It's been two years, but finally the biggest, brightest, most spectacular chess tournament on Earth is back.
Nearly 200 nations, thousands of players, and 11 rounds of controlled chaos descend on Samarkand in September for the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad.
India, with its golden generation of teenage talents, has two titles to defend. The new-look U.S., with reformed bad-boy GM Hans Niemann finally on the team, arrives as the provisional top seed in the Open. Will the debutant Niemann complete his redemption?
Uzbekistan, boasting GM Javokhir Sindarov, has home advantage and arguably the most exciting young team in world chess.
GM Magnus Carlsen, the world number-one and the game's one true celebrity, will not play for Norway. Russia will not compete at the 2026 Chess Olympiad. The traditional powerhouse of chess last won medals over-the-board in 2018, but misses out due to a FIDE suspension.
And somewhere amid all of that, World Champion GM Gukesh D and his challenger Sindarov could meet across the board just two months before playing for the most prestigious prize in chess, the 2026 World Chess Championship.
There is plenty going on.
Here is everything you need to know about the 2026 Chess Olympiad, FIDE's marquee international team tournament.
When is the 2026 Chess Olympiad?
The 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad takes place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from September 15 to 27, 2026.
The opening ceremony is scheduled for September 15, with chess beginning the following day.
There are 11 rounds, with a rest day on September 22 before the final stretch of the competition.
The Olympiad is one of the largest international sporting events of its kind. Rather than individual players competing for themselves, national teams from across the world assemble to fight for medals and, in the Open, the historic Hamilton-Russell Cup.
There is a separate Women's Olympiad running alongside it.
Where is the 2026 Chess Olympiad?
The Olympiad is being held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, one of the oldest cities in Central Asia.
And the host country could not be more perfect for this occasion.
Uzbekistan has undergone an extraordinary rise in world chess and arrives at its home Olympiad as one of the favourites.
Its young team stunned the chess world by winning gold at Chennai 2022 and followed that with bronze at Budapest 2024.
Now it gets to play at home.
Samarkand has also become increasingly important to FIDE. It hosted the 2023 World Rapid and Blitz Championships and will simultaneously become the centre of chess politics during the Olympiad, with the FIDE Congress and the 2026 presidential election taking place around the event.
For almost two weeks, the chess world really will be in Samarkand.
Who is playing in the 2026 Chess Olympiad?
Almost every major chess nation is expected to compete.
The provisional Open starting list has the America as the number-one seed, ahead of defending champion India and host nation Uzbekistan.
The leading teams by average rating are currently:
- United States — 2751
- India — 2733
- Uzbekistan — 2720
- China — 2706
- Germany — 2686
- Netherlands — 2683
- Azerbaijan — 2665
- Hungary — 2658
- Armenia — 2639
Ratings aren't everything at an Olympiad.
In fact, that is rather the point.
A single mistake on board four can be worth as much to the match result as a victory by a superstar on board one. Lower-rated teams routinely upset favourites and the Swiss system creates increasingly brutal pairings as the tournament progresses.
The strongest team on paper does not always win.
India demonstrated exactly how to do it in Budapest two years ago.
Who are the favourites to win the Chess Olympiad?
There are three obvious headline contenders: the United States, India and Uzbekistan.
United States
The Americans are the provisional number-one seeds and, on pure rating strength, the team to beat.
The United States has boasted incredible depth for much of the past decade built on investment in the team chiefly by the St. Louis-based multi-millionaire Rex Sinquefield. The team, bolstered by players bought in by Sinquefield, won Olympiad gold in 2016 when GMs Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana were in their pomp. The U.S. is always among the favourites.
But the Olympiad rewards consistency rather than star power. One bad match can transform the standings.
The USA should expect to be fighting for gold in Samarkand. Anything less than a medal would be a disappointment.
India
India is the defending champion—and what a defence it has to make.
Its performance in Budapest in 2024 was extraordinary. India dominated the Open Olympiad, taking 21 match points from a possible 22, and also won the Women's event.
Gukesh, the World Champion and team talisman, has been shaky since gaining the crown, particularly this year, but can still be expected to provide firepower.
If he does falter, however, India's enviable depth means it can absorb the inevitable fluctuations in individual form that occur over an 11-round team event. GMs Praggnanandhaa R and co will back him up. Also, India are a famously tight team who support each other.
Uzbekistan
And then there are the hosts.
Uzbekistan won the Olympiad in Chennai in 2022 with an extraordinarily young side. Two years later it took bronze.
Now the same generation has matured, its players have accumulated considerably more elite experience and Uzbekistan gets to play in front of a home crowd.
GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the 2021 World Rapid Champion, is already established among the world's elite having won the London Chess Classic, Tata Steel and then the Prague Masters at the back end of 2025 and the start of 2026.
And then there is Sindarov.
Sindarov has gone from prodigy to World Cup winner last year and then World Championship challenger this year after his emphatic victory at the FIDE Candidates tournament in Cyprus. He has been in imperious, almost Carlsen-like, form and will face Gukesh for the classical world title in Geneva beginning in November.
The possibility that Gukesh and Sindarov could meet during an India–Uzbekistan match adds another layer of intrigue to an already fascinating rivalry that has been nicely bubbling for some time.
Samarkand could be a sighter for Geneva, one that transfixes the chess world.
Will Magnus Carlsen play in the 2026 Chess Olympiad?
No.
The great player of our time, Carlsen, the 35-year-old five-time World Chess Champion will not play for Norway at the 2026 Chess Olympiad.
His absence is one of the biggest stories surrounding the event.
Carlsen remains the highest-rated player in chess and has represented Norway repeatedly at Olympiads, including playing board one at Budapest 2024.
It's a blow for Norway, which arrives without the player who normally transforms it from a strong chess nation into a team capable of threatening almost anyone.
It also means the biggest individual star in chess will be absent from its biggest team competition.
For an Olympiad already missing another major chess nation entirely, Carlsen's absence is (as always) significant.
Is Russia playing in the 2026 Chess Olympiad?
No.
Russia will not compete as a team at the 2026 Chess Olympiad.
The issue became one of the major political stories in chess in the build-up to Samarkand.
Russian and Belarusian teams were barred from FIDE team competitions following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The situation appeared to be changing after the FIDE General Assembly voted in late 2025 to ease some restrictions, leading to fierce opposition from Ukraine and several European federations.
Russia's chess federation was then itself suspended by FIDE in 2026 over its activities in occupied Ukrainian territories.
As the Olympiad approached, Russian players and media were still discussing the possibility of participation.
But FIDE Council ultimately determined that federations whose membership was suspended could not enter teams.
That keeps Russia out of Samarkand.
Individual Russian players remain able to compete internationally under the conditions imposed by FIDE, but there will be no Russian team fighting for the Hamilton-Russell Cup.
Given Russia's extraordinary history in the Olympiad, that is no small absence.
What happened at the last Chess Olympiad?
India dominated.
The 45th Chess Olympiad was held in Budapest, Hungary, in September 2024 and became one of the greatest tournaments in Indian chess history.
India won the Open and Women's gold medals, completing an unprecedented double for the country.
The Open team was almost unstoppable.
India finished on 21 match points out of a possible 22, four points clear of the United States and Uzbekistan.
Gukesh was sensational on board one, scoring nine points from ten games with a performance rating above 3000.
GM Arjun Erigaisi was similarly devastating on board three.
In the Women's Olympiad, India recovered from a difficult middle section to take gold ahead of Kazakhstan, with the United States claiming bronze.
So Samarkand is not simply another Olympiad for India.
It is a title defence — twice over.
How does the Chess Olympiad work?
The Olympiad is a team competition played using the Swiss system over 11 rounds.
Each country can register five players.
Four play in each match, with one reserve.
A team match therefore consists of four games.
Winning the match earns two match points.
A 2-2 draw earns one match point for each team.
Losing earns zero.
This distinction is important.
The Olympiad is not primarily decided by the total number of individual games won. The objective is to win each four-board match.
A 4-0 victory is worth the same two match points as a 2.5-1.5 victory.
That creates a fascinating strategic element.
Sometimes the crucial player in an Olympiad isn't the superstar on board one.
It's the player who keeps saving horrible positions on board four.
What happens if teams finish level on points?
Tiebreaks decide the final order if teams finish level on match points.
This can become extremely important in the final rounds, when several leading nations may have identical scores.
FIDE publishes the precise tiebreak regulations for each Olympiad, and teams must therefore pay attention not just to whether they win matches but to how their opponents perform throughout the tournament.
That can produce the peculiar Olympiad experience of a team's medal hopes depending on results elsewhere in the hall.
What is the Women's Chess Olympiad?
The Women's Olympiad runs alongside the Open competition using the same basic national-team format.
India is also the defending champion.
The Women's Olympiad has become increasingly competitive as the strength of women's chess has spread across more countries.
Traditional powers such as China, Georgia and Ukraine have deep Olympiad histories, while India, Kazakhstan, the United States and several European nations have become increasingly formidable.
India's double gold in Budapest means it enters Samarkand with an unusual challenge: defending both major Olympiad titles at once.
Why is the Chess Olympiad so important?
Because nothing else in chess is quite like it.
Most of elite chess is intensely individual.
At an Olympiad, players who spend the rest of the year competing against each other suddenly become teammates.
World champions share preparation with rivals. Grandmasters sit alongside amateurs representing tiny federations. Players who would never qualify for an elite individual tournament can find themselves paired against the best in the world.
And the scale is enormous.
Hundreds of teams compete simultaneously.
One end of the playing hall contains the world's best grandmasters fighting over medals.
At the other, developing chess nations may be celebrating their first match victory.
For many countries, merely representing their nation at an Olympiad is the pinnacle of a player's chess career.
That is why the tournament matters well beyond the medal positions.
Gukesh vs Sindarov before the World Championship?
Possibly.
And if it happens, it could be one of the games of the Olympiad.
World Champion Gukesh and challenger Sindarov are due to meet in Geneva for the 2026 FIDE World Championship beginning in November.
First, however, both could represent their countries in Samarkand.
India and Uzbekistan are among the leading seeds, meaning there is a very real possibility they will be paired against one another in the later rounds.
Whether Gukesh and Sindarov would actually be selected on corresponding boards in such a match — or whether either team might decide there is more to lose than gain so close to Geneva — would immediately become a talking point.
If they do play, the psychological significance would be irresistible.
World Championship preparation is normally conducted behind closed doors.
In Samarkand, the two 20-year-olds could get a public preview.
The home pressure on Uzbekistan
Home advantage in chess is a curious thing.
There is no crowd roaring when you make a good move. There should be no intimidating atmosphere around the board.
But there is pressure.
Uzbekistan will arrive in Samarkand carrying expectations that simply didn't exist when its young team sensationally won gold in Chennai.
Then, it was the revelation.
Now it is expected to contend.
Abdusattorov, Sindarov and their teammates will be among the faces of the entire Olympiad.
Every result will matter.
For a young team that has already achieved almost everything at Olympiad level, winning gold at home would be something else entirely.
Chess Olympiad 2026 schedule
The Olympiad runs from September 15 to September 27, 2026.
The opening ceremony takes place on September 15.
Round 1 begins on September 16.
There are 11 rounds in total, with a rest day scheduled for September 22.
The final round is played on September 27, when the Open and Women's champions will be crowned.
Key dates
September 15: Opening ceremony
September 16: Round 1
September 17: Round 2
September 18: Round 3
September 19: Round 4
September 20: Round 5
September 21: Round 6
September 22: Rest day
September 23: Round 7
September 24: Round 8
September 25: Round 9
September 26: Round 10
September 27: Round 11 and closing ceremony
World Chess will update this guide if FIDE makes changes to the playing schedule.
Chess Olympiad 2026 results and standings
The 2026 Chess Olympiad begins on September 16.
World Chess will update this section throughout the tournament with the latest Open and Women's standings, leading teams, major results and medal race.
Open standings
To be updated after play begins.
Women's standings
To be updated after play begins.
How can I watch the 2026 Chess Olympiad?
The Olympiad will be broadcast online, with live games available digitally throughout the competition.
Official broadcast and streaming details will be added here as they are confirmed.
With hundreds of games taking place simultaneously, the early rounds are particularly chaotic. As the leading teams rise through the Swiss-system standings, attention increasingly concentrates on the top matches and the medal race.
World Chess will also cover the biggest stories from Samarkand throughout the event.
And there is an election going on
As though nearly 200 countries playing thousands of games of chess weren't enough, another contest will be taking place in Samarkand.
The 2026 FIDE presidential election will be held during the FIDE Congress alongside the Olympiad.
Three candidates — Timur Turlov, Wadim Rosenstein and Jan Henric Buettner — are fighting for control of world chess's governing body.
That means many of the same national federations competing over the board will simultaneously be engaged in a very different contest away from it.
Each eligible federation gets one vote.
Months of campaigning, allegations, endorsements and political manoeuvring will therefore culminate while the Olympiad is taking place.
World Chess has a full guide to the 2026 FIDE election, including the candidates, voting system and latest state of the race.
It could make Samarkand one of the most consequential fortnights FIDE has staged in years.
What are the biggest stories to watch?
India is trying to defend an extraordinary double.
The United States wants to turn its rating advantage into gold.
Uzbekistan wants to win an Olympiad on home soil.
Gukesh and Sindarov are preparing for a World Championship and could find themselves facing each other first.
Carlsen is staying home.
Russia cannot play.
And while all of that is happening, chess is choosing its next president.
The Olympiad has always been gloriously unpredictable.
Samarkand looks particularly difficult to predict.
World Chess will be following it all.