The opening ceremony of the Chess Olympiad 2026 took place on September 15. The Indian team faced problems with hotel check-in earlier in the day. The team captain reported that the local organizing committee did not pass the booking information to the hotel.

ChessBase India CEO Sagar Shah asked a question about the situation at the ceremony.

Sagar Shah

Sagar Shah

ChessBase India CEO

“This looks like an incredible venue where the tournament is being held, beautiful setup and so on.

So, could you tell us what are the entities that have come together to make this possible? And on the challenges front, there have been certain tweets that have been made recently by the Indian team.

Could you also throw a bit of light on that if you are aware of the same so that people can know about it?”

Vice President of the Uzbekistan Chess Federation Alisher Sadullaev answered Sagar’s questions. Alisher described the positives of the event organization, and noted that the problems will be resolved soon.

Alisher Sadullaev

Alisher Sadullaev

Vice President of the Uzbekistan Chess Federation

“…About the challenges — I recently had a talk with the Indian team. According to the regulations, it was at a certain time, so the check-in was planned earlier. So, the FIDE team and the coordination team have organized everything now, and I think everything is already being set up.

And I am sure this will be resolved, I believe. And from tomorrow on, all the problems will be resolved and players can comfortably come and start playing their matches.”

The video with Sagar’s question on X received criticism in the comments. Users believe that Shah asked the question indirectly. User Gutsy Gambit suggested a simplified version of the question.

Gutsy Gambit

Gutsy Gambit

@gutsy_gambit

“Just ask a straight question: ‘It seems that several teams, including the Indian team, faced severe delays getting rooms allocated on their arrival here, can you please address that matter?’

Or don’t ask at all.”

User The Other Guy noted that the question made little sense.

The Other Guy

The Other Guy

@Gyan49485

“…No wonder he doesn’t get the respect he deserves because of a missing spine.

I would have been happier if he had not addressed this situation, rather than asking whatever the hell this word salad was.”

The Chess Olympiad is a prestigious national team competition. The event is held every two years and organized by FIDE. The 2026 Olympiad event will take place from September 16 to 27 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Credit: ChessBase India X