Abdusattorov Nodirbek and Magnus Carlsen go back
There is undoubtably a rising young generation of chess players who already claim their spots in the World’s elite. Among them is the 18-year-old Uzbek GM Abdusattorov Nodirbek who won the 2021 World Rapid Championship and became an Olympic Champion before he turned 18!
Abdussatorov’s first major success was when he became the 2012 World Youth Champion, Under-8 division, and 3 years later he became the youngest player (11 years old) to enter the top-100 juniors.
In October 2017, he won the third and last norm at the 2017 Mikhail Chigorin Memorial Tournament and became the second youngest GM at that time.
In December 2021, Abdusattorov defeated GMs Levon Aronian, Boris Gelfand, Magnus Carlsen, and Ian Nepomniachtchito become the World Rapid Chess Champion.
This year, Abdusattorov scored 8.5/11 and won team gold at the FIDE World Chess Olympiad in Chennai, playing on the first board for Uzbekistan, and defeating GM Fabiano Caruana and GM D. Gukesh. Just before this year’s World Rapid and Blitz Championship, Abdusattorov won the Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2022 in Baku, with 5 blitz rounds to spare!
On Round 4 of the ongoing World Rapid Championship, Abdusattorov faced Carlsen, and even if he lost the game, he was satisfied with his performance as he “only lost to Magnus”!
After that game, Tarjei J. Svensen and Chessbase India tweeted two photos that these two players share and it was really heartwarming. It’s definitely a great feeling to grow next to your idol and keep pushing to outgrow him. Abdusattorov is one to watch!
