"VAN" (Sports Desk - 07.08.2026) :: The team lists for the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad have been published, revealing a field filled with World Champions, established national-team powers, and some of the brightest young players in chess. 400 teams have been confirmed over the two competitions: 208 in the Open and 192 in the Women’s event. That is twenty more than the record field of 380 at Budapest 2024!
The opening ceremony will take place in Samarkand on September 15, followed by 11 classical rounds of competition from September 16 to 27. Based on the submitted line-ups, the United States head the Open starting list, followed by defending champions India, hosts Uzbekistan, China and Germany. In the Women’s competition, India is the top seed team ahead of Georgia, China, Kazakhstan and the United States.
Open section: The champions and the champions’ curse
The United States top the seeding. Fabiano Caruana (2792) is leading the team, followed by Wesley So (2765), and then the first surprise of the list: Hans Niemann (2725) takes board three, ahead of Levon Aronian (2721), with Awonder Liang (2690) on board five.
Niemann and Liang are both making their Olympiad debuts. John Donaldson, who captained the United States to gold in Baku in 2016, returns as captain, with Grigory Oparin as trainer.
India defend the Open title with four members of their Budapest team, although the order has been substantially rearranged. Arjun Erigaisi (2759) heads the Indian line-up, with Praggnanandhaa R (2750) on second board. Nihal Sarin (2718), replacing Pentala Harikrishna in the five-player squad, is listed third. Reigning World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju (2703) is fourth, with Vidit Gujrathi (2697) fifth. Srinath Narayanan returns as captain. It is a striking change for Gukesh. In Budapest, he played board one and produced one of the great individual Olympiad performances, scoring 9/10 with a performance rating of 3056. He won individual gold as India finished four match points clear of the field. Arjun also took individual gold, on board three.
Praggnanandhaa arrives in strong form after winning Norway Chess in June. Speaking to FIDE, he put India’s objective simply: “We won the last Olympiad, so looking forward to defending it.”
History, however, is against them. No country has successfully defended the Open title since Armenia won consecutive Olympiads in 2006 and 2008. The last five editions have produced four different champions: China in 2014 and 2018, the United States in 2016, Uzbekistan in 2022 and India in 2024.
The host nation might be the most dangerous team in Samarkand, and they have reordered at the top tier as well. Javokhir Sindarov (2777) now leads the squad, ahead of Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2762). Nodirbek Yakubboev, Shamsiddin Vokhidov and Mukhiddin Madaminov complete the team, with former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov as captain. Four members of the team that won gold in Chennai in 2022 return. Uzbekistan followed that title with bronze in Budapest, where Vokhidov won individual gold on board four.
As the host federation, Uzbekistan will field three teams in each competition. Its second Open team is seeded 32nd, giving another group of the country’s young players the opportunity to compete on home soil.
China has fielded another team capable of challenging for gold. Top-rated Wei Yi (2752) is followed by former world champion Ding Liren (2733). Yu Yangyi, Xu Xiangyu and Kong Xiangrui complete the squad under captain Yang Wen. China won the Open Olympiad in 2014 and 2018. Wei Yi has since established himself firmly among the world elite, while Ding brings experience from two previous Chinese medal-winning campaigns. Kong, the youngest member of the team, will make his Olympiad debut.
Germany is seeded fifth with Vincent Keymer, Matthias Bluebaum, Frederik Svane, Alexander Donchenko and Dmitrij Kollars. Keymer leads a team containing a recent individual Olympiad medallist: Svane won reserve gold in Budapest. Jan Gustafsson is captain.
The Netherlands follow in sixth place, with Azerbaijan seventh under captain Teimour Radjabov. Hungary, Armenia and France are also within the top ten, leaving very little separation between the teams immediately behind the four favourites.
Responses
Leave your comment