India retained the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy at the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, after the Indian Open team won silver and the women’s team secured bronze. In the final round on September 27, the Open team drew 2-2 with Hungary, while the women drew 2-2 with Georgia.
India and Germany finished level on 18 match points in the Open section, with India taking silver on the applicable tiebreak. In the Women’s section, India finished third on tiebreak after five teams ended on the same match-point total. The combined results gave India the Gaprindashvili Trophy for the third consecutive Olympiad.
Men Take Silver
India entered the final round as the defending Open champions but finished second behind hosts Uzbekistan. Against Hungary, Arjun Erigaisi defeated former world championship challenger Peter Leko with the black pieces, while world champion D Gukesh lost to Hungary’s Gleb Dudin. R Praggnanandhaa drew with Richard Rapport and Nihal Sarin drew with Benjamin Gledura, leaving the match tied 2-2.
Uzbekistan defeated Ukraine 2.5-1.5 to win the Open section with 20 match points. India and Germany both finished on 18 points, but India secured silver on the applicable tiebreak, while Germany took bronze. FIDE also reported that Dudin’s result earned him the individual gold medal on the first reserve board, while Gukesh received the individual silver on board four.
Congratulations to 🇺🇿 team on winning the Open section of the 2026 FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand and Javokhir Sindarov for Best Male Chess Player. Congrats to 🇮🇳 team for winning Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy for best combined result. Divya Deshmukh was named Best Female Player. pic.twitter.com/B8dCyIXKTX
— India in Uzbekistan (@amb_tashkent) September 28, 2026
Women Secure Bronze
India’s women drew 2-2 with Georgia in the final round to secure third place. Koneru Humpy defeated Nana Dzagnidze, while Divya Deshmukh lost to Bella Khotenashvili. Vantika Agrawal drew with Lela Javakhishvili, and B Savitha Shri held Meri Arabidze to a draw.
India, the United States, Poland, Armenia and Mongolia all finished on the same match-point total, with the medal positions decided by tiebreak. China won the Women’s section after defeating Vietnam 3-1, while Kazakhstan took silver after a 2-2 draw with Poland. FIDE reported that Savitha Shri secured the individual gold medal on board five.
Team India 🇮🇳 secures Bronze medal in Women Section of FIDE Olympiad Samarkand 2026 pic.twitter.com/VimnzfXBLm
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) September 27, 2026
Trophy Stays With India
India’s combined Open and Women’s results earned it the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy, which FIDE awards to the federation with the best combined result across the two sections. India previously won the trophy at the 2022 Olympiad in Chennai and the 2024 edition in Budapest.
The Samarkand result therefore marked India’s third consecutive win of the trophy. At the closing ceremony, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand joined the medal presentations, and the Gaprindashvili Trophy was presented to India.
Modi Congratulates Teams
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Indian chess contingent following its silver and bronze finishes. According to reports quoting his post on X, Modi wrote that the players’ “passion and determination are exemplary” and said he hoped their success would motivate more youngsters to take up chess. The Indian teams’ results in Samarkand came after India won gold in both sections at the 2024 Olympiad in Budapest.
Congratulations to our Chess players! Their passion and determination are exemplary.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 28, 2026
May these successes motivate several more youngsters to play chess and excel. https://t.co/u1OyYs6LAj
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
India’s Samarkand campaign produced podium finishes in both sections and extended its run of success in the combined Olympiad classification. The Open team finished with silver and the women’s team with bronze, while their combined standing secured India the Gaprindashvili Trophy for a third consecutive edition.
The results also included individual recognition, with Savitha Shri taking board-five gold and Gukesh securing board-four silver. The performances provide another indication of the depth of Indian representation at the highest level of team chess.
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