Savitha Shri Baskar Becomes India's Only Gold Medalist at Chess Olympiad 2026

Savitha Shri Baskar was India's only individual gold medalist at the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2026, held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. India won six individual board medals in all, across the Open and Women's sections.

Performance of Savitha Shri at the Chess Olympiad

1. She won gold on Board 5 in the Women's section, the reserve board.
2. She stayed unbeaten, scoring 9 points from 10 games (8 wins and 2 draws).
3. She won her first five games in a row, including a win over Rose Atwell in the round against the USA.
4. She helped the Indian women's team win the team bronze medal.
5. India lost to Poland in the only round in which she was rested.
6. She crossed the 2400 FIDE rating mark and reached 2405.

India's Individual Medals

• Gold (1): Savitha Shri B
• Silver (2): D Gukesh and Divya Deshmukh
• Bronze (3): R Praggnanandhaa, Koneru Humpy and Vantika Agrawal

India also won the silver medal in the Open team event and the bronze in the Women's team event.

India's Board Medals at the 2026 Chess Olympiad

About Savitha Shri Career

Savitha Shri is a 19-year-old International Master. The 2026 Olympiad was her first over-the-board Olympiad for India. She played at Board 5 and was a reliable support for the team alongside Vantika Agrawal. Her results made her India's best performer in terms of form in Samarkand across both Indian teams. Her rating jump past 2400 is a big step towards the Grandmaster level.

46th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2026

The Chess Olympiad is the biggest team event in world chess, organised by FIDE, the international chess federation. Countries send teams to the Open and Women's sections, and players also compete for medals on each individual board. The 2026 edition was the 46th Olympiad and was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.