India Chess Team Left Waiting For Hotel Rooms Over 5 Hours Ahead Of 46th Chess Olympiad In Uzbekistan

New Delhi, Sep 15: The Indian chess team was left stranded without hotel rooms for over five hours after arriving in Samarkand for the 46th Chess Olympiad, which begins on Wednesday.

Team faces accommodation delay

The Indian team landed in the Uzbek city on Tuesday for the tournament, scheduled to be held from September 16 to 27 but had to wait for several hours.

The men's team captain Grandmaster Srinath Narayanan took to social media to raise the issue. "Having a terrible experience at the @FIDE_chess 2026 Olympiad. The team landed 5 hours ago at Samarkand airport. The team still haven't been allotted rooms, with absolutely no clarity on when it'll be allotted," he posted on X.

Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi also expressed his disappointment over the situation.

"Very poor first impressions of the Samarkand, Uzbekistan Olympiad 2026. Still waiting…," Gujrathi wrote on X.

Indian squads announced

The Indian men's squad features world champion D Gukesh, Grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin, and Gujrathi, with Grandmaster Srinath Narayanan serving as captain.

The women's team comprises captain Koneru Humpy, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Savitha Shri B, with Swayams Mishra as the captain.

Both the Indian teams of five men and five women each are the defending champions, having won the respective titles in 2024 in a historic achievement.

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