Abdusattorov hopes to benefit from Carlsen collaboration

Before arriving in Budapest as rivals, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Magnus Carlsen spent part of October working together in Spain. For the 22-year-old Uzbek, it was an opportunity to exchange ideas with the World No. 1, and the beginning of a collaboration he hopes will continue.

“I think it’s a very uncommon thing among top players to work with each other. But I was very happy to join the camp with Magnus. We played a lot of training games, and we shared ideas, our visions for chess,” Abdusattorov told The Hindu on the sidelines of Total Chess World Championship Tour pilot here.

The arrangement followed a conversation with Carlsen’s long-time coach, Peter Heine Nielsen. Abdusattorov had expressed interest in training with the Norwegian, who subsequently invited him during an e-sports event. Still considering himself an improving player, Abdusattorov hopes the exchange will help his results.

The Total Chess pilot’s strong field, new format, and opportunity to earn FIDE Circuit points towards Candidates qualification appealed to him. His successes this year include the Tata Steel Masters and Prague Masters titles.

However, having missed out on the Candidates in the previous cycle, he wants to change his approach. “I don’t want to make the same mistake again. In the previous cycle, I tried really hard; I wanted it very badly. In the end, this kind of mindset didn’t bring me a lot of benefits, and it didn’t work for me,” he said.

“I’ll come up with different ideas and different mindsets, and hopefully it will work out.” While his immediate priorities are improving his chess and rating, teammate Javokhir Sindarov is preparing to challenge D. Gukesh for the World Championship in Geneva.

Together, the Uzbeks helped their country win September’s home Olympiad in Samarkand, adding to its 2022 triumph in Chennai. “We are very motivated. We have a clear goal to make Uzbekistan the number one country in chess.

We are working on that goal,” he said. Abdusattorov credited government and federation support for those achievements and plans to open a chess academy, following Sindarov’s example. He sees the attention around Uzbekistan’s leading players as an opportunity to encourage parents to introduce children to chess.

“But our job, I think, is to supply our people with our results, with our achievements. And I think that’s the most important part.”