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Indian Chess Teams Wait 5 Hours for Rooms in Samarkand

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India's defending Chess Olympiad champions waited about five hours for hotel rooms in Samarkand ahead of the 2026 FIDE event, drawing complaints from Srinath and Vidit.

India's defending Chess Olympiad champions began their title defence with an uncomfortable wait, as the men's and women's teams were left without hotel rooms for around five hours after landing in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Tuesday. The players eventually received their room allotments, but only after a lengthy delay that drew public complaints from senior members of the squad.

Both Indian contingents had travelled to the Uzbek city for the FIDE tournament, which runs from September 16 to 27. On arrival, the players were unable to check in and settle into their accommodation as expected. A member of the travelling squad later confirmed the matter had been sorted out. "All the players have settled into their rooms now. But it was an unpleasant experience," the squad member said.

The frustration was aired on social media by two prominent figures in the men's set-up. Grandmaster Srinath Narayanan, captain of the Indian men's team, wrote on X: "Having a terrible experience at the @FIDE_chess 2026 Olympiad. The team landed 5 hours ago at Samarkand airport. The team still haven't been allotted rooms, with absolutely no clarity on when it'll be allotted."

Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi echoed the sentiment, posting: "Very poor first impressions of the Samarkand, Uzbekistan Olympiad 2026. Still waiting..."

Other teams report the same problem

The accommodation trouble was not confined to the Indian delegation. Austrian Grandmaster Felix Blohberger replied to Srinath's post describing a similar wait: "Same here, we arrived yesterday at 6 a.m. at the hotel and our captain got his room at 1:30pm."

Welsh player Jonathan Blackburn also shared his ordeal on Tuesday. "37 hours awake, 2 flights, half way round the world only to be told you don't have a hotel room that night, typical Olympiad. Finally in my room - worth it," he wrote, noting he had eventually been given a room.

Uzbekistan federation responds

Alisher Sadullaev, Vice President of the Uzbekistan Chess Federation, said organisers were working to fix the situation and had spoken directly with the Indian team. "I have had a talk with the Indian team. According to the regulations, at certain time the check in was planned earlier on...but the FIDE team and the coordination team has organised everything now and I think everything is already being set up," he told ChessBase India.

Sadullaev sought to reassure players that the disruption would not affect the competition. "I'm sure this will be resolved.. and from tomorrow on players can comfortably come and start playing their matches," he said.

The delay comes as India arrives in Samarkand carrying the weight of a double title defence. Both the men's and women's teams won gold at the 2024 Chess Olympiad, a first for the country and a landmark result in Indian chess.

The men's squad is anchored by world champion D Gukesh and also features Grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin and Gujrathi, with Srinath serving as captain. The women's team is led on the board by Koneru Humpy and R Vaishali, alongside World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri, with Swayams Mishra as captain.

With rooms now allotted and the federation promising a smooth start, both teams are set to open their campaigns as the tournament gets under way on September 16.

Chess Olympiad 2026, Samarkand Uzbekistan, Indian chess team, Srinath Narayanan, Vidit Gujrathi, D Gukesh, FIDE Olympiad, Koneru Humpy

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