NEW DELHI: The forty sixth FIDE Chess Olympiad is being held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from September 15 to 27, with the opening ceremony already held and the primary spherical on September 16.India enter the match because the defending champions in each the Open and Girls’s sections, after creating historical past by successful each gold medals in Budapest in 2024. Round 200 nationwide groups are competing throughout the 2 sections.
Format and schedule
The Olympiad is a workforce occasion performed over 11 rounds beneath the Swiss system. Every workforce has 5 gamers, however solely 4 play in any explicit spherical, with the fifth out there as a reserve. A match subsequently consists of 4 particular person video games.A workforce win earns two match factors, a draw one and a defeat none. The workforce with essentially the most match factors after 11 rounds wins the title.The competitors is being performed on the Silk Street Worldwide Exhibition Centre.Rounds 1 to six are scheduled from September 16 to 21, adopted by a relaxation day on September 22.Rounds 7 to 11 shall be performed from September 23 to 27, with the closing ceremony on September 27. Video games start at 3pm native time, or 3.30pm IST, whereas the ultimate spherical begins at 11am native time, or 11.30am IST.
| Date | Spherical | India time |
| Sep 16 | Spherical 1 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 17 | Spherical 2 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 18 | Spherical 3 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 19 | Spherical 4 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 20 | Spherical 5 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 21 | Spherical 6 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 22 | Relaxation day | — |
| Sep 23 | Spherical 7 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 24 | Spherical 8 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 25 | Spherical 9 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 26 | Spherical 10 | 3.30pm |
| Sep 27 | Spherical 11 | 11.30am |
India’s groups
India’s Open workforce is led by R Praggnanandhaa (2761) on Board 1, adopted by Arjun Erigaisi (2759), Nihal Sarin (2718), world champion D Gukesh (2703) and Vidit Gujrathi (2697). Srinath Narayanan is the captain. India are seeded second within the Open part.The choice to position Gukesh on Board 4, after he performed on prime board in India’s earlier two Olympiads, is without doubt one of the main speaking factors. Praggnanandhaa will face the strongest opposition on Board 1, whereas the association provides India appreciable depth decrease down the order.The ladies’s workforce options Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh, R Vaishali, Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri, with Swayams Mishra as captain. India are the highest seeds within the girls’s part.India’s greatest Open rivals embody hosts Uzbekistan, USA and China, whereas Georgia, Kazakhstan, China and USA are among the many main challengers within the girls’s occasion. Uzbekistan, led by Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, can have dwelling benefit.
How are pairings determined?
The Olympiad follows the Swiss system. The primary-round pairings are based mostly on workforce rankings, whereas subsequent opponents are decided by groups’ outcomes.Groups with related scores are typically paired in opposition to one another, that means India’s opponents will turn into harder if it retains successful. No two groups can meet greater than as soon as. Every workforce fields 4 gamers in a match from its five-member squad.For India, the target is simple however unprecedented: defend the double crown gained in Budapest two years in the past.