who are involved in the work. In fact, a absolutely phenomenal volume of work is being carried out by the Chess Federation and the state.

— I really hope so. For me, even considering that Javokhir Sindarov is playing a world championship match in a couple of months, the Olympiad is still the main event. If only because it is the national team and it is happening in Uzbekistan. Right now, all thoughts are with the Olympiad, and everything that can help, we try to think through to the smallest detail.

Even my wife is flying in to support us. She is a former athlete herself, has been to several Chess Olympiads to support me and the national team. She knows both the guys and chess well, and knows professional sports. That is, we are using our best forces.

— Let's talk a bit about you. Information has appeared that you are running in the elections for Vice President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). If you can, tell us a little about this.

"FIDE Vice President" sounds much cooler than it actually is. There are eight vice presidents, as I understand it, and it is not the second person in the organization. It is such an honorary position, something like a board of directors, a bit of an advisory board.

This is all a first for me and all completely new, and for my part, I will concentrate precisely on the Olympiad itself, on the performance of our national team.

I am coming to Samarkand to help our guys. And what happens there with the elections is up to the delegates who vote. Given that I have a fairly well-known name in the chess world, a good reputation, and the tournament is taking place in Uzbekistan, as I understand it, my chances are quite good. But by no means one hundred percent.

There are a lot of people running who are also well-known, who have already worked in FIDE, like Makropoulos, at the very top. A Chinese woman, an ex-world champion, is running, various people well-known in the chess world are running. Therefore, yes, although I am very, very far from politics, I know that it will not be easy. And this is not what I will be thinking about in Samarkand.

— This is a completely separate thing. I am not in anyone's program, I am not connected with any single person who is trying to run now.

If I am elected, I will be elected not as part of some program or part of someone's, as they say, presidential ticket. If I pass, it will only be because I am loved and valued in the chess world, but not because some of the people were selected.

— There are specifics. It seems to me that it is easier for some chess players to play for a team. Some sense of a shoulder to lean on, a sense of responsibility helps some. I really hope that in Uzbekistan this specificity is rather positive.

And our team now is undoubtedly stronger than four years ago when we won the Olympiad. Therefore, I am in cautious optimism.

— I have played many Olympiads and most of them on the first board. It always seemed to me, and still seems to me, that while all boards are equal and all points are counted equally, the team leader has a certain role.

It always seemed to me that at the Olympiad, players follow the team leader. And if the leader plays well, then in most cases the team plays well too. There is some psychological influence of this moment.

Therefore — yes, I always felt this responsibility. And it seemed to me that it did not press on me. It seemed to me that it was my sacred duty to lead the national team, where for many years I was clearly number one, clearly the strongest chess player and the most experienced.

And now we have a lot of strong chess players, a lot of people who are capable of taking the initiative. Of course, we have a couple of boards where the guys are still a little bit less experienced. They will follow our first boards and pull their level up to the required one.

Then we will have that very team that claims first place.

Note that three candidates are registered for the FIDE presidential elections, which will be held on September 26 in Samarkand. German entrepreneur and co-founder of Freestyle Chess Jan Henrik Buettner is running for election alongside British International Master, organizer, and journalist Malcolm Pein.

WR Chess founder Vadim Rosenstein has run in tandem with Singaporean entrepreneur Gordon Tang. His campaign team also includes the First Deputy Chairman of the National Olympic Committee of Uzbekistan, Otabek Umarov.

The third candidate is Kazakh entrepreneur and founder of Freedom Holding Timur Turlov, who has been heading the Kazakhstan Chess Federation since 2023. His candidate for the post of Deputy President is Viswanathan Anand — multiple world champion and current Deputy President of FIDE.