India arrives in Samarkand with two gold medals to defend, a record field to face and a new generation of rivals ready to challenge its dominance.
The FIDE Chess Olympiad 2026 has begun in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and India arrives as the team everyone wants to beat. The defending champions in both the Open and Women's sections, India won both titles at the 2024 Budapest Olympiad. Now comes the harder task of doing it again.
This year's Olympiad is the biggest in the event's history. A record 400 teams are competing, with 208 in the Open section and 192 in the Women's section. That surpasses the previous record of 380 teams set in Budapest in 2024. The tournament runs from September 16 to 27, with 11 rounds of classical chess.
India’s Open Team Is Loaded With Talent
India enters the Open section as the second seed, behind the United States. The latest team lists put the US at the top with an average rating of 2751, followed by India at 2733. Uzbekistan, China and Germany complete the leading group.
India's line-up brings together some of the biggest names in world chess. World champion D Gukesh is joined by R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi, with Srinath Narayanan serving as captain.
Arjun Erigaisi is India's highest-rated player in the tournament line-up at 2759, followed by Praggnanandhaa at 2750, Nihal Sarin at 2718, Gukesh at 2703 and Vidit Gujrathi at 2697.
The board order will be one of Narayanan's key strategic decisions. India's depth gives the captain several combinations to work with, with Praggnanandhaa, Arjun and Gukesh all capable of leading from the top boards.
For Gukesh, the tournament carries added significance. The 20-year-old world champion is heading towards his title defence against Uzbekistan's Javokhir Sindarov later this year. The Olympiad therefore provides another major test before the biggest individual challenge of his career.
Narayanan has also noted that Gukesh has appeared more relaxed in recent weeks, even finding time for hobbies such as turf cricket during the build-up to the tournament.
Women’s Team Enters as Top Seed
India's women's team enters Samarkand as the top seed, ahead of Georgia, China, Kazakhstan and the United States.
The squad combines experience with a younger generation that has already begun making its mark internationally. Two-time world rapid champion Koneru Humpy leads the team alongside reigning Women's World Cup champion Divya Deshmukh, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri. Swayams Mishra is the captain.
Humpy is India's highest-rated player in the current line-up, followed by Divya, Vaishali, Vantika and Savitha. The strength of the squad gives India considerable flexibility in deciding the board order from round to round.
The women's team also carries the weight of defending a title that India won in historic fashion in Budapest two years ago.
The Hidden Pressure of Playing Together
There is another challenge that does not show up in rating tables: India's leading players are also rivals.
In individual tournaments, the country's top grandmasters regularly compete against one another for titles, rating points and qualification places. That can make the sharing of opening ideas and preparation more complicated when those same players suddenly become teammates.
Narayanan has spoken about this unusual dynamic, recalling particularly intense moments around the 2023 Asian Games, when Indian players found themselves competing against one another shortly before the Candidates cycle.
The team has tried to manage the problem by allowing players to work with separate coaches. The arrangement protects individual preparation while still allowing the squad to function as a team.
That balance could matter over 11 rounds. An Olympiad is not won by one spectacular board. It is built through consistency across the team.
A Rocky Start Away From the Board
India's title defence began with an issue that had nothing to do with chess.
The Indian contingent arrived in Samarkand on September 15 but faced a lengthy wait for hotel rooms. Narayanan publicly criticised the arrangements, while reports from the event described wider accommodation problems affecting other teams as well.
According to reports, Indian players and support staff spent hours waiting for their rooms to be confirmed. Some coaches were temporarily required to share rooms before individual accommodation became available.
The problems were not limited to India. Other participants also reported difficulties involving accommodation, internet access and long journeys between hotels and the playing venue.
The organisational complaints have added an unexpected subplot to an event that was supposed to showcase Samarkand as the new capital of world chess.
Uzbekistan Has Its Own Golden Generation
The hosts have plenty to fight for themselves.
Uzbekistan won the Open gold medal at the 2022 Olympiad in Chennai and returns to Samarkand with another formidable generation of players. The team is led by Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, two of the most prominent young grandmasters in the world.
Sindarov carries particular attention because he will face Gukesh in the upcoming World Championship match. That makes the Olympiad potentially the last major team event in which the two can cross paths before their world title battle.
Abdusattorov, meanwhile, remains one of the strongest players in the field and part of a generation that has transformed Uzbekistan into a major force in international chess.
The hosts therefore have more than home advantage. They have a team capable of challenging the established powers.
The Real Test Begins Now
India enters Samarkand with something every defending champion wants and fears in equal measure: expectations.
The Open team has extraordinary depth. The women's squad is the tournament's top seed. Both arrive with titles to defend and reputations to protect.
But the Olympiad is a long team competition. Ratings can identify favourites, but they cannot account for fatigue, preparation, board order, team chemistry or the pressure of playing for a country.
For India, the challenge is not simply to win another gold medal.
It is to prove that Budapest was not a one-off.
Samarkand will provide the answer.
The FIDE Chess Olympiad 2026 has begun in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and India arrives as the team everyone wants to beat. The defending champions in both the Open and Women's sections, India won both titles at the 2024 Budapest Olympiad. Now comes the harder task of doing it again.
This year's Olympiad is the biggest in the event's history. A record 400 teams are competing, with 208 in the Open section and 192 in the Women's section. That surpasses the previous record of 380 teams set in Budapest in 2024. The tournament runs from September 16 to 27, with 11 rounds of classical chess.
India’s Open Team Is Loaded With Talent
India enters the Open section as the second seed, behind the United States. The latest team lists put the US at the top with an average rating of 2751, followed by India at 2733. Uzbekistan, China and Germany complete the leading group.
India's line-up brings together some of the biggest names in world chess. World champion D Gukesh is joined by R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi, with Srinath Narayanan serving as captain.
Arjun Erigaisi is India's highest-rated player in the tournament line-up at 2759, followed by Praggnanandhaa at 2750, Nihal Sarin at 2718, Gukesh at 2703 and Vidit Gujrathi at 2697.
The board order will be one of Narayanan's key strategic decisions. India's depth gives the captain several combinations to work with, with Praggnanandhaa, Arjun and Gukesh all capable of leading from the top boards.
For Gukesh, the tournament carries added significance. The 20-year-old world champion is heading towards his title defence against Uzbekistan's Javokhir Sindarov later this year. The Olympiad therefore provides another major test before the biggest individual challenge of his career.
Narayanan has also noted that Gukesh has appeared more relaxed in recent weeks, even finding time for hobbies such as turf cricket during the build-up to the tournament.
Women’s Team Enters as Top Seed
India's women's team enters Samarkand as the top seed, ahead of Georgia, China, Kazakhstan and the United States.
The squad combines experience with a younger generation that has already begun making its mark internationally. Two-time world rapid champion Koneru Humpy leads the team alongside reigning Women's World Cup champion Divya Deshmukh, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri. Swayams Mishra is the captain.
Humpy is India's highest-rated player in the current line-up, followed by Divya, Vaishali, Vantika and Savitha. The strength of the squad gives India considerable flexibility in deciding the board order from round to round.
The women's team also carries the weight of defending a title that India won in historic fashion in Budapest two years ago.
The Hidden Pressure of Playing Together
There is another challenge that does not show up in rating tables: India's leading players are also rivals.
In individual tournaments, the country's top grandmasters regularly compete against one another for titles, rating points and qualification places. That can make the sharing of opening ideas and preparation more complicated when those same players suddenly become teammates.
Narayanan has spoken about this unusual dynamic, recalling particularly intense moments around the 2023 Asian Games, when Indian players found themselves competing against one another shortly before the Candidates cycle.
The team has tried to manage the problem by allowing players to work with separate coaches. The arrangement protects individual preparation while still allowing the squad to function as a team.
That balance could matter over 11 rounds. An Olympiad is not won by one spectacular board. It is built through consistency across the team.
A Rocky Start Away From the Board
India's title defence began with an issue that had nothing to do with chess.
The Indian contingent arrived in Samarkand on September 15 but faced a lengthy wait for hotel rooms. Narayanan publicly criticised the arrangements, while reports from the event described wider accommodation problems affecting other teams as well.
According to reports, Indian players and support staff spent hours waiting for their rooms to be confirmed. Some coaches were temporarily required to share rooms before individual accommodation became available.
The problems were not limited to India. Other participants also reported difficulties involving accommodation, internet access and long journeys between hotels and the playing venue.
The organisational complaints have added an unexpected subplot to an event that was supposed to showcase Samarkand as the new capital of world chess.
Uzbekistan Has Its Own Golden Generation
The hosts have plenty to fight for themselves.
Uzbekistan won the Open gold medal at the 2022 Olympiad in Chennai and returns to Samarkand with another formidable generation of players. The team is led by Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, two of the most prominent young grandmasters in the world.
Sindarov carries particular attention because he will face Gukesh in the upcoming World Championship match. That makes the Olympiad potentially the last major team event in which the two can cross paths before their world title battle.
Abdusattorov, meanwhile, remains one of the strongest players in the field and part of a generation that has transformed Uzbekistan into a major force in international chess.
The hosts therefore have more than home advantage. They have a team capable of challenging the established powers.
The Real Test Begins Now
India enters Samarkand with something every defending champion wants and fears in equal measure: expectations.
The Open team has extraordinary depth. The women's squad is the tournament's top seed. Both arrive with titles to defend and reputations to protect.
But the Olympiad is a long team competition. Ratings can identify favourites, but they cannot account for fatigue, preparation, board order, team chemistry or the pressure of playing for a country.
For India, the challenge is not simply to win another gold medal.
It is to prove that Budapest was not a one-off.
Samarkand will provide the answer.
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