Chess Olympiad Success
India Claims Silver and Bronze Medals at the Samarkand Chess Olympiad
Anonymous
India finished the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand with silver in the Open section and bronze in the Women’s event, missing the twin team titles it won in 2024. The Open team drew Hungary in the final round, with Arjun Erigaisi’s win securing silver as host Uzbekistan took gold; China won the women’s title. India nevertheless claimed the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy for the best combined performance for a third consecutive Olympiad. Savitha Shri was pivotal, defending a difficult position to draw in the women’s final-round match and secure the bronze, then earning individual gold with an unbeaten nine points from 10 games. India also collected five other individual board medals, while observers noted the women’s team fell short of expectations despite strong individual results.
Key Points
1
India’s six individual board medals included silver for world champion D. Gukesh and Divya Deshmukh, and bronze for R. Praggnanandhaa, Koneru Humpy and Vantika Agarwal, alongside Savitha Shri’s gold.
2
Gukesh suffered his first loss of the tournament in the final round after Hungary’s Gleb Dudin caught him with strong preparation; it was also Gukesh’s last classical game before his November World Championship match.
3
Savitha’s Olympiad success followed major family sacrifices: her brother stepped away from chess so the family could afford to support her, and her father quit his job in Singapore and returned to India; the family once pawned his gold jewellery to pay a tournament entry fee.
4
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated India’s players, saying their “passion and determination set a great example” and expressing hope their results would inspire more young people to play chess.
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