Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Aug 6: The United States will head into the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad as the top-seeded team despite the absence of world No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura, while defending champions India will attempt to retain both the Open and Women's titles when the tournament begins in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
According to the official seedings, the United States once again boast the highest average rating in the Open section, led by world No. 3 Fabiano Caruana. The American squad also includes Wesley So, Hans Niemann, Leinier Dominguez Perez and Ray Robson, giving it one of the strongest line-ups despite Nakamura opting to skip another Olympiad.
Nakamura, a seven-time Olympiad player and former team gold medallist, has not represented the United States at the Chess Olympiad since 2018. His continued absence is considered a major talking point ahead of the biennial event.
India, however, enter the tournament with confidence after scripting history at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest in 2024 by winning both the Open and Women's team gold medals for the first time. The Open team recorded a historic 21 out of a possible 22 match points, finishing four points clear of the rest of the field, while the women's team also secured India's maiden Olympiad title in that category.
The Indian Open team will once again be spearheaded by reigning World Champion D Gukesh alongside Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi and Aravindh Chithambaram, making India one of the strongest contenders to defend the title.
In the Women's section, India will field R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, Tania Sachdev and 19-year-old Savitha Shri, who replaces veteran Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli. Savitha's selection follows an impressive rise through the domestic and international circuit after years of financial hardship and family sacrifice.
Host nation Uzbekistan, the 2022 Open champions, are also expected to challenge strongly with a young squad led by Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov. China, Germany and Armenia are among the other leading contenders in the Open competition.
The 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad will feature hundreds of teams from around the world competing in the Open and Women's sections over 11 rounds of Swiss-system play, with India seeking to become only the second nation in recent years to successfully defend both team titles at the same Olympiad.