Chess Olympiad 2026 set for Samarkand from September 15 to 27; opening round starts September 16
The 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad will be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from September 15 to 27, 2026, with the opening ceremony on September 15 and the first competitive round on September 16; India enter as the defending champions in both the Open and Women’s sections.
The tournament features separate Open and Women’s events played over 11 rounds using the Swiss-system format, and each team will field five players with four playing in each round and one reserve. India won both sections at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest and its Women’s team for Samarkand comprises Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh, R Vaishali, Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri B.
All games will take place at the Silk Road EXPO complex in Samarkand, with the opening ceremony on September 15 and the competition concluding with Round 11 and the closing ceremony on September 27. Rounds one to six are scheduled from September 16 to 21, followed by a rest day on September 22; rounds seven to ten will run from September 23 to 26 and the final round is on September 27. Rounds 1-10 are due to start at 3:00 PM local time (3:30 PM IST) while the final round will begin at 11:00 AM local time (11:30 AM IST).
Viewers can follow live action via FIDE’s official digital platforms and Chess.com’s live coverage, and FIDE regulations state that live broadcasting and Internet TV coverage will be provided through official event domains and agreed broadcast platforms. The same venue will host both the Open and Women’s competitions throughout the event.
In the Open section the United States top the seed list with an average rating of 2753 and have named Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Hans Niemann and Awonder Liang. Defending champions India are seeded second with an average rating of 2735, comprising D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi. Uzbekistan’s squad includes Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, while China will be led by Ding Liren and Wei Yi.
Other strong Open teams listed in the field include Germany, the Netherlands, Azerbaijan, Hungary and France, with participating stars such as Anish Giri, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Richard Rapport and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. In the Women’s competition the leading entries named are India, Georgia, Kazakhstan, China and the United States.
Related coverage noted that the torch was handed over to Javokhir Sindarov ahead of the games, and the event arrives with India defending both titles and Uzbekistan hosting on home soil.
The Olympiad’s final competitive session is Round 11 on September 27, followed by the closing ceremony the same day; match times and live broadcast details are available through FIDE’s official channels and Chess.com’s live service.