The premier team competition in chess, the 180-nation Chennai Olympiad, ended on Tuesday with a shock result. Uzbekistan, who had an average age of 20 and were seeded only 14th, edged to gold ahead of the three-time winners Armenia and India’s teenagers, while the top seeded United States finished out of the medals.
India’s Gukesh D, 16, and the Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov, 17, stood out as fast-rising talents destined for the world top. The pair took gold and silver for the first board, leaving the world champion, Magnus Carlsen, with the bronze. Carlsen scored an unbeaten 7.5/9 but still dropped rating points, as he has done in every team appearance for Norway since 2007.
