Uzbekistan Win Chess Olympiad 2026 Gold, India Take Silver

Hosts Uzbekistan won gold in the Chess Olympiad 2026 open section in Samarkand. India took silver and Germany bronze after the final round.

Uzbekistan are the champions of the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad. Playing at home in Samarkand, the Uzbek team won the open section with 20 match points from 11 matches. India won the silver medal and Germany took bronze.

In the final round Uzbekistan beat Ukraine 2.5-1.5. Three games were drawn, and Mukhiddin Madaminov's win over Roman Dehtiarov secured the match and the gold medal. Over the whole event the hosts won 10 of their 11 matches, losing only to Germany.

India drew 2-2 with Hungary in the last round. Arjun Erigaisi beat Peter Leko, but Gleb Dudin beat Gukesh D, and the other two games were drawn. India finished on 18 match points, level with Germany, and took silver on tiebreak. Germany beat the Netherlands 2.5-1.5 in the final round to claim the bronze.

India's silver was built on teamwork. Gukesh D scored 8.5 points from 11 games, one of the best results of the event. Praggnanandhaa R beat Anish Giri and Nikita Vitiugov and finished unbeaten. Nihal Sarin won key games early on, and Arjun Erigaisi recovered from a first-round loss to finish with a win over Peter Leko.

Uzbekistan's team was led by Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who scored 8.5 points from 11 games, with key wins over Ding Liren, Fabiano Caruana and Haik Martirosyan. Nodirbek Yakubboev, Javokhir Sindarov and their teammates all played their part.

Here is a lesson from India's last round. Gukesh had a wonderful event and still lost his final game. Even the best players have difficult days, and a single loss does not erase eleven rounds of excellent chess. What matters is the whole journey and what you learn along the way.

Congratulations to Uzbekistan on a historic home gold, and to India and Germany on their medals. The women's final standings follow in ChessDaily tomorrow.