Nodirbek Abdusattorov

Uzbekistan's top player, and the man who took Magnus Carlsen the distance in the 2026 Freestyle Chess semifinal before losing 3-1.

By Carl Brodsky

In Chess960

Abdusattorov reached the semifinal of the 2026 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship, where he faced Carlsen across four games. Two were drawn; Carlsen won the other two, including a sharp must-win game seven where Abdusattorov's position collapsed in the middlegame, closing the match 3-1 and ending his run at the semifinal stage.

Outside Chess960

Abdusattorov, born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 2004, qualified for the grandmaster title at 13 — one of the youngest ever to do so — and is Uzbekistan's highest-rated player. His signature result came in 2021, when he won the World Rapid Chess Championship at 17, beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in a tiebreak to become the youngest World Rapid Champion ever and the youngest player to win an open world title in any time format, breaking a record Carlsen himself had held. He also won individual and team gold with Uzbekistan at the 2022 Chess Olympiad.