New Delhi, September 15, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Indian Grandmaster and coach Srinath Narayanan has raised concerns over arrangements for the 2026 FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, saying Team India was still waiting for room allotments nearly five hours after arriving at the airport.
Srinath, who is the non-playing captain of the Indian men’s team, described the experience as “terrible” in a post on X, citing a lack of clarity over accommodation.
“Having a terrible experience at the @FIDE_chess 2026 Olympiad. The team landed 5 hours ago at Samarkand airport. The team still hasn’t been allotted rooms, with absolutely no clarity on when it’ll be allotted,” he wrote.
The 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad is being held in Samarkand from September 15 to 27, with around 200 national teams competing in the Open and Women’s sections at the Silk Road International Exhibition Centre.
India enters the Open section as defending champions, with four members of its gold-medal-winning Budapest team returning. Arjun Erigaisi (2759) heads the line-up, followed by Praggnanandhaa R. (2750), Nihal Sarin (2718), reigning World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju (2703) and Vidit Gujrathi (2697).
At the 2024 Olympiad, India finished four match points clear of the field, with Gukesh winning individual gold and Arjun also claiming individual gold on board three.
However, defending the Open title will be a major challenge. No country has retained the title since Armenia won consecutive Olympiads in 2006 and 2008. The last five editions have had four different champions — China in 2014 and 2018, the United States in 2016, Uzbekistan in 2022 and India in 2024.
India also begins the Women’s competition as defending champions and top seeds. Humpy Koneru (2524), returning after missing the Budapest Olympiad, leads the team, followed by Divya Deshmukh (2490), Vaishali Rameshbabu (2489), Vantika Agrawal and young Savitha Shri B. Swayams Mishra is the captain.
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