Uzbekistan in the Top 8: Just 1 Point Needed to Break Into the World’s Top Six
Uzbekistan’s chess ranking has risen another place in the world standings. In FIDE’s federation rankings for August 2026, the country placed eighth with an average rating of 2626 points.
The most interesting detail is that Azerbaijan and Ukraine, ranked sixth and seventh, are separated from Uzbekistan by just one rating point. France and the Netherlands remained behind Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan climbed one place
The International Chess Federation’s “Top Federations Open” ranking is based on the average rating of the 10 highest-rated chess players in each country. This means it reflects not just the strength of one or two stars, but the overall strength of the entire national chess school.
Uzbekistan, which was ninth the previous month, climbed one place in the August rankings and entered the top eight.
Average rating of the national federation’s top 10 chess players:
2626 points.
This result brings Uzbekistan very close to traditionally strong chess nations such as Germany, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
Just one point short of the top six
Competition in the rankings is especially tight between fifth and ninth place.
Germany’s score is 2634 points. Azerbaijan and Ukraine have 2627 points each. Uzbekistan follows them with 2626 points.
The differences are as follows:
8 points behind Germany;
1 point behind Azerbaijan and Ukraine;
3 points ahead of France;
13 points ahead of the Netherlands.
Thus, even a small rating increase for one or two of the top 10 players could lift Uzbekistan to sixth place at the same time.
The world’s 10 strongest chess federations
Place | Country | Top-10 average rating |
|---|---|---|
1 | USA | 2723 |
2 | India | 2705 |
3 | China | 2663 |
4 | Russia | 2641 |
5 | Germany | 2634 |
6 | Azerbaijan | 2627 |
7 | Ukraine | 2627 |
8 | Uzbekistan | 2626 |
9 | France | 2623 |
10 | Netherlands | 2613 |
The USA leads the rankings with 2723 points. India is second with 2705 points, while China is third with 2663.
Uzbekistan trails the USA by 97 points. However, the gap with several of Europe’s strongest chess nations has nearly disappeared.
The result does not depend only on two leaders
Uzbekistani chess has attracted considerable attention in recent years thanks to the strong results of Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Abdusattorov. However, the federation rankings take the country’s 10 strongest chess players into account.
Therefore, eighth place also indicates that a strong national reserve has been built in Uzbek chess. To improve the rating, not only the leaders’ results matter, but also those of the next eight grandmasters.
Under this system:
one star’s extremely high rating is not enough;
at least 10 strong chess players are needed;
every rating change in an international tournament affects the overall score;
the progress of young grandmasters can move the federation higher.
Thus, Uzbekistan’s entry into the top eight is the result not of individual players’ success, but of overall growth across the national chess school.
France and the Netherlands have been left behind
France has a representative of the world elite in Alireza Firouzja, while the Netherlands has Anish Giri. Nevertheless, the average rating of the countries’ top 10 players turned out to be lower than Uzbekistan’s.
Uzbekistan is:
3 points ahead of France;
13 points ahead of the Netherlands.
This is not a large gap. Therefore, the performance of every top-10 player in upcoming tournaments could change the countries’ positions.
The main goal now is the top six
The current ranking situation has set a new target for Uzbekistan. To enter the top five, it must close the eight-point gap with Germany. To reach the top six, it needs just one more point.
To achieve this, the players in the top 10 must score consistently in international tournaments without losing rating points. In particular, it will be crucial for young grandmasters to establish themselves at the 2600-plus level.
The August rankings show that Uzbekistan has evolved from a promising force into one of the established leading nations in world chess. The next step is very close: the country is separated from the top six by just one rating point.
Do you think Uzbekistan can also break into the world’s top five in the coming months? Share your opinion in the comments and send the article to sports fans on Telegram or other social networks!
Comments 0
…