Samarkand Chess Olympiad preview: India aims to replicate Budapest double

India will begin the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand on September 16, entering both open and women’s events with squads that aim to reproduce the twin successes from Budapest two years earlier.

It has been two years since India’s young players celebrated their double victory in Budapest, a day the article described as one of the country’s greatest sporting moments. The 46th edition of the Chess Olympiad — the sport’s largest team competition — features an expanded field this year, with 208 teams in the open section and 191 in the women’s. Organisers and FIDE publicity list the event’s game days as September 16-27 in Samarkand.

India remains among the favourites in both sections despite squad changes and a notable dip in form from one key player. The concern centres on D. Gukesh, whose struggles after becoming the youngest World champion have raised questions, even though he was described as “an absolute beast for India in the last two Olympiads,” having been brilliant against top opposition and having won the individual gold medal.

The men’s lineup pairs a struggling Gukesh with R. Praggnanandhaa, who “has been winning just about everything,” and Arjun Erigaisi, with Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi completing the five. India’s men enter the event seeded second, with the United States occupying the top seed.

Host Uzbekistan will field Javokhir Sindarov among its leading players; Sindarov is identified in the coverage as Gukesh’s opponent in the upcoming World title match. The report flags both Uzbekistan and the United States as potential chief rivals to India in the open section.

The Indian women’s team goes into the Olympiad as the top seed, strengthened by the return of Koneru Humpy, who had not played in Budapest and “told The Hindu how excited she was to play in this Olympiad and help her team defend the title.” The squad also includes Divya Deshmukh, R. Vaishali, Vantika Agrawal and 19-year-old B. Savitha Shri, who makes her debut.

Possible challengers to India’s women named in the preview include Georgia, Kazakhstan and China.

The Olympiad will be contested over 11 rounds using the Swiss system and concludes on September 27.