Koneru Humpy spoke about the difficulties at the Chess Olympiad 2026 in an interview with the Times of India. Koneru says she fell sick after the rest day, and notes that she continued playing out of responsibility for the team. Humpy adds that her teammate Vaishali Rameshbabu was not in her best form.

Koneru Humpy

Koneru Humpy

Indian GM

“After the rest day, I completely fell sick. I was having diarrhea, stomach ache, then I was taking medicines. So, it was really tough for me.

Probably if I was not representing India, if it was a private team event, I would have taken a rest and asked the other player to play.

But I felt like my presence was very important to hold on the top board, and since Vaishali was also not in good shape, I never had the thought of taking a rest. Somehow, I was just taking medicine and going and playing every day…

I think it was a big failure, because we also had Vaishali in bad shape. She lost two important, crucial matches, against Poland and Kazakhstan, and that actually affected the team result.

We still had a chance against China. I can’t say we were unlucky, because we’ve been lucky many times on the fourth board.

We were losing in several games, probably four or five, but it just turned around completely, unexpectedly. So, I’d say our crucial drawback was not having Vaishali in shape.

Though we were very strong on paper, in practicality it was a bit handicapped without her. It was basically me and Divya as the main players, with Vantika and Savitha holding the third and fourth boards.”

The Chess Olympiad 2026 took place from September 16 to 27 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The India women’s team finished the tournament in 3rd place with 17 points. Koneru Humpy gained +9.3 Classical points during the event.

Credit: Michal Walusza / FIDE