India's women win 4-0 while men prevail 3-1 after Arjun Erigaisi upset at Chess Olympiad in Samarkand

India's teams opened the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, with the women defeating the Dominican Republic 4-0 and the men edging Thailand 3-1 after Arjun Erigaisi lost on the top board to Prin Laohawirapap. Arjun, rated 396 Elo points higher than his opponent, resigned four moves after bringing his queen to the wrong square on move 50 while low on time.

India entered the tournament as the defending champion in both the open and women's sections. Expectations of a comfortable result for the men were tempered by the top-board upset, and R. Praggnanandhaa, India’s top-board player, did not play in the match against Thailand. The opening day also included a politically charged forfeit: Pakistan refused to play Israel and gave a walkover, recorded as 0-4.

On the men's side, Arjun Erigaisi took white but ran into time trouble and erred with his queen on the 50th move, resigning shortly afterwards to Prin Laohawirapap. The Indians secured the overall 3-1 victory through wins by Nihal Sarin, D. Gukesh and Vidit Gujrathi. The individual pairings and results were Nihal Sarin beat Thanadon Kulpruethanon; D. Gukesh beat Faris Alriyami; Vidit Gujrathi beat Tupfah Khumnarokaew.

The Indian women's team recorded a clean sweep against the Dominican Republic, with Koneru Humpy, R. Vaishali, Vantika Agrawal and B. Savitha Shri all winning their games. The individual results were Koneru Humpy beat Franchesca Ramirez Luzon; R. Vaishali beat Miguelina De La Rosa Martinez; Vantika Agrawal beat Mary Loly Gonzalez Peguero; B. Savitha Shri beat Karla Mya Nunez Diaz. That 4-0 scoreline matched expectations for the defending champions in the women’s section.

Other notable open-section results on the opening day included the USA beating Iraq 3.5-0.5, Uzbekistan beating Jamaica 4-0, China beating Uganda 4-0, Germany beating Faroe Islands 4-0 and Azerbaijan beating Morocco 4-0. Hungary recorded a 2.5-1.5 win over Malta, and France defeated Tunisia 4-0.

Additional women's-section results from the first round featured Uzbekistan beating Uganda 4-0, Georgia beating Tunisia 4-0, Kazakhstan beating Botswana 4-0, China beating Zambia 4-0, Ukraine beating Iraq 4-0, Azerbaijan beating Guatemala 4-0, France beating Morocco 4-0 and Poland beating Zimbabwe 4-0.

All of the results reported above came from the opening round of the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand on Wednesday, September 16, 2026.