Sindarov Within Two Points of Caruana After Samarkand

The first FIDE list since the Samarkand Olympiad, reviewed by ChessBase, reshuffles the middle of the top ten while leaving the very top untouched. Magnus Carlsen (2823) and Hikaru Nakamura (2792) skipped the Olympiad and stay first and second. Alireza Firouzja did not play either and remains tenth at 2757.

Fabiano Caruana is third on 2784, but the more interesting number is right behind him. Javokhir Sindarov, the current World Championship challenger, gained four points to reach 2782, cutting the gap to just two. Caruana, the 2018 runner-up, lost five.

Sindarov’s rise fits the story of the event itself, which Uzbekistan won. The host nation’s strength is visible further down the list too, and our recap of the closing ceremony covers how the gold came together.

Uzbekistan’s gains

Nodirbek Abdusattorov added 18 points to reach 2780 and climbs two places to fifth, just behind Sindarov. Chess.com notes he also took individual gold on board one.

Nodirbek Yakubboev gained 27, one of the biggest jumps among the top 100, and now sits on 2712 in 26th. That puts him in the 2700 club.

Between them, three Uzbek players now occupy fourth, fifth and 26th, a spread that explains why the team was so hard to beat.

Movement elsewhere in the top ten

Wesley So slipped four points and dropped from fifth to sixth on 2770. Praggnanandhaa gained a few and is seventh at 2763.

Vincent Keymer lost only three points playing top board for bronze-medallist Germany. Even so, he fell two places to eighth on 2761, because Abdusattorov and Praggnanandhaa passed him. Small losses cost places when the field is this tightly packed.

Wei Yi jumped from 12th to ninth on 2758. Arjun Erigaisi dropped out of the top ten, losing 13 points, and is now 12th on 2746.

Erigaisi’s Olympiad began with a first-round defeat against the little-known Thai player Laohawirapap Prin, followed by mostly drawn games. He did finish with a last-round win over Peter Leko.

The youngsters

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, 15 and the world’s strongest junior, gained 15 points and jumped to 17th with 2731. Chess.com describes him as the highest-rated 15-year-old ever and credits him with individual silver.

Women’s list

On the women’s list, Zhu Jiner won team and individual gold on board one for China, gained nine points and regained second place on 2559, behind Hou Yifan (2596). China won with what was effectively a second team, since only Zhu came from its very best group. Chinese players still hold the top five places.

Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina, Kateryna Lagno and Polina Shuvalova did not play because the Russian federation remains suspended. Ukraine also left out its best players, though Anna Muzychuk stays eighth.

Among the other gainers, Armenia’s Mariam Mkrtchyan led with +47, reaching 2421 and 32nd. Eleven-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan added 28 and is 64th on 2382, a rise that follows her becoming the youngest WGM in history.

Carissa Yip gained 16, Alice Lee 14 and Humpy Koneru nine.