NEW DELHI: The 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad is being held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from September 15 to 27, with the opening ceremony already held and the first round on September 16.India enter the tournament as the defending champions in both the Open and Women’s sections, after creating history by winning both gold medals in Budapest in 2024. Around 200 national teams are competing across the two sections.
Format and schedule
The Olympiad is a team event played over 11 rounds under the Swiss system. Each team has five players, but only four play in any particular round, with the fifth available as a reserve. A match therefore consists of four individual games.A team win earns two match points, a draw one and a defeat none. The team with the most match points after 11 rounds wins the title.The competition is being played at the Silk Road International Exhibition Centre.Rounds 1 to 6 are scheduled from September 16 to 21, followed by a rest day on September 22.Rounds 7 to 11 will be played from September 23 to 27, with the closing ceremony on September 27. Games begin at 3pm local time, or 3.30pm IST, while the final round starts at 11am local time, or 11.30am IST.
| Date | Round | India time |
| Sep 16 | Round 1 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 17 | Round 2 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 18 | Round 3 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 19 | Round 4 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 20 | Round 5 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 21 | Round 6 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 22 | Rest day | — |
| Sep 23 | Round 7 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 24 | Round 8 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 25 | Round 9 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 26 | Round 10 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 27 | Round 11 | 11.30am |
India’s teams
India’s Open team is led by R Praggnanandhaa (2761) on Board 1, followed by Arjun Erigaisi (2759), Nihal Sarin (2718), world champion D Gukesh (2703) and Vidit Gujrathi (2697). Srinath Narayanan is the captain. India are seeded second in the Open section.The decision to place Gukesh on Board 4, after he played on top board in India’s previous two Olympiads, is one of the major talking points. Praggnanandhaa will face the strongest opposition on Board 1, while the arrangement gives India considerable depth lower down the order.The women’s team features Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh, R Vaishali, Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri, with Swayams Mishra as captain. India are the top seeds in the women’s section.India’s biggest Open rivals include hosts Uzbekistan, USA and China, while Georgia, Kazakhstan, China and USA are among the leading challengers in the women’s event. Uzbekistan, led by Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, will have home advantage.
How are pairings decided?
The Olympiad follows the Swiss system. The first-round pairings are based on team rankings, while subsequent opponents are determined by teams’ results.Teams with similar scores are generally paired against each other, meaning India’s opponents will become tougher if it keeps winning. No two teams can meet more than once. Each team fields four players in a match from its five-member squad.For India, the objective is straightforward but unprecedented: defend the double crown won in Budapest two years ago.
