Chess Olympiad 2026: India’s full squad, schedule, format, venue, time control & top seeds

India will field its full squad at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, aiming for another historic double-gold, after securing both the Open and Women's titles at Budapest 2024. The squad consists of R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, and world champion D Gukesh in the Open section, with Srinath Narayanan as captain. The women's team features Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh, R Vaishali, Vantika Agrawal, and Savitha Shri B, with Swayams Mishra leading the team.

The Olympiad follows an 11-round Swiss system, with every team playing all rounds. Teams earn two match points for a win, one for a draw, and zero for a loss. Each team comprises five players, with four players participating in each round. The time control for all games is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, 30 minutes for the remainder, plus a 30-second increment per move from the first move.

Players can offer a draw at any stage of the game. The first round is scheduled to kick off on September 16 at 3:45 PM IST, concluding on September 27 at 11:45 AM IST.