Olympiad 2022: 17-year old Nodirbek Abdusattorov beats Fabiano Caruana
Monday’s round in the 44th Chess Olympiad was certainly eventful with Uzbekistan holding the strongest team USA to a draw after 17-year-old Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat Fabiano Caruana on board 1.
The chess world applauded Uzbeki GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov earlier in 2021 after beating the World Champion and dethroning him as the World Rapid Champion. Abdusattorov not only became the youngest Champion in Rapid, but also won some of the strongest players in the world like the 2021-2022 Challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi to show character, and consistency in his playing style.
Abdusattorov is currently playing at the Olympiad 2022 representing his birth country, Uzbekistan, which formed a team of young but promising players. In Round 4 Uzbekistan faced the big rating favourites in the open section, USA, to hold a draw after Abdusattorov beating World No.5 (now World No.8 on live ratings ) Fabiano Caruana on top board.
Caruana stayed loyal to his dynamic style and sacrificed two pawns to create compensation. On the other hand, Abdusattorov stayed calm, finding one precise move after the other until reaching a winning position with two “clear” extra pawns to grab a desired point!
Abdusattorov gained 6.3 rating points in this game alone (12.9 total in the Olympiad), and is currently the fourth highest-rated junior player in the world, with a remarkable 2689.9 rating!
After Monday’s results five teams remained on top of the standings with 8 match points: India 2, Armenia, Israel, England and Spain.
