World champ D Gukesh and Team India in huge accommodation mess ahead of Chess Olympiad 2026 in Uzbekistan

Srinath Narayanan is a strong chess player. He is the captain of the Indian chess team. He does not play the games. He only helps the team. He told everyone about the bad problems the team is having now. This is just before a big chess event in 2026. The event is called the FIDE Chess Olympiad. It starts tomorrow on Wednesday, September 16.

The Indian players and the helpers flew to the city of Samarkand. Getting there was hard. They waited at the airport for about five hours. Five hours is a long time to wait after flying. After the long wait, they still had no hotel rooms. They kept waiting to learn where they would sleep.

A long wait like this can make players feel tired and sad. The team wanted an easy start. But waiting for rooms made the first day hard.

Srinath opened up about the situation the players were facing on his social media ahead of the FIDE Chess Olympiad. Not only this, he also shared that the Indian players didn’t get the clarity regarding when things would sort out.

“Having a terrible experience at the @FIDE_chess 2026 Olympiad.”

“The team landed 5 hours ago at Samarkand airport. The team still haven’t been allotted rooms, with absolutely no clarity on when it’ll be allotted,” Srinath wrote on X.

However, another player, Vidit Gujrathi, revealed more things about the situation going on in Uzbekistan before the tournament. He shared that the team was still waiting for their rooms in Uzbekistan.

Before this important tournament, the problems with the hotel rooms were not a good start for the Indian team. The last time they played the tournament in 2024 in Budapest, they showcased an impressive performance as both the men’s team and women’s team won gold medals. It’s going to be the tough one for them.

After the opening show, the 2026 Chess Olympiad begins on September 15. After that the teams will play 11 rounds of slow chess.