WR Chess Comes to America: USA Edge Uzbekistan 14–10

Team USA beat Uzbekistan 14–10 in the first WR Chess event held on American soil, winning the rapid day 5–3 and the blitz day 9–7. The scoreline undersells how close it was: Uzbekistan tied the match after the first blitz round and again after the fifth, before the Americans pulled ahead for good in rounds six and seven.

The format was a Scheveningen match — four boards, every American facing every Uzbek — with Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Levon Aronian and captain Leinier Dominguez for the USA against Uzbekistan's full national team: Javokhir Sindarov, the 2026 World Championship challenger, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Nodirbek Yakubboev, Shamsiddin Vokhidov and Mukhiddin Madaminov.

Rapid: The US Never Trails

Levon Aronian was the best individual performer of the rapid day, scoring 2.5/3, while Abdusattorov's 3/4 kept Uzbekistan in touch without ever levelling the match. The U.S. led from the first round and had its closest call in round two, when Uzbekistan needed just a draw on the last relevant board to tie the score — Nakamura had already lost to Sindarov in a swift 22 moves, a game Sindarov called simple preparation: "I think he knows everything, but he forgot this line." Wesley So saved the round for the Americans, and Nakamura summed up the near-miss himself: a "slight mishap, but Wesley saved us." Uzbekistan won the final round of the day, but the U.S. had already banked enough to close it out 5–3.

World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Blitz: Level Twice, Then Gone

Uzbekistan opened the second day by immediately tying the match, Abdusattorov beating Nakamura in the only decisive game of the round — "every sacrifice Hikaru made was accepted," in commentator Yasser Seirawan's summary. The U.S. answered by winning the next two rounds to go back in front, only for Uzbekistan to win two rounds running and level the match again at 9–9.

The turning point came from behind. Caruana, by his own admission "completely losing" against Yakubboev, survived a mating attack he hadn't even seen and won anyway: "I didn't even know the match situation, I was just trying not to lose on the spot." The following round, Team USA won three of four boards, Nakamura closing it out with what he later called "probably the best game that I've played" in the event. The match was decided with a round still to play; both sides finished it out, drew 2–2, and the final score read 14–10.

In the end, Hikaru Nakamura was the match winner. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Voices After the Match

"I think all of us had our moments of greatness and stupidity, but ultimately when it mattered, we came through," Nakamura said. Aronian, who found out only afterwards that his team had already won the decisive round, called it "a pleasant surprise" — and added that beating Uzbekistan had "always been my dream." Dominguez pointed to the finish: "Very happy with the way the team came through in the last three rounds, which were the most important." Nakamura and Aronian agreed on where the difference lay: "We're a little stronger on boards three and four, and that's really the only thing that separated us."

Abdusattorov took the loss well. "What separates us from the rest of the teams is friendship and very good team spirit," he said, adding that the format suited his team.

So had warm words for the opponents: "Uzbekistan is no joke. They're still improving each year... Sindarov, his talent is limitless, his potential is limitless!"

So had the last word for the Americans, thanking organiser Wadim Rosenstein directly on social media: "Thank you for putting up the USA versus Uzbekistan match. It was not only a lot of fun but USA won!" He closed with a nod to the opposition: "Thank you Uzbekistan for really good sportsmanship!"

A hard fought match with team spirit and sportsmanship on both sides. | Photo: John Brezina

A Family Affair, and a New Way to Watch

Dominguez brought his son along to Miami, who was interviewed alongside his father by WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni and had a go at the board himself. WR Chess also used the match to offer a new broadcast format, letting viewers build their own multi-camera view of the action rather than follow one fixed feed. Chess personality MrDodgy was impressed: "This is a very nice way to follow chess — you can choose your own combination of cameras. It's a fun test in a rapid match, but this will be awesome for big opens, the Olympiad etc."

An individual view for everyone with plenty of cameras to choose from. | Screenshot

Looking Ahead to Samarkand

Uzbekistan fielded the exact team it will send to the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand this September. The Americans will look different there — Hans Niemann and Awonder Liang replace Nakamura and Dominguez.