Chess Olympiad chaos: FIDE promises reimbursement after India lodging woes
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has promised to reimburse the teams affected by accommodation chaos in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, after they arrived for the Chess Olympiad on Tuesday, September 15. India were one of the affected sides, with captain Srinath Narayanan and Vidit Gujrathi revealing that the team didn’t get their rooms despite being in the airport for more than five hours.
Austrian Grandmaster Felix Blohberger had previously spoken about the same problem in a vlog on his YouTube channel. He later responded to Srinath’s post, saying that they were also facing similar issues. In a lengthy statement, FIDE said that they will intervene and help the teams who had to take accommodation else where for a period of up to three days.
The federation also said that teams that teams forced to stay in official hotels that don’t meet FIDE-approved standards will receive additional compensation.
FIDE STATEMENT ON OLYMPIAD ACCOMMODATION
“FIDE notes with deep regret that, during the first day of the 2026 FIDE Chess Olympiad, shortcomings in the accommodation arrangements left some teams without proper loging, forcing them to rent rooms in the city at their own expense.”
“Although accommodation matters fall within the remit of the local Organizing Committee, and FIDE has no authority in this regard, FIDE nevertheless considers it its duty to assist the federations affected by this situation.”
“Accordingly, FIDE has found additional financial resources and officially confirms that all teams that had to secure their own rooms will be reimbursed for the cost of accommodation of the appropriate standard for a period of up to three days.”
“In addition, all teams that are forced to stay in official hotels that do not meet FIDE-approved standards during the Olympiad shall receive an additional compensatory payment from FIDE.”
“FIDE deeply regrets that these organizational problems occurred and apologizes to the affected federations and teams. While the shortcomings arose at the level of the Organizing Committee, FIDE’s priority is to ensure that no federation suffers financial losses as a result.”
“Our fundamental objective remains clear: every participating federation must be treated fairly and provided with the conditions established for the Chess Olympiad,” read the statement from FIDE.
The Indian team were eventually allotted their rooms at the end of the day but it was far from straightforward.
A report from Indian Express states that the Indian contingent reached Samarkand at around 9.30 am before making its way to the assigned hotel, where they arrived roughly an hour later. However, the first room was handed over only at about 12.30 pm, followed by a second room around 30 minutes later.
With just two rooms initially available for the entire Indian contingent, the members of the open team, including world champion D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa, used one room to freshen up and rest. The women’s team, along with the mothers of Praggnanandhaa and Vantika Agrawal, were accommodated in the other.
The six coaches had to wait as hotel officials worked to arrange additional rooms for the contingent.
India women’s team captain Swayams Mishra said that India were supposed to get 16 rooms but only got 14 in the end by late evening.
“All players now have their individual rooms, some did not get the preferred rooms they had mentioned to the organisers. But the support staff will be adjusting for a couple of days,” said Mishra to Indian Express.
India are coming into the Olympiad as the defending champions after their historic double gold in Budapest in 2024.
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