Samarkand, Sep 15: India’s chess contingent faced an unexpected accommodation crisis in Samarkand on Tuesday, with players including world champion D Gukesh reportedly waiting for rooms for nearly five hours after arriving in Uzbekistan ahead of the 2026 FIDE Chess Olympiad.
The Indian team landed at Samarkand airport but was yet to be allotted rooms even after several hours, with the players and support staff reportedly having no clarity on when the accommodation arrangements would be completed.
India’s non-playing captain Srinath Narayanan highlighted the issue on social media, describing the team’s experience as “terrible” and expressing frustration over the lack of information.
“Having a terrible experience at the @FIDE_chess 2026 Olympiad,” Srinath said.
He added, “The team landed 5 hours ago at Samarkand airport. The team still haven’t been allotted rooms, with absolutely no clarity on when it’ll be allotted.”
Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi also voiced his disappointment over the arrangements, saying the team was still waiting for the accommodation issue to be resolved.
“Very poor first impressions of the Samarkand, Uzbekistan Olympiad 2026. Still waiting,” Vidit posted on social media.
The accommodation trouble comes just ahead of the opening of the prestigious team event, where India will enter as defending champions. The Indian men’s and women’s teams had created history by winning gold medals in their respective sections at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest.
India have once again fielded strong squads in a bid to retain both titles. The Open team comprises Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi, with Srinath Narayanan as captain.
The women’s team features Koneru Humpy, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri B, with Swayams Mishra serving as captain.
The 2026 Chess Olympiad is scheduled to get underway after the opening ceremony on September 15, followed by 11 rounds of classical chess.
The Samarkand edition is also set to break the participation record, with 400 teams entered across the Open and Women’s competitions. The Open section has 208 teams, while 192 teams will compete in the women’s event, surpassing the previous record of 380 teams set at Budapest in 2024.
