2026 Samarkand Olympiad: Preview

For many, the bi-yearly (that's once every two years) Olympiad is the landmark event for both spectators and players alike. With this year's Olympiad having almost 2000 players in both the Open and Women's sections, it is one of the biggest chess events, period. Spectators from around the world can enjoy many different storylines: on the one hand, there are the star-studded teams who are vying to win the Olympiad; on the other hand, players from different countries may also be rooting for their home team, especially so when these lower rated teams face off against higher rated ones, where some players achieve their lifetime highest rated win. Not only that, but the sheer number of games virtually guarantees chess beauty and a rather high dose of chess beauty at that. Last but not least, the Olympiad is the prime embodiment of FIDE's "gens una sumus" ("we are one family") — under the vast net of chess, players from almost 200 federations will meet together, enjoy each other's company, and battle it out on the chessboard and only the chessboard.

Schedule

Lichess Coverage

Lichess will be covering the Chess Olympiad with player interviews, which can be found on our YouTube. Look out for the highlights on our social media channels (Mastodon, Discord, Bluesky, and Instagram) as well!

Lichess Broadcast

Open

In the open section, there are 220 GMs, 160 IMs, 166 FMs, 135 CMs, and 2 WCMs. Let's dive into the teams and take a look at individual players to look out for.

The Teams

The four highest rated teams are the United States of America (2753 average rating), India (2735), Uzbekistan (2720), and China (2707). These four teams are the only teams with an average rating above 2700, but they are closely followed by 2600+ rated teams, including the likes of Germany (2677), the Netherlands (2675), Azerbaijan (2667), Hungary (2652), France (2638), and Armenia (2637).

GM Ding Liren; photo: Frans Peeters, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The USA, also the first seed two years ago in the Budapest Olympiad, had a disappointing finish back then, ending the tournament 4 match points behind India, which won with 10 wins and one single drawn match. With two young talents on the scene, GM Hans Moke Niemann and GM Awonder Liang, the USA will be looking to achieve the much coveted 1st place finish. India remains solid with the same team it fielded two years ago, except for GM Nihal Sarin replacing GM Pentala Harikrishna. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan is coming in strong with two very in-form players, namely, GM Javokhir Sindarov and GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, as well as an overall very young and fresh team. China sees the return of former world champion GM Ding Liren, who will definitely hope to repeat a success at another team championship. The other 2600+ teams also have many household names on the roster, including the likes of
GM Vincent Keymer, GM Matthias Blübaum, GM Anish Giri, GM Jorden van Foreest, GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, GM Richárd Rapport, GM Péter Lékó, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and GM Etienne Bacrot. Armenia, which has won the Olympiad three times and consecutively in 2006 and 2008, is known to perform very well at Olympiads, so despite their 10th place starting rank, they will be one of the dark horses to watch out for.

The United States of America, captained by GM John Donaldson

India, captained by GM Srinath Narayanan

India winning double gold at the 2024 Budapest Olympiad; photo: Michał Walusza / FIDE

Uzbekistan, captained by GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov

China, captained by GM Wen Yang

Germany, captained by GM Jan Gustafsson

The Players

The 2026 Samarkand Olympiad has 22 players rated over 2700 and 14 of the world's 20 top players. Apart from the aforementioned top players, which include reigning world champion GM Gukesh D, world champion challenger GM Javokhir Sindarov, and world #2 GM Fabiano Caruana, the player list also includes 2743-rated GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, representing Poland, 2724-rated GM M. Amin Tabatabaei, representing Iran, and 2716-rated GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş, representing Türkiye.

More Olympiad Info

• This Olympiad features nearly 2000 registered players, making it the biggest Olympiad to date.
• Multiple teams are missing key players. Norway is missing GM Magnus Carlsen, the USA, GM Hikaru Nakamura, France, GM Alireza Firouzja, Iran will lack GM Parham Maghsoodloo, GM Pouya Idani, and GM Sina Movahed, and Vietnam will not have GM Lê Quang Liêm and GM Lê Tuấn Minh on the roster.
• The top teams have a lot of youngsters on board; Uzbekistan, for example, has an average age of just ~22 years old.
• Russia has not been allowed to field a team, but Belarus has been allowed to play. GM Denis Lazavik, a speed chess specialist of the highest caliber, will be one of the underdogs to be on the lookout for.
• The only two women in the Open section with women titles are WCM Gerda Nevska, playing for Guernsey, and WCM Amenah Alawadhi, playing for Kuwait.
• The highest rated non-all-GM team is Iran, with IM Reza Mahdavi and IM Arash Daghli.
• 47th seed Vietnam is the highest rated team with no GMs.
• The highest rated team with no titled players is 145th seed FIDE/UNHCR Refugee Team, competing under their own flag for the first time in the tournament's history.

GM Denis Lazavik; photo: Türkiye Satranç Federasyonu

Women

In the Women's section, there are 18 GMs, 53 WGMs, 53 IMs, 110 WIMs, 13 FMs, 145 WFMs, 2 CMs, and 149 WCMs. Who are the favorites and which players are playing?

The Teams

India, Georgia, Kazakhstan, China, and the United States of America all have an average rating above 2400 and fill spots 1–5, respectively. Ukraine, Azerbaijan, France, Poland, and Germany are not too far behind, with 10 more teams having a rating average above 2300.

India will be looking to repeat its 2024 win as it replaces GM Harika Dronavalli and IM Tania Sachdev with GM Koneru Humpy and IM Savitha Shri B. Georgia had a disappointing sixth place finish in 2024, after also being the second seeds, so with four of the five players remaining part of the team, the team is looking to improve their ranking this time around. Kazakhstan, with higher titles and improved ratings, almost won the entire tournament two years ago, so they will also be heavily motivated to take home gold. Meanwhile, China is crucially missing three of its strongest players: GM Ju Wenjun, GM Lei Tingjie, and GM Tan Zhongyi, as well as the inactive GM Hou Yifan. However, despite these absences, China is still the fourth seed with all the chances to achieve gold. As for the USA, which is coming off a third place finish at the 2024 Budapest Olympiad, they will also be fighting for gold as their team now features more strong prodigies: returning IM Carissa Yip and IM Alice Lee, newly-minted IM Rose Atwell, with veterans GM Irina Krush and IM Tatev Abrahamyan to round off the field.

1. India, captained by GM Swayams Mishra

   Player	Elo Rating
   GM Koneru Humpy	2509
   GM Divya Deshmukh	2490
   GM Vaishali Rameshbabu	2469
   IM Vantika Agrawal	2395
   IM Savitha Shri B	2382

   2. Georgia, captained by IM Salome Melia

   Player	Elo Rating
   GM Nana Dzagnidze	2478
   GM Nino Batsiashvili	2466
   GM Bella Khotenashvili	2435
   IM Lela Javakhishvili	2424
   IM Meri Arabidze	2370

   3. Kazakhstan, captained by GM Pavel Kotsur

   Player	Elo Rating
   GM Bibisara Assaubayeva	2536
   IM Alua Nurman	2455
   IM Meruert Kamalidenova	2413
   WIM Elnaz Kaliakhmet	2347
   WIM Zarina Nurgaliyeva	2303

   4. China, captained by GM Zhong Zhang

   Player	Elo Rating
   GM Zhu Jiner	2550
   IM Song Yuxin	2457
   IM Lu Miaoyi	2371
   WIM Yan Tianqi	2338
   WGM Zhai Mo	2336

   5. The United States of America, captained by GM Melikset Khachiyan

   Player	Elo Rating
   IM Carissa Yip	2468
   IM Alice Lee	2453
   GM Irina Krush	2393
   IM Tatev Abrahamyan	2347
   IM Rose Atwell	2342

The Players

Apart from the previously mentioned players, the 2026 Samarkand Olympiad sees the return of former women's world champion, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, representing Switzerland, with reigning European Women's Chess Champion WFM Anastasiia Hnatyshyn making her debut for Ukraine. Well-known figures in women's chess, such as WGM Afruza Khamdamova, IM Stavroula Tsolakidou, IM Nurgyul Salimova, and IM Olga Badelka are also representing their national teams and hoping to propel said teams to the podium.

GM Alexandra Kosteniuk; photo: Yunfan Zhao

More Olympiad Info

• Notable absences include GM Aleksandra Goryachkina, IM Polina Shuvalova, and GM Kateryna Lagno, who can't play because of Russia's ban, GM Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine, and IM Alina Kashlinskaya of Poland.
• Jessica Kobeissey, Kaellaa Fyfield-Jones, and Kristyna Elisee Ndam Ziza, born in 2017, are the youngest players in the field.
• WIM Julia Lebel-Arias, born in 1944, is the oldest player in the field.
• The Gaprindashvili Trophy, named after Nona Gaprindashvili, is awarded to the team that scores the best in both the open and women's sections.

Inspiring Stories

The article started with "gens una sumus". Equally as important, though, is chess' ability to help people from all different walks of life to forget about their problems and enjoy a simple game of chess. There are many ongoing conflicts today; however, that has not stopped many struggling federations from sending to send their chess players abroad. What's more, the tales of young and old we have highlighted should inspire every chess player to look not at life's clock, but at the chessboard's clock. Chess has the power to unite and the Olympiad is the best example of this unity.

FIDE Presidential Election

On the sidelines of the Olympiad, FIDE is electing its president in what is a three-horse race between Jan Henric Buettner, Timur Turlov, and Wadim Rosenstein. The FIDE 2026 presidential election is scheduled for September 26, 2026.