Chess players are awarded with 600 million soms, medals and Equinox

On the night of 11 August, the national team of Uzbekistan returned to Tashkent, winning the championship at the 44th World Chess Olympiad in Chennai city in India.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov, the adviser to the president on Youth, Science, Education, Health, Culture, and Sports affairs Abdujabbor Abduvokhidov, Minister of Culture Ozodbek Narzarbekov, the governor of Tashkent Jakhongir Ortikhodjayev, Vice President of the Asian Olympic Council Otabek Umarov and Vice President of the Uzbekistan Football Association Ravshan Ermatov as well as the representatives of the public, welcomed the champions at Tashkent International Airport named after Islam Karimov.

First, Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov read out the congratulations of the president of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to the chess players.

Following this, Jakhongir Vokhidov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Nodirbek Yokubboyev, Javokhir Sindorov, and Shamsiddin Vokidov, who won the 44th World Chess Olympics without losing a single time, received a cash prize of 600 million soms, an Equinox car and an “Honor of Uzbekistan” medal.

The Uzbekistan women’s team took part in the chess Olympiad, which was attended by representatives of 188 countries, and took 31 places.  Therefore Nilufar Yokubboyeva, Umida Omonova, Marjona Malikova, Maftuna Bobomurodova, and Afruza Khamdamova were awarded the “Builder of the Future” medal.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who performed heroism in the last match of the national team of Uzbekistan against India-2, shared his thoughts and noted that a match with Gukesh, who is known as the favorite in the competition, was a matter of life and death for Uzbekistan team.

"Hi, on behalf of the team, I would like to thank our president and our people for their support. We felt your confidence in every game.  Our team has never lost and has become the champion over more than 180 countries.  This is our first victory and we have proven that we are not inferior to anyone.  We will do our best to win the next competition. The battle with Gukesh was a decisive battle because if we had not missed an opportunity in the match with India, we would have secured at least 3rd place, regardless of the result in the last round.  Many people did not believe in my victory.  I did not lose vigilance and took advantage of my opponent’s mistake, - Abdusattorov says.

In an interview after the awarding ceremony, Uzbek national team captain Jakhongir Vokhidov also said that at the next Olymiads they can keep the trophy in Uzbekistan.

Of course, there is a confidence that Uzbekistan will win the cup at the next Olympiads because our team is very young.  It takes a lot of work. The international rivals, especially the United States of America, have learned about Uzbekistan’s intellectual potential.  Now they’re trying to find our weakness.  We will try to become champions in competitions that will be held in our country in 2026," - Vokhidov said.

It should be noted that the national team of Uzbekistan scored 19 points in 11 matches held at the Chess Olympiad, and the national team of Armenia, which scored the same number of points, was left behind in additional indicators.  The previous best result for Uzbekistan was in 1992. Then Uzbek chess players won silver medals.

For information, the 2024 World Chess Olympics will be held in Budapest, the capital of Hungary.  Uzbekistan won the opportunity to host the competition in 2026.