The Open event at the 46th Chess Olympiad was held from 16 to 27 September 2026. It was contested by a record number of 206 teams, representing 204 nations. Uzbekistan, as host nation, fielded three teams. A total of 1,024 players participated in the Open event.
Uzbekistan won the gold medal in the Open event, which was their second title at the Chess Olympiads. The defending champions India won the silver medal and Germany completed the podium by winning the bronze medal. Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan achieved the highest performance rating of 2869 in the Open event after scoring 8½ out of a possible 11 points (seven wins and four draws) on board one. Individual gold medals on the other boards were won by Wei Yi of China with 7½ out of 10 and a performance rating of 2798, Frederik Svane of Germany with 8½ out of 11 and a performance rating of 2796, Ihor Samunenkov of Ukraine with 8 out of 10 and a performance rating of 2720, and Gleb Dudin of Hungary with 8 out of 10 and a performance rating of 2738.
Competition format and calendar The tournament was played in a Swiss system format. The time control for all games was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, after which an additional 30 minutes were granted; an increment of 30 seconds per move was applied from the first move. Players were permitted to offer a draw at any time. A total of 11 rounds were to be played, and all teams had to be paired in every round.
In each round, four players from each team faced four players from another team; teams were permitted one reserve player who could be substituted between rounds. The four games were played simultaneously on four boards with alternating colours, scoring 1 game point for a win and ½ game point for a draw. The scores from each game were then summed together to determine which team would win the round. Winning a round was worth two match points, regardless of the game point margin, while drawing a round was worth one match point. Teams were ranked in a table based on match points. Tie-breakers for the table are i) the Sonneborn–Berger system; ii) total game points scored; iii) the sum of the match points of the opponents, excluding the lowest one.
The event took place from 15 to 27 September 2026. Tournament rounds began on 16 September and ended with the final round on 27 September. All rounds began at 15:00 local time (UTC+5:00), except for the final round which began at 11:00 local time (UTC+5:00). There was one rest day on 22 September, after the sixth round.
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Teams and players The Open event was contested by a total of 1,032 players from 208 teams. It featured eight of the top ten players from the FIDE rating list published in September 2026. Former five-time World Champion and current world no. 1 Magnus Carlsen was absent from the Olympiad, and Hikaru Nakamura missed his third consecutive Chess Olympiad. Hosts Uzbekistan were considered the pre-tournament favourites, while the defending champions India, the United States and China their most dangerous rivals. The Uzbek squad captained by former FIDE World Chess Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov had four players that won gold and bronze at the previous two Olympiads, respectively. The team had the third-highest rating of 2720 and is led by Nodirbek Abdusattorov on the first board, followed by World Championship Challenger Javokhir Sindarov on the second board, then Nodirbek Yakubboev, Shamsiddin Vokhidov and Mukhiddin Madaminov on the remaining boards. Nevertheless, the team with the highest pre-tournament average rating were the United States, consisting of Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Hans Niemann and Awonder Liang as a reserve player, with an average rating of 2753. Niemann and Liang made their debut at the Chess Olympiads.
The defending champions India were the second-seeded team with an average rating of 2735. Their squad captained by Srinath Narayanan included reigning World Champion and winner of the individual gold medal on the top board at the previous two Olympiads Gukesh Dommaraju on board four, as well as R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin on the first three boards and Vidit Gujrathi as a reserve player. The only change from the gold-winning squad at the Budapest Olympiad was Nihal replacing Pentala Harikrishna. China with the average rating of 2707 started the tournament as the fourth seeds. The team was led by Ding Liren on board one and saw the former World Champion's return to the Chess Olympiads, while Wei Yi, Yu Yangyi, Xu Xiangyu and Kong Xiangrui completed the squad on the remaining boards. Germany were the fifth seeds with an average rating of 2677, captained by Jan Gustafsson, with Vincent Keymer, Matthias Blübaum, Frederik Svane, Alexander Donchenko and Rasmus Svane on the team. Other strong teams included the Netherlands, Azerbaijan, Hungary, France and Armenia.
Rounds
Round 1
Former World Champion and FIDE Interim President Vishwanathan Anand made the opening move 1. c4 on board one for Joshua Christie in his game against Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the match between Jamaica and Uzbekistan. The first round saw favourites prevail, though with some major individual upsets. A total of 73 teams achieved perfect 4–0 victories. On the top ten match boards, Uzbekistan, China, Germany, Azerbaijan, France and Armenia scored perfect victories against Jamaica, Uganda, Faroe Islands, Morocco, Tunisia and Barbados, respectively. The top seeds United States conceded half a point to Iraq after Levon Aronian was held to a draw by CM Ehsan Ali Aryan on board three. In his Olympiad debut, Hans Niemann scored a crushing 23-move win.
The defending champions India faced the biggest upset of the round as Arjun Erigaisi lost his game on the top board to IM Prin Laohawirapap following a blunder in a tricky position after having a better position in much of the game (see diagram). However, his team ultimately defeated Thailand 3–1 thanks to the wins scored on the remaining three boards. Hungary faced some difficulties against Malta, with Benjamin Gledura losing his game on board two with the Black pieces and Tamás Bánusz drawing his game with the White pieces on board three, but they managed to score a 2½–1½ victory thanks to wins by Peter Leko and Gleb Dudin on the highest and lowest boards.
Round 2
In the second round, many of the strongest players representing the favourites made their first appearances in the tournament, but none of the favourites achieved a perfect 4–0 result. Poland, Croatia, Lithuania, Belarus and Iceland remained the only teams with individual wins on all boards after two rounds. The United States faced difficulties against Mongolia, as Hans Niemann drew his game on board two and Awonder Liang suffered the biggest upset of the round by losing to Khuyagtsogt Itgelt on the last board. Thanks to wins by Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian, the United States narrowly won the match 2½–1½. R Praggnanandhaa also made his first appearance, but the defending champions India were unable to achieve an easy win against Indonesia, with three of their games ending in draws. But Nihal Sarin, who had been in a losing position against Arif Abdul Hafiz, capitalised on his opponent's later mistakes by launching a decisive counterattack (see diagram) to win his game on board two, helping India win the match 2½–1½. Following the match, World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju, who drew his game, dropped below 2700 in live ratings for the first time in four years.
Uzbekistan scored a 3½–½ victory against Peru with wins on the top three boards, including the World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov, who played his first game and sacrificed his queen before scoring a 32-move win. Only Mukhiddin Madaminov made a draw on the last board against Fernando Fernández Sánchez. Ukraine suffered a major upset as Vasyl Ivanchuk lost his game to IM Ilja Sirosh of Estonia. Ivanchuk, making his first appearance on the board, achieved a positional edge but made a decisive blunder, resulting in his defeat. However, Ukraine still won the match with wins on the remaining three boards. The remaining favourites China, Germany, Netherlands, Azerbaijan, Hungary, France and Armenia won their matches convincingly, although each conceded at least one draw against Chile, Uzbekistan-3, North Macedonia, Philippines, Colombia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Scotland respectively.
Round 3
The third round saw all the favourites winning their matches, although several of them faced difficulties. The top seeds United States faced a challenge from Denmark, as Awonder Liang suffered another upset against Bjorn Moller Ochsner on the last board, while Fabiano Caruana escaped with a draw against Jonas Buhl Bjerre on the top board after holding a losing edge. However, they won their match narrowly by 2½–1½, thanks to wins by Wesley So and Hans Niemann. The defending champions India continued their winning run by defeating Italy 3–1 with wins by Nihal Sarin and Gukesh Dommaraju. Arjun Erigaisi, returning to the board after sitting out the previous round, could not convert his advantage against Luca Moroni and drew his game. Following the match, World Champion Gukesh explained the strategy behind him competing on board four rather than on the top boards by saying that his teammates Praggnandhaa and Erigaisi were in better shape to compete on the top boards. He further said:
It was my idea as well as the whole team's, while we all thought the same: that this order will give us the best chances of winning the tournament. And regarding the prospect of a world champion playing on board 4, I think if the team needs it, I would even rest for all the games. We are here playing for India and there is no player greater than his country, so I am just happy to do whatever it takes for the team to do well.
Uzbekistan defeated Austria 3–1 with wins scored by Javokhir Sindarov and Mukhiddin Madaminov, while China scored a 3½–½ victory against Bulgaria, including a magnificent 38-move win by former World Champion Ding Liren against Arkadij Naiditsch on the top board. The remaining favourites Germany, Netherlands, and Hungary won their matches against Uzbekistan-2, Australia, and Slovenia, respectively, with a 2½–1½ scoreline. Vincent Keymer scored the only win for Germany while the remaining three games ended in draws. The Netherlands faced a big scare against Australia, with Loek van Wely losing his game to Rishi Sardana, while Jorden van Foreest won his game and Erwin l'Ami made a draw on the last board, leaving Australia one draw away from holding the match to a draw. But Anish Giri fought valiantly throughout the endgame while maintaining a winning advantage against Bobby Cheng, and capitalised on his opponent's later mistake (see diagram) to win after 76 moves and secure a crucial 2½–1½ victory for his team. Richárd Rapport made a shocking blunder against Anton Demchenko that immediately resulted in his defeat after just 24 moves and Peter Leko drew against Jan Šubelj on board two, but thanks to wins by Tamás Bánusz and Gleb Dudin, Hungary scored a 2½–1½ victory against Slovenia and remained unbeaten after three rounds.