Pune Welcomes GM Abhijit Kunte After India’s Historic Chess Olympiad Hat-Trick
Pune, 30th September 2026: India won silver in the Open section and bronze in the Women’s section at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, while retaining the Nona Gaprindashvili Cup for the third consecutive edition of the tournament.
The achievement marks India’s third successive triumph in the prestigious team award, following its victories at the Chennai Olympiad in 2022 and the Budapest Olympiad in 2024. The cup is awarded to the federation with the best combined performance in the Open and Women’s sections.
India’s Open team comprised Grandmasters (GMs) Arjun Erigaisi, R. Praggnanandhaa, Nihal Sarin, reigning World Champion D. Gukesh and Vidit Gujrathi, with GM Srinath Narayanan as captain. The women’s team featured GMs Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh and R. Vaishali, along with International Masters (IMs) Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri B. GM Swayams Mishra captained the team.
Indian players also delivered notable individual performances. Making her Olympiad debut, IM Savitha Shri won individual gold on Board 5 with an unbeaten score of 9/10. Her draw against Georgia in the final round helped India secure the bronze medal in the Women’s section. Divya Deshmukh won individual silver on Board 2, while Gukesh secured individual silver and Koneru Humpy and Vantika Agrawal claimed bronze medals on their respective boards.
GM Abhijit Kunte Welcomed in Pune
Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte, Chief Coach of the All India Chess Federation (AICF), led the Indian contingent as Head of Delegation at the Samarkand Olympiad.
On his return, Kunte received a warm welcome from members of the Pune chess community, along with Sunil Pande, corporator of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
The tournament saw a strong showing by Asian teams, which accounted for five of the six team medals across the Open and Women’s sections. Uzbekistan, India and Germany finished on the Open podium, while China, Kazakhstan and India secured the medals in the Women’s section.
Kunte attributed India’s sustained success to continued institutional support, government-backed initiatives and policies aimed at strengthening the country’s chess ecosystem.
Reflecting on the achievement, Kunte said, “This has been a long and rewarding journey. When I took over as Chief Coach of AICF, we began working on reforms, preparation and stronger support systems. With the continued support of the AICF administration, Indian teams have won medals in each of the last three Olympiads.
“Our coaches, especially Srinath Narayanan and Swayams Mishra, have worked tirelessly across these three Olympiads and are the backbone of the team. This performance would not have been possible without every player giving their 100 percent. I feel extremely proud to have been part of this journey and to see India now competing consistently at the very top.”
Kunte also congratulated the players, coaches, assistant coaches and AICF officials for their contributions to India’s performance.
The Pune District Chess Circle (PDCC) welcomed Kunte back to the city, recognising his contribution to Indian chess.
Kunte previously guided the Indian women’s team to a historic gold medal at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest in 2024 in his capacity as coach. At the Samarkand Olympiad, he served as Head of Delegation as India secured silver in the Open section, bronze in the Women’s section and its third consecutive Gaprindashvili Cup.
“We extend our heartiest congratulations to the entire Indian team and thank them for giving us this opportunity to celebrate,” the PDCC said.
