‘Still haven't been allotted rooms’ - Indian chess team stranded for 5 hours on arrival in Uzbekistan for Chess Olympiad
The Indian chess team arrived in Samarkand in Uzbekistan for the 46th Chess Olympiad, which begins on September 16. Meanwhile, chess is not a part of the Asian Games 2026.
In a major logistical hiccup, the Indian chess team was left stranded for over five hours after their arrival in Samarkand, a city in southeastern Uzbekistan. The Indian team travelled to Uzbekistan for the 46th Chess Olympiad, which begins on Wednesday, and were left without hotel rooms.
The development came to light after 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,” GM Narayanan posted on X.
“The team still haven't been allotted rooms, with absolutely no clarity on when it'll be allotted,” he added. 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.
The Indian men's squad features world champion D Gukesh, Grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin, and Gujrathi, with GM Narayanan serving as captain. Both the Indian teams of five men and five women each are the defending champions, having won their respective titles in 2024 in a historic achievement.
The women's team comprises captain Koneru Humpy, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Savitha Shri B, with Swayams Mishra as the captain. Meanwhile, Gujrathi met Olympic medal-winning Indian shooter Manu Bhaker at Delhi airport, and the video went viral on social media.
While Gujrathi was heading towards Uzbekistan, Bhaker headed to Japan for the Asian Games. “A nice moment at the Delhi airport as @viditchess meets @realmanubhaker- one is going for the Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan, the other for the Asian Games in Japan!” Chesbase India posted.
No chess at Asian Games 2026
Meanwhile, chess is not a part of the Asian Games 2026, thus robbing the likes of Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and others of sure-shot medals. The sport featured at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, but the organisers dropped it from the official sports list for the 2026 edition.
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