Uzbekistan was catapulted into the chess world when one of its nationals, nine-year-old Nodirbek Abdusattorov, beat a FIDE rated 2600 chess grandmaster, Andrei Zhigalko, in the first round of a local tournament. The grandmaster made no erratic blunders. Rather, it was precise play that ensured Nodirbek’s victory. Zhigalko played the black pieces and the popular Sicilian defence, but instead of playing the usual setup, White opted for an old move. a favourite of Bobby Fischer, 3. d3, closing the centre. It represented an ingenious move by Nodirbek to counter suspected home preparation.
But Nodirbek obviously was not fully satisfied with his lone grandmaster victory, and proceeded to annihilate a second grandmaster, his compatriot Ruslan Khusnutdinov, in the same tournament. By doing so, he dispelled any doubt that the win against Zhigalko was a chance occurrence. Nodirbek came to national prominence in Uzbekistan when he won the Under-8 gold medal for his country at the 2012 World Youth Championships that was held in Maribor, Slovenia. Uzbekistan is a strong chess-playing nation having produced a FIDE world champion, grandmaster Rustam Kasimdzhanov.
Chess games
The following games were taken from the Ninth Edmonton International Chess Tournament which was played from June 20-29, 2014.
Pajwani v Ivanchuk
White: Raja Panjwani
Black: Vassily Ivanchuk
1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e6 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O Be7 7. b3 O-O 8. Bb2 d6 9. e3 Nbd7 10. d4 Ne4 11. Qe2 f5 12. Nxe4 Bxe4 13. Rfd1 Qe8 14. Ne1 Nf6 15. f3 Bb7 16. Nd3 Rc8 17. e4 cxd4 18. e5 Nd7 19. Bxd4 dxe5 20. Nxe5 Nxe5 21. Bxe5 Rf7 22. f4 Bc5+ 23. Kh1 Bxg2+ 24. Qxg2 Rd7 25. Rxd7 Qxd7 26. Qf3 Rd8 27. Bc3 a5 28. Kg2 h6 29. Rc1 g5 30. h3 Qd3 31. Qh5 Qe4+ 32. Kh2 gxf4 33. Qg6+ Kf8 34. Qg7+ Ke8 35. Qg8+ Kd7 36. Rd1+ Kc6 37. Qxd8 Qe2+ 0-1.
Panjwani v So
White: Raja Panjwani
Black: Wesley So
1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. b4 f6 4. e3 e5 5. c5 a5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. Bc4 axb4 8. Nxe5 fxe5 9. Qh5+ g6 10. Qxe5+ Qe7 11. Qxh8 Nf6 12. d3 Be6 13. Nd2 Nbd7 14. a3 dxe3 15. fxe3 b3 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. Bxe6 Qh4+ 18. g3 Nxg3 19. Rg1 Ne4+ 20. Kd1 Ndxc5
21. Qe5 Nf2+ 22. Ke2 Nfxd3 23. Qd4 Qf2+ 0-1.
Panjwani v Wang
White: Raja Panjwani
Black: Richard Wang
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Nh4 Bg4 7. h3 Bh5 8. g4 Bg6 9. Nxg6 hxg6 10. e4 e5 11. Bxc4 Qxd4 12. Bxf7+ Kxf7 13. Qb3+ Ke8 14. Qxb7 Qb6 15. Qxa8 Nxg4 16. Be3 Nxe3 17. fxe3 Qxe3+ 18. Kd1 Bd6 19. Kc2 Qf2+ 20. Kb1 Qb6 21. a5 Qa6 22. Ra3 Kd7 23. Rb3 Kc8 24. Rd1 Bc7 25. Na4 Rd8 26. Rxb8+ Bxb8 27. Rxd8+ 1-0.
Panjwani v Krush
White: Raja Panjwani
Black: Irina Krush
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bd6 6. O-O Bb7 7. b3 Qe7 8. Nc3 a6 9. Bb2 Nbd7 10. cxd5 exd5 11. a3 O-O 12. b4 b5 13. Nd2 Nb6 14. Re1 Ne4 15. Ndxe4 dxe4 16. Bc2 f5 17. Bb3+ Kh8 18. Rc1 f4 19. exf4 Bxf4 20. Rc2 e3 21. fxe3 Bxe3+ 22. Kh1 Qg5 23. d5 Rad8 24. Ne4 Qf4 25. Ng3 Rg8 26. Nh5 Qg5 27. Nxg7 Rxg7 28. Bxg7+ Kxg7 29. Rxc7+ Rd7 30. Rxd7+ Nxd7 31. Qe2 1-0.
