Defending Champions India Beat USA at Chess Olympiad

India’s women have defeated the United States 3–1 at the 2026 FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, as the defending champions continue their campaign for back-to-back titles.

India secured the victory through wins by Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri, while Humpy Koneru and Divya Deshmukh drew their respective matches.

The victory carries added significance for India, which enters this year’s Olympiad as the defending champion in both the Women’s and Open competitions.

India achieved the historic double at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest, winning gold in both sections for the first time.

The Chess Olympiad is one of the biggest international team competitions in chess and is held every two years, with players representing their countries rather than competing individually.

This year’s event has attracted more than 200 teams in the Open competition and more than 190 in the Women’s competition.

Unlike an individual chess tournament, countries face each other as teams. Each match is contested across four boards, with four players from each country playing simultaneously.

The tournament is played over 11 rounds using the Swiss system, meaning teams are paired during the competition largely according to their results rather than playing every other country.

A country receives two match points for winning a team match, one for a draw and none for a loss. The country finishing with the most match points is crowned Olympiad champion.

The 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad concludes in Samarkand on September 27.