Indian team left stranded without accommodation at Chess Olympiad 2026

The Indian chess teams before departing to Uzbekistan for the Chess Olympiad 2026. | Photo Credit: Praggnanandhaa/X

The Indian chess team, set to participate in the Chess Olympiad 2026, was hit by logistical trouble following its arrival in Uzbekistan on Tuesday.

Srinath Narayanan, the captain of the Indian Open team, said that the team was left stranded for more than five hours, through a social media post.

“Having a terrible experience at the FIDE Chess 2026 Olympiad. The team landed five hours ago at Samarkand airport. The team still haven’t been allotted rooms, with absolutely no clarity on when it’ll be allotted,” wrote Srinath on X.

Indian GM Vidit Gujrathi, who is part of the Open team, backed his captain with a Quote Reply on X. “Very poor first impressions of the Samarkand, Uzbekistan Olympiad 2026. Still waiting.”

Austrian GM Felix Blohberger had earlier raised a similar issue through a YouTube vlog. He also replied to Srinath’s post, writing — “Same here, we arrived yesterday at 6a.m. at the hotel and our captain got his room at 1:30p.m.”

India is the defending champion in both the Open and Women’s sections. The competition begins on Wednesday (September 16).