Nodirbek Yakubboev

Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzbek: Нодирбек Ёқуббоев/Nodirbek Yoqubboyev; born 23 January 2002) is an Uzbek chess grandmaster.

Nodirbek Yakubboev
Yakubboev in 2024
Country	Uzbekistan
Born	23 January 2002 (2002-01-23) (age 23)
Title	Grandmaster (2019)
FIDE rating	2665 (May 2025)
Peak rating	2668 (November 2024)
Ranking	No. 60 (May 2025)
Peak ranking	No. 60 (December 2024)

Career

He has won the Uzbekistani Chess Championship three times; in 2016,^[1] 2018 and 2020.^[2] He came second in the Zone 3.4 Zonal Open Championship in 2021, qualifying for the Chess World Cup 2021.^[3][4]

In 2022, he won the gold medal at the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai with the Uzbekistan team, playing in 2nd board, where he won the individual bronze medal, scoring eight points out of eleven and having a performance rating of 2,759.^[5]

In 2023 he won the Qatar Masters tournament in a tie-break playoff against fellow Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov.^[6]

In June 2024, Yakubboev participated in the UzChess Cup Masters, finishing first ahead of Nodirbek Abdusattorov on tiebreaks. He scored 5½/9 (+2-0=7), winning the tournament as the bottom-seeded player.^[7]

During the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025 Yakubboev refused to shake hands with four female opponents "for religious reasons".^[8] He later apologized to Vaishali Rameshbabu and explained how he respects her as a player, and both the players ended the controversy on respectable terms.^[9] Yakubboev lost his match against Vaishali.

Family

He has an older sister, Nilufar Yakubbaeva, who has won the Women's section of the Uzbekistani Chess Championship multiple times.^[2]