46th Chess Olympiad
2026 chess tournament in Samarkand, Uzbekistan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 46th Chess Olympiad is an international team chess event organised by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from 15 to 27 September 2026. It consists of two main tournaments—an Open event, enabling participation of players from all genders, and a Women's event, enabling participation of female players only—as well as several events to promote chess.
Logo of the 46th Chess Olympiad | |
| Host city | Samarkand |
|---|---|
| Country | Uzbekistan |
| Nations |
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| Teams |
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| Athletes | 1,980 (1,032 in Open and 948 in Women's event) |
| Dates | 15–27 September 2026 |
| Opened by | TBD |
| Main venue | Silk Road International Exhibition Centre |
The total number of participants is 1,980: 1,032 in the Open and 948 in the Women's event. The number of registered teams is 208 from 205 nations in the Open section and 191 from 188 nations in the Women's section. Both sections are expected to set team participation records. As in the previous Chess Olympiad, this one is also expected to feature teams of refugees in both sections. A total of 11 rounds will be played in both the Open and Women's events, and each featured four players from one team facing four players from another team. The main venue of the Chess Olympiad will be the Silk Road International Exhibition Centre. The Chief Arbiter of the event is International Arbiter Ivan Syrovy from Slovakia.
The 97th FIDE Congress will also take place during the Olympiad, at which new FIDE President will be elected following Arkady Dvorkovich's withdrawal and voluntary suspension of his duties as a result of his inclusion on the European Union's sanction list.
Background
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations compete in an Olympic-style event.[1][2] The first unofficial edition, labelled as the "Chess Olympic Games", was held in Paris in 1924, and coincided with the Summer Olympic Games that took place in the city in the same year.[3] Despite the fact that the event was not officially part of the Olympic Games and the winners were not awarded official Olympic medals, the rules of the Olympic Games applied.[4] The organisers of the Summer Olympics defined chess as a sport,[a] but demanded that only amateurs be allowed to participate, which posed a problem because it was difficult to draw a line between amateurs and professionals.[6] The first official edition of the Chess Olympiad was held in London in 1927.[3][7] Up until 1950 the tournament was organised at irregular intervals. From then on it has been held once every two years.[8][6] The first Women's Chess Olympiad took place in Emmen, Netherlands in 1957;[9] since 1976, the Women's tournament has been held simultaneously with an Open tournament[b] at the Chess Olympiads.[10] The former Soviet Union has historically been the most successful nation with 18 gold medals won.[1]
The bidding process for organising both the 46th Chess Olympiad and the coinciding FIDE Congress was opened in March 2022. Each city interested in hosting the event had to submit their bid to FIDE by 31 May 2022.[11] The bids were to guarantee that all necessary provisions in accordance with the Olympiad Regulations of the FIDE Handbook would be covered by the organiser, including articles 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 pertaining to the organising committee, finances, and provision of amenities and stipends, respectively.[2] Uzbekistan submitted the only bid to host the event, which was unanimously approved by the FIDE General Assembly in August 2022.[12] The decision was welcomed within the chess world. FIDE's CEO Emil Sutovsky wrote on the social media:
Uzbekistan is approved as the host of FIDE Olympiad-2026. Knowing the hospitality of Uzbeks, I am sure it will be an exceptional event. What made the moment unusual was the timing: Uzbekistan was awarded the 2026 Olympiad while its team was actively winning gold at the 2022 Olympiad. The country was simultaneously becoming a chess power and being entrusted with chess's largest event.[13]
The Chess Federation of Uzbekistan initially indicated that the event would take place in either Tashkent or Samarkand, pending the resolution of the venue as well as some political and organisational issues. In early 2024, it was confirmed that Samarkand would host the Olympiad at the Silk Road International Exhibition Center.[13] It is the first Chess Olympiad to take place in Central Asia.[14]
Preparations
The FIDE regulations prescribe that the Olympiad organiser commits to financial obligations. These include a €1-million lump sum payable no later than 18 months before the event, which covers FIDE's contribution and broadcasting rights, plus a minimum of €1.5 million for travel reimbursement to federations entitled to support, as well as 50,000 euros for inspection costs.[13] In May 2023, it was announced that the Uzbek government had allocated over US$4 million to host the Olympiad.[15]
In March 2025, a FIDE delegation led by president Arkady Dvorkovich visited Uzbekistan as part of the preparations. The delegation participated in a session of the organisational committee held at the Ministry of Sports, where they met with the Minister of Sport Adkham Ikramov and the first deputy chairperson of the Uzbekistan Chess Federation Alisher Saʼdullayev. Dvorkovich expressed his gratitude for the "support of top-level officials, including the President of Uzbekistan, the government, the President of the Uzbekistan Chess Federation, and the Minister of Sports".[16]
Support initiatives
In October 2025, it was announced that the ChessMom project, which was introduced in 2024 for the Budapest Chess Olympiad and aims to support professional women chess players who are mothers to continue their chess careers while caring for their young children, would continue for the Samarkand Chess Olympiad. The programme provides financial support in the amount of up to €1,000 per player (or €500 if the player comes from the same continent as the Olympiad host country), who will travel with children under the age of two, to cover the caregiver's flight ticket. FIDE announced support for ten female chess players based on their rating from highest to lowest, and support would be provided to at least one player per continent. The main difference compared to the inaugural programme for the previous Olympiad is that the age limit was increased from one to two years of age.[17]
In April 2026, FIDE launched a call for chess federations to apply for the Olympiad Training Support Program, which was envisioned as part of the cooperation with Freedom Holding to support developing chess nations. More than 100 federations across development levels 3, 4 and 5 were eligible to apply for the programme. Participating federations would benefit from a structured preparation programme delivered in two phases: i) an online phase, in which each team would receive up to 10 hours of training conduced by professional coaches selected by the FIDE Trainers Program, and ii) an on-site phase during the Olympiad, in which federations would receive co-financing for the presence of their assigned coach. Along with the call for federations, FIDE also launched a call for FIDE-licensed trainers interested in supporting the participating teams.[18]
Venue
The venue for the Olympiad is the Silk Road International Exhibition Centre, which is located in the Silk Road Samarkand tourist complex. The construction of the Silk Road Samarkand tourist complex began in 2019 at the initiative of Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev.[19] It was opened in August 2022 at a ceremony that was attended by president Mirziyoyev. The complex covers an area of 280 hectares[20] near the Samarkand rowing canals and includes eight hotels, four boutique hotels, a congress centre and the Eternal City caravanserai. The complex houses 40 craft workshops in the traditions of the 12 regions of Uzbekistan. The project's total cost was US$580 million, and it was built with the goal to host major international events.[21][22] The Silk Road International Exhibition Centre originally had an area of 4,000 m2, which was expanded to 17,000 m2 in 2025,[23] transforming it to a modern venue with five fully equipped conference halls.[24] The complex has previously hosted the World Rapid and the World Blitz Chess Championship in 2023 as well as the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2025.[13]
Ticketing
There are three ticket categories for the event: i) a single-day ticket, ii) a family ticket and iii) a full pass. A single-day ticket covers one round of the buyer's choice, and its price is UZS50,000 ($4.2) for domestic visitors and UZS240,000 ($20) for foreigners. A family ticket provides access for a family to one selected round using a single QR code, and its price is UZS80,000 ($6.7) for domestic visitors and UZS360,000 ($30) for foreigners. A full pass covers every round from 16 to 27 September, permitting one entry per day, and its price is UZS500,000 ($41.7) for domestic visitors and UZS2,400,000 ($200) for foreigners. Uzbek citizens aged 14 to 30 can get tickets free of charge. Tickets provide entry to the spectator area, exhibition hall, workshops, fan zones and interactive events. The spectator area will be open from 15:00 UZB (UTC+5:00) to 17:00 UZB (UTC+5:00), and visitors must remove their phones from the hall after 15:15 UZB (UTC+5:00).[25]
The event
The torch relay began on 13 September 2026 in Bengaluru, India, where FIDE Interim President Viswanathan Anand and the president of the All India Chess Federation (AICF) Nitin Narang handed the torch with the Olympic flame over to Javokhir Sindarov, who will bring it to Samarkand for the event.[26][27]
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony took place on 15 September at the Boqiy Shahar Amphitheatre, an open-air venue on the banks of the Silk Road rowing channel, and it was attended by more than 2,000 spectators. More than 100 musicians and 200 dancers and signers participated in the show by presenting the Uzbek culture.[28]
In the official part of the ceremony, the first speech was given by Uzbekistan's prime minister Abdulla Aripov addressed the audience and conveyed greetings from president Shavkat Mirzoyev. He was followed by the FIDE Interim President and former five-time World Champion Vishwanathan Anand, who noted that Uzbekistan is hosting the largest team tournament in the world of chess for the first time in history.[29] In the middle of the two-hour ceremony, the National Anthem of Uzbekistan and the FIDE Anthem were performed by the Honoured Choir of Uzbekistan and the State Choir Chapel. One of the highlights was the traditional drawing of colours, which determined the teams that would have the White and Black pieces on the first board in the opening round. The draw was conducted by the former Women's World Champion Zhu Chen and the former FIDE World Chess Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov. They selected pieces of both colours from traditional boxes, and the White pieces went to the top-seeded team in the Women's event and the Black pieces to the highest-ranked team in the Open event.[28]
The ceremony also featured theatrical and musical performances, elements of national culture, 3D visual mapping and drone light show with images of chess pieces on the night sky and dazzling array of illuminations. It concluded with the performance of a pop song and a group dance on the stage under the sky lit up by fireworks.[28][30]
Participating teams
The event features 399 participating teams, representing 208 national federations.[31][32] Uzbekistan as hosts field three teams in each of the two sections.[33][34] In March 2022, after the Russian Invasion of Ukraine FIDE imposed a ban on the National federations of Russia and Belarus, therefore Russia and Belarus did not participate in the 44th and the 45th Olympiads.[35] In July 2026, FIDE lifted all its restrictions on the Belarus Chess Federation following International Olympic Committee's recommendation "athletes’ participation in international sport should not be limited by the actions of their governments". The ban on the Russian Chess Federation (RCF) was, however, not resolved and Russia is not permitted to participate.[36][37] A team representing the Netherlands Antilles was permitted to compete, despite having dissolved itself in 2010, because the Curaçao Chess Federation remains officially registered as representing the dissolved country in the FIDE Directory.[38]
Travel subsidies
In early April 2026, FIDE announced that they would extended travel subsidies to federations designated with a development level[c] 3, 4 or 5, whereas federations with a development level 1 or 2 may apply for subsidies only in exceptional circumstances (e.g. remote location, poor economic situation etc.). The subsidy limits were set at €14,400 per full team for federations from Africa, €21,600 per full team for federations from the Americas, €8,400 per full team for federations from Asia, €10,800 per full team for federations from Europe and €21,600 per full team for federations from Oceania.[41] The value of the travel subsidies was expected to reach €2 million.[42]
| Participating teams in the 46th Chess Olympiad[43] |
|---|
|
- Notes
Competition format and calendar
The tournament is being played in a Swiss system format. The time control for all games is going to be 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, after which an additional 30 minutes will be granted; an increment of 30 seconds per move is applied from the first move. Players are permitted to offer a draw at any time. A total of 11 rounds are to be played, and all teams have to be paired in every round.[d][46]
In each round, four players from each team face four players from another team; teams are permitted one reserve player who could be substituted between rounds. The four games are played simultaneously on four boards with alternating colours, scoring 1 game point for a win and ½ game point for a draw. The scores from each game are then summed together to determine which team would win the round. Winning a round is worth two match points, regardless of the game point margin, while drawing a round is worth one match point. Teams are ranked in a table based on match points. Tie-breakers for the table are i) the Sonneborn–Berger system; ii) total game points scored; iii) the sum of the match points of the opponents, excluding the lowest one.[46]
The event takes place from 15 to 27 September 2026. Tournament rounds began on 16 September and will end with the final round on 27 September. All rounds begin at 15:00 UZB (UTC+5:00), except for the final round which begins at 11:00 UZB (UTC+5:00). There is one rest day on 22 September, after the sixth round.[47]
| OC | Opening ceremony | A | Arbiters meeting | C | Captains meeting | 1 | Round | RD | Rest day | CC | Closing ceremony |
| September | 15th Tue |
16th Wed |
17th Thu |
18th Fri |
19th Sat |
20th Sun |
21st Mon |
22nd Tue |
23rd Wed |
24th Thu |
25th Fri |
26th Sat |
27th Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceremonies | OC | CC | ||||||||||||
| Meetings | C | |||||||||||||
| A | ||||||||||||||
| Tournament round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | RD | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ||
Open event
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The Open event is being contested by a total of 1,032 players from 208 teams.[48][49] It features eight of the top ten players from the FIDE rating list published in September 2026. Former five-time World Champion and current world no. 1 Magnus Carlsen is missing the Olympiad,[50] and Hikaru Nakamura will miss his third consecutive Chess Olympiad.[51] Hosts Uzbekistan are considered the pre-tournament favourites, while the defending champions India, the United States and China their most dangerous rivals.[52] The Uzbek squad captained by former FIDE World Chess Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov has four players that won gold and bronze at the previous two Olympiads, respectively. The team has the third-highest rating of 2720 and is led by Nodirbek Abdusattorov on the first board, followed by World Championship Challenger Javokhir Sindarov on the second board, then Nodirbek Yakubboev, Shamsiddin Vokhidov and Mukhiddin Madaminov on the remaining boards.[53][54] Nevertheless, the team with the highest pre-tournament average rating are the United States, consisting of Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Hans Niemann and Awonder Liang as a reserve player, with an average rating of 2753.[55] Niemann and Liang made their debut at the Chess Olympiads.[53]
The defending champions India are the second-seeded team with an average rating of 2735.[56] Their squad captained by Srinath Narayanan includes reigning World Champion and winner of the individual gold medal on the top board at the previous two Olympiads Gukesh Dommaraju on board four, as well as R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin on the first three boards and Vidit Gujrathi as a reserve player. The only change from the gold-winning squad at the Budapest Olympiad is Nihal replacing Pentala Harikrishna.[51][57] China with the average rating of 2707 will start the tournament as the fourth seeds. The team will be led by Ding Liren on board one and will see the former World Champion's return to the Chess Olympiads, while Wei Yi, Yu Yangyi, Xu Xiangyu and Kong Xiangrui complete the squad on the remaining boards.[53][58] Germany are the fifth seeds with an average rating of 2677, captained by Jan Gustafsson, with Vincent Keymer, Matthias Bluebaum, Frederik Svane, Alexander Donchenko and Rasmus Svane on the team.[59] Other strong teams include the Netherlands, Azerbaijan, Hungary, France and Armenia.[53][60]
Women's event
The Women's event is being contested by a total of 948 players from 188 teams.[61][62] It features only three of the top ten players according to the FIDE rating list published in September 2026.[63] The top-seeded team are the defending champions of India with an average pre-tournament rating of 2466. Koneru Humpy strengthened the team with her return on the first board, and the squad will include Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri Baskar. Of the gold-winning team at the previous Olympiad, Harika Dronavalli and Tania Sachdev will be absent and replaced by Humpy and Savitha Shri.[51][64] Georgia follow with the second highest average rating of 2451, and their balanced consists of Nana Dzagnidze, Nino Batsiashvili, Bella Khotenashvili, Lela Javakhishvili and Meri Arabidze.[53][65] Kazakhstan are the third seeds with Bibisara Assaubayeva on the top board of the team that will also have Alua Nurman, Meruert Kamalidenova, Elnaz Kaliakhmet and Zarina Nurgaliyeva.[66]
The Chinese team is weaker without the world no. 1 Hou Yifan, reigning five-time World Champion Ju Wenjun, former World Champion Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie, but the team still has a strong line-up with the fourth highest average pre-tournament rating, consisting of Zhu Jiner, Song Yuxin, Lu Miaoyi, Yan Tianqi and Zhai Mo.[51][67] Anna and Mariya Muzychuk will not play for Ukraine, whose team will be led by 16-year-old Anastasiia Hnatyshyn on board one, former World Champion Anna Ushenina on board two, as well as Nataliya Buksa, Anastasiya Rakhmangulova and Tetyana Skarbarchuk on the remaining boards. The fifth-seeded team of the United States retains Carissa Yip, Alice Lee and Irina Krush from the squad that won bronze at the previous Olympiad, Tatev Abrahamyan returned and Rose Atwell debuted at the Chess Olympiad.[53][68][69] Other strong teams that complete the top-ten seeds include Azerbaijan, France, Poland and Germany.[53][70]
FIDE Congress
The 97th FIDE Congress[e] will be held during the Olympiad, from 19 to 28 September, with its General Assembly on 26 and 27 September. The FIDE presidential election will take place during the Congress on 26 September.[72][73] Three sets of candidates were approved by the FIDE Electoral Commission, each consisting of a joint ticket for president and deputy president:[74]
- Jan Henric Buettner (president) and Malcolm Pein (deputy president)
- Wadim Rosenstein (president) and Gordon Tang (deputy president)
- Timur Turlov (president) and Viswanathan Anand (deputy president)
Each ticket had to meet several requirements in order to be approved: it had to be submitted two months before the General Assembly; the candidates for president and deputy president could not be from the same member federation; and the ticket required endorsements from five member federations including one from each of the four FIDE continents, but no more than eight federations in total, and each federation was entitled to endorse only one ticket.[75]
Other initiatives and events
FIDE announced that a total of 900 electronic chessboards from the Olympiad will be distributed to national federations after the event. The goal of the initiative is to use the boards from the Olympiad as practical tournament equipment around the world. Federations interested to receive chessboards from the event were invited to express interest by contacting FIDE.[76]
The FIDE Summit on Chess in Education 2026 will take place during the Olympiad on 24 September at the Silk Road by Minyoun Hotel. This summit themed "Every Lesson Counts" is planned as a centrepiece event of the 2026 Year of Chess in Education that will bring together voices from the global chess-in-education movement to discuss long-established national programmes, emerging grasroots initiatives and new partnerships with higher educational institutions. In order to support inclusion and participation from around the world, the event will feature real-time voice translation in 64 languages.[77]
Concerns and controversies
Russia's suspension and Belarus's return
In March 2022, following the recommendation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the FIDE Council suspended the national teams of Russia and Belarus from participation in official FIDE tournaments until further notice,[35] which resulted the national teams of both countries to miss the 44th and the 45th Chess Olympiads.[78][79] In August 2024, the Kyrgyzstan Chess Federation submitted a resolution to the FIDE Congress to restore the full membership rights of the Chess Federation of Russia and the Belarusian Chess Federation with immediate effect,[80] but, in September 2024, the General Assembly upheld the ban on Russian and Belarusian players and supported a move to consider easing the restrictions on disabled and junior players in consultation with the IOC.[81][82]
In July 2025, the FIDE Council approved the participation of a Russian team in the upcoming World Women's Team Championship 2025 in Linares, Spain under the FIDE flag. The Ukrainian Chess Federation (UCF) condemned the decision stating that "it is a blatant disregard of the fact that Russian occupiers have already killed more than 600 Ukrainian athletes and coaches" and called for its reversal. They also questioned FIDE's independence from Russia and directly targeted its president Dvorkovich who had previously served as Russia's deputy prime minister.[83] The European Chess Union has also criticised the decision by issuing a statement in which they noted that "this decision directly contradicts the most recent decisions of the FIDE General Assembly taken in Budapest".[84] In November 2025, shortly before the World Women's Team Championship, the UCF filed a last-minute complaint against the participation of "Team FIDE", consisting entirely of Russian players, and noted that FIDE cannot legally field a Russian team without receiving a formal "non-objection letter" from the IOC, which would violate both IOC guidelines and FIDE rules. Nonetheless, FIDE Legal Director Aleksandr Martynov provided a letter from IOC Sports Director Pierre Ducrey, signed on 28 July and addressed to president Dvorkovich, in which it was stated that IOC "would not take a position" on the matter.[85]
In December 2025, the FIDE General Assembly passed two separate resolutions—one proposed by the RCF and another by the FIDE Council—allowing Russian and Belarusian teams to return to official FIDE competitions, lifting restrictions to organise events in Belarus and permitting the full use of national symbols in youth and junior competitions.[86] However, the conduct of the vote, including the approval of two resolutions, was met with criticism and raised questions about the legality, governance and potential political influence within FIDE.[87] The Nordic Chess Federation had issued a statement ahead of the General Assembly, urging delegates to vote against the proposal as it was not consistent with IOC's recommendations and principles.[88] The English Chess Federation (ECF) issued a statement in which they condemned the conduct and the outcome of the FIDE Congress, mentioning that its president Dvorkovich "acted as a tool of the Russian state", noting that the two adopted motions contradict IOC's policy and reaffirming that they would not host FIDE events with Russian teams until the IOC changes its policy.[89] The UCF announced they are intent to submit an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Former FIDE Events Coordinator Georgios Makropoulos, who was part of the FIDE's legal team in CAS proceedings, desribed the General Assembly as "unprecedentedly flawed".[87]
In March 2026, the CAS ruled that the RCF must stop organising events in occupied Ukrainian territories within 90 days or face suspension of up to three years.[90] After failing to meet the deadline, FIDE suspended the RCF with immediate effect. The UCF welcomed the decision and hailed it as "historic victory", but some criticised it as creating a new loophole that can benefit Russian players. FIDE stated that Russian adult players would be allowed to participate under the FIDE flag and only juniors could play under the Russian flag, but there was a paragraph stating that Russians "may be eligible" to play under a neutral flag in team events, which could pave the wave for Russian players to participate in the Samarkand Chess Olympiad.[91] In July 2026, following the recommendations of the IOC Executive Board, the FIDE Council decided to lift all restrictions imposed on the Belarus Chess Federation with immediate effect, thus enabling Belarusian players and teams to participate under the national flag in the upcoming Chess Olympiad.[92] In August 2026, the FIDE Council rejected a last-minute application by the RCF for entering teams in the Olympiad.[93] RCF president Alexander Tkachev criticised the decision and mentioned that it was made on FIDE Interim President Anand's initiative.[94]
FIDE presidential election
Dvorkovich's withdrawal
In June 2026, FIDE President Dvorkovich confirmed that he would be running for third presidential term after the FIDE General Assembly had abolished the two-term restriction from the FIDE Charter in 2023.[95] His decision came eight years after he had advocated to restrict the presidency to two limits, defying FIDE's announcement following his re-election in 2022 that his second term would be his last.[96] Another change was that he added Russian-born Kazakhstani billionaire and founder of Freedom Holding Timur Turlov as a running mate for deputy president to his candidacy.[97] Dvorkovich explained that Anand would still remain a part of his team, and the former World Champion publicly supported his candidacy in a post on X.[98]
In July 2026, Dvorkovich announced that he was stepping aside as FIDE President after his name was included on the newest European Union sanction list. He faced a travel ban and asset freeze due to "publicly supporting the annexation of Crimea and calling occupied Ukrainian cities 'new territories' of the Russian Federation".[99] He voluntarily suspended the exercise of his powers and duties as FIDE President with immediate effect and for as long as he is subject to sanctions by the European Union's and Swiss laws and regulations. The FIDE Council accepted and ratified his decision, adding that, in accordance with its Charter, the deputy president Anand shall act as an interim president.[100] Jan Henric Buettner and Wadim Rosenstein, who had also submitted candidacies in the upcoming presidential election,[101][102] expressed their personal respect to the incumbent president.[103] Following Dvorkovich's suspension of his presidency, his running mate Turlov submitted a candidacy for president and included Anand as a candidate for deputy president in his ticket.[104]
Complaints in the presidential campaign
During the presidential campaign, the FIDE Electoral Commission received formal complaints from all three candidate tickets.[105]
- On 6 August, Buettner addressed a cease-and-desist letter to members of the FIDE Council, officers and employees in which he alleged the "ongoing use of FIDE personnel, resources, and financial assets" to support Turlov's presidential campaign. He specifically pointed out to events in Cape Town, Bucharest and Addis Ababa, and added that similar arrangements were expected in Costa Rica, Aruba, Panama and New York City.[106] By 18 August, his team said that it had not received a substantive response to their notice.[105]
- On 7 August, Rosenstein raised concerns regarding Turlov's Russian citizenship, sanctions imposed against him by Ukraine and Russian court proceedings resulting in asset freeze. Turlov's team rejected the claims, stating that he had renounced his Russian citizenship and had become a Kazakh citizen, arguing that the sanctions apply within Ukraine and do not violate FIDE or national chess federation rules, and explaining that the information on the court proceedings and that the asset freeze measure had been lifted following a settlement in 2025.[105] A report by Russian newspaper Kommersant confirmed that the Nizhny Novgorod Arbitration Court approved a settlement and lifted the restrictions on Turlov's assets in September 2025.[107]
- On 11 August, Buettner and Pein filed a complaint concerning Turlov without revealing any specifics on the substance. However, in an interview with Conrad Schormann on 22 August, he explained that the complaint focuses on three connected issues: the participation of the all-Russian university team at the recent FIDE World University Team Championship, a business involving subsidiaries of Turlov's Freedom Holding in connection with sanctions, and a conflict of interest involving Freedom Holding as FIDE's main sponsor. In the interview, Buettner claimed that the votes are being bought at a price of US$40,000 in Europe and US$5,000 in Africa.[108] Buettner also cited a children's chess event in South Africa involving Turlov's International School Chess Federation, and added that he is prepared to take the matter to the CAS in case the FIDE Electoral Commission does not react.[105]
- On 11 August, Turlov and Anand filed a complaint against Rosenstein and Tang in which they raised four issues: invalid nominations, premature campaigning, violations as groundless accusations and other big controversies in public statements.[109]
- On 28 August, Turlov asked the FIDE Electoral Commission to remove Rosenstein from the election and strip the German Chess Federation's right to vote over a sponsorship deal signed during the campaign. The complaint cited that the German Chess Federation (GCF) appointed Rosenstein as its FIDE delegate in May 2026, nominated him for FIDE President in July 2026, and the GCF announced that Rosenstein and his company WR Events had become its sponsor in August 2026.[110]
Accommodation
Several national teams faced lodging difficulties upon arrival in Samarkand, and were forced to find accommodation at their own expense after waiting for hours.[111] India was one of the affected squads, and the members of the delegation were waiting for hours because their reservations at the Silk Road by Minyoun hotel were not properly communicated by the local organising committee. The captain of the team in the Open event Srinath Narayanan publicly raised the concern, while Vidit Gujrathi described the inconvenience as a "very poor first impression" of the event. AICF president Nitin Narang contacted FIDE and the local organisers in order to resolve the problem.[112] FIDE issued a statement that they regret about the situation and announced that they would reimburse the national teams for rooms up to an appropriate standard for up to three days even though the accommodation is responsibility of the local organising committee. They added that they would also compensate the national teams staying in official hotels that do not meet the standards approved for the Olympiad.[113]
Visa problems
FIDE Interim President Vishwanathan Anand acknowledged that there were visa problems, and said that FIDE and the local organising committee were already working to resolve them.[114] FIDE confirmed that some players and participants in the FIDE Congress have not obtained their visas. Among the affected persons were multiple delegates with voting rights, as well as the member of the FIDE Council Benard Wanjala. The FIDE Council expressed confidence that the problems would be resolved, but noted that the Congress can take place only if all participants entitled to vote can excercise that right. As a result, they added that the Congress may be moved to other dates and location in case the rights of all of its members and delegates are not protected and guaranteed.[115]
Observance of Yom Kippur
In the fifth round, the matches involving Israel started earlier by one hour and fifteen minutes because of the observance of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism, after their opponents—Singapore in the Open and Colombia in the Women's events—agreed to reschedule. The Israeli teams had to complete their games before sunset on 20 September when the 25-hour fast and period of player and reflection began.[116] However, Israel's request to reschedule their matches in the sixth round either after 19:30 UZB (UTC+5:00) on Monday (21 September) or on Tuesday (22 September) was refused by both Netherlands in the Open and Bulgaria in the Women's events. As a consequence, they had to forfeit their matches and their opponents were awarded 4-0 victories.[117] The president of the Israel Chess Federation Zvika Barkai accused FIDE of failing to obey a prior agreement to make rescheduling arrangements for Yom Kippur. He explained that they approached FIDE six months earlier, when they noticed that the Olympiad's schedule would fall on the holiday, and requested them to change the date or provide a special agreement. Barkai added that it was agreed in writing that Israel's games overlapping with the holiday would be rescheduled accordingly. He also condemned the Dutch and Bulgarian teams for behaving in an unsporting manner.[118]
Other incidents
In the first round of the Open event, Pakistan refused to field players and forfeited their match against Israel. The Chess Federation of Pakistan (CFP) explained that the decision follows the country's policy of not recognising Israel. In addition, the CFP president Syed Zeeshan Naqvi noted that the boycott's goal was also to express solidarity with the Palestinians.[119]
See also
Notes
- Chess was officially recognised as a sport by the International Olympic Committee in 1999. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, a two-game exhibition match between grandmasters Vishwanathan Anand and Alexey Shirov took place, but no Olympic medals were awarded.[5]
- The Open tournament enables participation of players from all genders.
- The FIDE Development Index (also known as Development Level) is a number calculated by FIDE to evaluate the current level of development of a National Chess Federation. It is calculated based on several parameters and updated yearly in January.[39] As of January 2026, a total of 21 are designated with a development level 1, 51 with a development level 2, 71 with a development level 3, 16 with a development level 4 and 48 with a development level 5.[40]
- The FIDE Congress is an annual event that combines the sessions of FIDE's main bodies—namely, the General Assembly, the FIDE Council, the Zonal Council and the FIDE Commissions. In even years, it is preferred that the FIDE Congress takes place during the Chess Olympiad, and it is therefore organised by the organiser of the Chess Olympiad.[71]