Awonder Liang spoke about how he ended up on the reserve board at the Chess Olympiad 2026. Awonder says he did not take part in the process of distributing players. Liang notes that he was not invited to the chat for active players. Awonder spoke about it in an interview on the Lichess YouTube channel.

Awonder Liang

Awonder Liang

American GM

“[Question: Is it difficult for the team to decide who gets to play on which board?]

I wasn’t really part of that discussion.

I think they might have left me out of the group chat. You know, the chat only for the good players.”

The Chess Olympiad 2026 takes place from September 16 to 27 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Awonder Liang plays for the Team USA. He replaced Fabiano Caruana in the first round and won the game against an Iraqi FM. In the second round, Awonder replaced Wesley So and lost to a Mongolian IM.

Credit: Michal Walusza / FIDE