‘Terrible experience’: Team India left stranded for 5 hours at FIDE Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan

New Delhi: Indian Grandmaster and coach Srinath Narayanan expressed dissatisfaction on Tuesday regarding the logistical arrangements for the FIDE Chess Olympiad, stating that the national squad had not been allotted accommodation five hours after landing.

Team India arrived in Samarkand for the 2026 FIDE Chess Olympiad, which commences Wednesday. Srinath, serving as the non-playing captain for the men's team, took to social media to detail the delays.

"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 posted on X.

The 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad runs in Samarkand from 15 September through 27 September, featuring roughly 200 national teams competing across the Open and Women’s divisions at the Silk Road International Exhibition Centre.

India enters the tournament as defending Open champions, returning four members from their gold-medal-winning Budapest squad. Arjun Erigaisi (2759) leads the Indian team, followed by Praggnanandhaa R. (2750) on board two and Nihal Sarin (2718) on board three. Reigning World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju (2703) is slated fourth, with Vidit Gujrathi (2697) completing the fifth spot.

In the previous edition, Gukesh claimed individual gold as India finished four match points ahead of the field, while Arjun secured individual gold on board three.

However, historical trends present a challenge, as no country has successfully defended the Open title since Armenia's back-to-back victories in 2006 and 2008. The previous five tournaments yielded four different winners: China in 2014 and 2018, the United States in 2016, Uzbekistan in 2022, and India in 2024.

India also starts the Women’s event as defending champions and top seeds. Humpy Koneru (2524) returns to lead the line-up after missing the Budapest event, followed by Divya Deshmukh (2490), Vaishali Rameshbabu (2489), Vantika Agrawal, and junior player Savitha Shri B., under team captain Swayams Mishra.

IANS