Uzbekistan, the host nation, claimed the open gold medals at the 2026 Chess Olympiad, the biennial international team tournament held in Samarkand last week. India, the defending champions, finished second, with Germany taking a surprise third place, and the top-seeded United States coming in fourth.
The host team led almost from the start, with world No 5 Nodirbek Abdusattorov and world title challenger Javokhir Sindarov contributing significantly. The Uzbekistan government awarded each of the five players $200,000 (£178,000) and the coach, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, $50,000.
In individual achievements, England's 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan broke the world age record for the youngest ever Woman Grandmaster (WGM). Her performance included six wins and draws against two current world top 20 players, achieving her second norm for the international master (IM) title.
Separately, Timur Turlov, a 38-year-old Russian-born entrepreneur from Kazakhstan, was elected as the new president of Fide, the world chess body, last Saturday. He secured 96 votes in the initial ballot and defeated Wadim Rosenstein 110-85 in a run-off.