The 46th Chess Olympiad ( / 46-шахмат Олимпиадаси) was an international team chess event held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from 15 to 27 September 2026. It was organised by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and consisted of two main tournaments: an Open event for players of all genders, and a Women's event for female players only. The associated Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities and FIDE Congress took place at the same time and venue. There were also several outreach events to promote chess.
There were 1,961 total participants: 1,024 in the Open event and 937 in the Women's event. They were organised into 206 teams from 204 nations in the Open section, and 189 teams from 187 nations in the Women's section. Each section had 11 rounds; in each round four players from each team played four players from another team. Opponents were determined using the Swiss system. The main venue was the Silk Road International Exhibition Centre. The Chief Arbiter was International Arbiter Ivan Syrovy from Slovakia.
Teams were ranked by the number of rounds they won – two points for a win and one point for a draw. Home team Uzbekistan won the gold medal in the Open event, their second title (after their first in 2022). The defending champions India won the silver medal and Germany won bronze. In the Women's event, China won gold, their seventh title and first since 2018. Kazakhstan took silver and the defending champions India won bronze.
Individual players were ranked by their performance rating. In the Open event, Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov had the highest rating of 2869, and scored 8½ out of 11. In the Women's event, Chinese player Zhu Jiner had the highest rating of 2638, winning 7 of 9 games she played. The best combined team rating (over both events) was by India, who received the Gaprindashvili Trophy. Chinese players won three individual board medals in both events.
At the 97th FIDE Congress, held during the Olympiad, Timur Turlov was elected new FIDE president. He replaced Arkady Dvorkovich, who withdrew from the presidential race following 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. 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. 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. The organisers of the Summer Olympics defined chess as a sport, 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. The first official edition of the Chess Olympiad was held in London in 1927. Up until 1950, the tournament was organised at irregular intervals. From then on, it has been held once every two years. The first Women's Chess Olympiad took place in Emmen, Netherlands in 1957; since 1976, the Women's tournament has been held simultaneously with an Open tournament at the Chess Olympiads. The former Soviet Union has historically been the most successful nation with 18 gold medals won.
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. 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. Uzbekistan submitted the only bid to host the event, which was unanimously approved by the FIDE General Assembly in August 2022. 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.
The Chess Federation of Uzbekistan (CFU) 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. It is the first Chess Olympiad to take place in Central Asia.
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. In May 2023, it was announced that the Uzbek government had allocated over US$4 million to host the Olympiad.
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".
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 provided 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 would 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. In June 2026, the list of twelve selected participants was published with the following names: Karen Julissa Figueroa Figueroa (Barbados), Patricia Evarista Castillo Peña (Dominican Republic), Beatriz Irene Franco Valencia (Colombia), Marie Sebag (France), Bayarmaa Bayarjargal (Mongolia), Robyn Julian Klaasen (South Africa), Zenia Corrales Jiménez (Mexico), Elisabeth Pähtz (Germany), Elisabeth Hapala (Austria), Luzia Fernandes Pires (Angola), Razan Alshaeby (Jordan) and Onkemetse Linda Francis (Botswana).
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.
Venue The venue for the Olympiad was 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. It was opened in August 2022 at a ceremony that was attended by president Mirziyoyev. The complex covers an area of 280 hectares 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. The Silk Road International Exhibition Centre originally had an area of 4,000 m2, which was expanded to 17,000 m2 in 2025, transforming it to a modern venue with five fully equipped conference halls. 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.
Ticketing There were three ticket categories for the event: (i) a single-day ticket, (ii) a family ticket and (iii) a full pass. A single-day ticket covered one round of the buyer's choice, and its price was UZS50,000 (US$4.20) for domestic visitors and UZS240,000 (US$20) for foreigners. A family ticket provided access for a family to one selected round using a single QR code, and its price was UZS80,000 (US$6.7) for domestic visitors and UZS360,000 (US$30) for foreigners. A full pass covered every round from 16 to 27 September, permitting one entry per day, and its price was UZS500,000 (US$41.70) for domestic visitors and UZS2,400,000 (US$200) for foreigners. Uzbek citizens aged 14 to 30 could get tickets free of charge. Tickets provided entry to the spectator area, exhibition hall, workshops, fan zones and interactive events. The spectator area was open from 15:00 UZB to 17:00 UZB (UTC+5:00), and visitors had to remove their phones from the hall after 15:15 UZB.
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 brought it to Samarkand for the event.
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.