USA v Uzbekistan match foreshadows chess battle for Olympiad top prize

Two of the top four chess nations will go head to head in Miami on 27-28 July

The USA and Uzbekistan are among the world's current four best chess teams, along with India and China, so the announcement that the pair will meet at Miami on 27-28 July in an all-play-all rapid and blitz Scheveningen format is sure to create interest as a guide to what may happen when the 200-nation classical Olympiad takes place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from 15-27 September. Full details of the forthcoming matchare here.

The two teams in Miami will both be at virtually full strength. The USA will field the world Nos 2 and 3, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, plus the world No 7, Wesley So, and the world Nos 17 and 22, Leinier Dominguez and Levon Aronian. Only the world No 19, Hans Niemann, might have made it stronger.