Gukesh Dommaraju shared his opinion on the Chess Olympiad 2026 in an interview with ChessBase India. Gukesh explains the reason for his loss in the last round of the tournament. Gukesh notes that he enjoyed the Olympiad more than other tournaments in 2026.

Gukesh Dommaraju

Gukesh Dommaraju

Reigning World Champion

“I just thought that after this King move, I’ll be able to get my Rook to the open file. It was just a miscalculation on my part, because his Queen was super strong.

We knew before the game that 2-2 would very likely, pretty much guarantee us the silver medal. Even if we had won it would have been silver. I was just hoping that Arjun would somehow be able to break through. Because losing this match would have been heartbreaking.

I don’t know about form and all but, surely, I enjoyed this tournament more than a lot of the last tournaments that I have played. I came here to have fun. I had a lot of fun with the team and we also won silver which is a bonus.”

The Chess Olympiad 2026 took place from September 16 to 27 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The India team finished the tournament in 2nd place with 18 points. Gukesh Dommaraju gained +7.1 Classical points during the event and moved up to 29th place in the live rating.

Credit: Michal Walusza / FIDE