India secure men's silver and women's bronze at Samarkand Chess Olympiad
India's teams took medals in both sections at the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand on Sunday, with the men's side claiming silver and the women's team bronze. The outcomes made India the only nation to finish on the podium in both the Open and Women's sections at the 2026 Olympiad.
The Indian men entered the event as defending champions after their double gold in Budapest in 2024 and finished behind hosts Uzbekistan in the Open section. The women's team faced a tougher defence of their title but recovered in the closing rounds to reach the medal positions. Both squads closed out the tournament with podium finishes for their federation.
India had moved into second place going into the final round after a 3.5-0.5 victory over Uzbekistan-2 in Round 10. D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin registered wins in that Round 10 match. That result set the stage for the decisive final-day matches.
On the last day India faced Hungary while Uzbekistan took on Ukraine in the match for gold. India drew their final fixture to secure the silver medal, and Uzbekistan went on to claim gold on home soil. Arjun Erigaisi won his game in the last round, a result the report says helped ensure India stayed ahead of the chasing teams.
The silver capped another strong Olympiad campaign for an Indian side featuring world champion D Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Arjun and Nihal. Gukesh was particularly impressive in the second half of the tournament, winning his seventh game in Round 10 to move to 8.5 points from 10 games.
The Indian women's team began the competition strongly but suffered a setback in Round 5, a defeat by Poland that was their first loss of the event. The report notes Poland had also beaten India in the previous two Olympiads. After that defeat the Indian women recovered and remained in contention for a medal through the final rounds.
India's Round 10 clash with leaders China finished 2-2; B Savitha Shri defeated Zhai Mo to record her eighth victory and move to 8.5 points from nine games. Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh drew their games while Vantika Agrawal lost to Lu Miaoyi. In the final round Savitha drew with Meri Arabidze to finish on nine points from 10 games, a result that helped India secure the women's bronze as China took gold.
The pair of medals ensured India retained the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy, awarded to the best overall federation across the Open and Women's sections. India had previously won the trophy in 2022 and 2024.