The high-profile panel, moderated by Charlize van Zyl, featured Viswanathan Anand, FIDE Interim President, Alisher Sadullaev, 1st Vice President of the Uzbekistan Chess Federation, Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova, from team Uzbekistan (women’s section) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, representing team Uzbekistan (open section).
Charlize van Zyl set the scene by introducing the guests and drawing attention to the Olympiad numbers: nearly 400 teams participating in the main event, with 208 in the open section and 191 in the women’s section, while the Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities has also drawn its biggest field.
Five-time World Champion, and since July, FIDE Interim President, Viswanathan Anand, was the first guest to speak, announcing some sad news: the passing of Georgios Makropoulos, FIDE Vice President and Honorary President of the Greek Chess Federation.
On a brighter note, he went on to explain why the Olympiad is such a treat: “The Olympiad is a record-breaking tournament, with a huge number of teams participating. It’s a place where chess players of all levels compete in the same tournament, a celebration of chess, and that’s what makes every Olympiad special.”
Regarding the numerous complaints about accommodation and other organisational issues that had been raised on social media, Anand acknowledged that there had been some problems: “I would like to acknowledge that there have been certain problems that have cropped up, such as the accommodation for participants, accreditation, visas – some teams are having trouble. I just wanted to mention that we are working very hard together with the local organising committee to address these problems. They have already resolved a lot of issues, and I hope that we can resolve the remaining ones as quickly as possible.”
Subsequently, Mr. Alisher Sadullaev took the floor. The 1st Vice President of the Uzbekistan Chess Federation, one of the people who has spent the last two years turning this city into a chess venue, welcomed everyone to the event.
“This Olympiad is naturally a spotlight for the whole Uzbek chess history and legacy for the world. Uzbekistan has prepared a great number of programs for the whole event. It is one of the hardest challenges because we are organizing three events at the same time: the FIDE Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities, the FIDE Congress, and the Olympiad itself, for which we have been preparing for four years already.”
The third panelist was Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova. Two years ago, she played board one for the United States, helping them secure a bronze medal in Budapest. This week, however, she makes her first Olympiad appearance under the Uzbek colours since 2018.
“I was invited back by the Uzbekistan Federation and government, and I was really happy and pleased. I left for some personal reasons but I love my country: my teammates are amazing, and I am happy to play for my team.”
Before opening the floor to the rest of the media, Charlize introduced the fourth and final member of the panel. Representing the host nation in the open section, the 2021 World Rapid Champion, winner of Wijk aan Zee this year, and Uzbekistan’s board one when they took gold in Chennai: Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Asked how it felt to be competing at home in front of the local crowd, with the added pressure and responsibility, Abdusattorov said: “It’s a great honour to represent our country at the Olympiad. Samarkand has already hosted several big FIDE tournaments and has a lot of organising experience. Most of the players are familiar with the place and the environment. Compared to the Chennai and Budapest Olympiads, our team has improved a lot in this period: today we have two top ten players, and our third board is over 2700, and I think that we arrive in very good form here.”
The full press conference can be viewed on the FIDE YouTube channel.
Written by Michael Rahal
Photos: Michal Walusza