Chess Olympiad 2026 India Retains Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy
India completed the 2026 FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand with medals in both the Open and Women’s sections and retained the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy for the third consecutive edition.
The Indian Open team finished with the silver medal, while the Indian Women’s team secured bronze. Their combined results placed India at the top of the overall federation classification and secured another Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy. The achievement follows India’s victories in the combined classification at the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Chennai and the 2024 Olympiad in Budapest.
The result means India has now won the prestigious trophy in three successive Olympiad editions. India’s latest achievement came despite neither the Open nor Women’s team being able to defend the gold medals they won in Budapest in 2024.
India’s Performance in the Open Section
The Indian Open team entered the final round as one of the leading contenders for the gold medal. India faced Hungary in the final round, while hosts Uzbekistan played Ukraine.
India drew 2 to 2 against Hungary and finished the competition with the silver medal. Uzbekistan defeated Ukraine 2.5 to 1.5 to claim the Open title on home soil.
India and Germany finished level on match points and game points, but India secured second place through the applicable tiebreak criteria. Germany therefore finished with the bronze medal.
In India’s final round against Hungary, Arjun Erigaisi secured a victory over Peter Leko. R Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin drew their games, while world champion D Gukesh lost to Hungary’s Gleb Dudin.
The silver medal added another podium finish to India’s recent record in the Open section. India had entered the 2026 competition as the defending Open champions after winning gold in Budapest in 2024.
Uzbekistan won the Open gold medal after collecting 20 match points. The hosts therefore celebrated a second Chess Olympiad title after their earlier triumph in Chennai in 2022.
India Women Win Bronze
India’s Women’s team also finished on the podium in Samarkand.
The Indian women played Georgia in the final round and drew the match 2 to 2. That result was enough to secure the bronze medal.
China won the Women’s gold medal after defeating Vietnam 3 to 1. Kazakhstan took the silver medal.
India finished ahead of several other strong teams through the final standings and tiebreak calculations. The bronze medal meant India finished on the podium in both sections of the 2026 Olympiad.
Savitha Shri played an important role for India in the final round. She held Georgia’s Meri Arabidze to a draw in a difficult position, helping India secure the overall 2 to 2 result.
Koneru Humpy also contributed a win for India against Georgia. The combined result allowed the Indian Women’s team to finish third.
Savitha Shri was among India’s standout performers during the tournament, finishing with nine points from ten games according to reports following the final round.
What Is the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy
The Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy is different from the individual trophies awarded to the winners of the Open and Women’s Chess Olympiads.
The trophy is awarded to the federation with the best combined performance across the two sections. FIDE’s official regulations state that the combined classification is determined using the finishing positions of a federation’s Open and Women’s teams. The federation with the lower combined total of places is declared the winner.
The trophy is named after Nona Gaprindashvili, the Georgian chess legend who became the first woman to receive the Grandmaster title.
Because the award combines results from both sections, it is a measure of a country’s overall strength and depth across men’s and women’s team chess.
India’s silver medal in the Open section and bronze medal in the Women’s section therefore proved sufficient to retain the trophy in Samarkand.
India’s Three Successive Trophy Wins
India first won the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy during the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Chennai.
That tournament was particularly significant for Indian chess because India achieved strong results in both sections while hosting the Olympiad.
India retained the trophy at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest. On that occasion, the Indian Open and Women’s teams both won gold medals, producing a historic double gold for the country.
In 2026, India extended the streak even though the teams did not repeat the double gold result. The Open silver and Women’s bronze were enough to give India the best combined classification.
The achievement places India among the countries that have produced sustained results across both sections of the Chess Olympiad.
India Falls Short of Defending Both Gold Medals
Although India retained the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy, the 2026 competition did not produce another double gold for the country.
The Indian Open team finished behind Uzbekistan, while the Women’s team finished behind China and Kazakhstan.
Uzbekistan benefited from home advantage and won the Open title after defeating Ukraine in the final round. China had already established a strong position in the Women’s competition and secured the gold medal after a successful campaign.
For India, however, finishing on the podium in both sections ensured that the country remained the overall winner of the combined classification.
Why the Achievement Is Significant
The Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy rewards consistency across the entire Chess Olympiad rather than performance in only one section.
A country can win the Open competition but fail to win the combined trophy if its Women’s team does not produce a comparable result. The same applies in reverse.
India’s 2026 performance demonstrates the depth of its chess programme across both sections. The Open silver and Women’s bronze combined to give the country the overall trophy.
The achievement also continues a period of strong performances by Indian players on the international stage.
The Indian Open squad included world champion D Gukesh along with leading grandmasters such as R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi. The Women’s team included established players such as Koneru Humpy alongside younger players including Savitha Shri and Divya Deshmukh.
The combination of established experience and younger talent contributed to India’s ability to remain competitive in both sections.
The 2026 Chess Olympiad also produced several notable individual performances. Savitha Shri was one of the standout performers for India in the Women’s section, while Arjun Erigaisi played an important role in the Open team’s final round against Hungary.
India’s Place in Chess Olympiad History
The latest trophy win adds to India’s growing record in team chess.
The country’s success in Chennai in 2022 was followed by the double gold achievement in Budapest in 2024. The 2026 edition in Samarkand produced a different combination of medals, but India again finished as the best overall federation.
FIDE’s official regulations make the combined classification an important part of the Olympiad structure. The Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy is presented to the federation that achieves the best combined result across the Open and Women’s competitions.
FIDE’s official closing ceremony report confirmed that India received the Gaprindashvili Cup after Uzbekistan won the Open section and China won the Women’s section. India collected silver and bronze respectively before receiving the overall trophy.
What Happened in the 2026 Final Standings
The final medal positions in the Open section were Uzbekistan with gold, India with silver and Germany with bronze.
In the Women’s section, China won gold, Kazakhstan took silver and India claimed bronze.
These results gave India the best combined performance across the two competitions and allowed it to retain the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy.
India’s three consecutive victories in the combined classification came across three different Olympiads and under different competitive circumstances. The 2022 edition was held in Chennai, the 2024 edition in Budapest and the 2026 edition in Samarkand.
The achievement is therefore separate from winning the Open or Women’s gold medal. India did not defend either individual title in 2026, but its combined results ensured that the overall trophy remained with the Indian federation.
The 2026 Chess Olympiad has consequently ended with India adding another major team achievement to its recent record. The country leaves Samarkand with an Open silver medal, a Women’s bronze medal and its third consecutive Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy.
