Chess Olympiad 2026 in Samarkand: The Complete Visitor Guide to Dates, Entry and Staying Online

The 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad is the biggest team event in world chess, organized by FIDE, the International Chess Federation. It runs from September 15 to 27, 2026, and this is the first Chess Olympiad ever held in Central Asia.

Around 200 national federations send teams to two sections, Open and Women, playing an 11-round Swiss over the fortnight. It is billed as the largest Olympiad yet, with nearly 2,000 players and thousands more officials and guests.

The games are played at the Silk Road Samarkand complex. Host Uzbekistan is a genuine contender, having won gold at the 2022 Olympiad, led by Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The official site is chessolympiad2026.fide.com.

As of September 2026, FIDE has not published a general-public ticketing scheme for the playing hall, so how ordinary spectators get in is not yet fully clear. FIDE documents do confirm a Fan Zone and an Expo area at the venue.

Registered accompanying persons attached to a delegation pay about 100 EUR before arrival for event transport and an accreditation badge that gives access to the Fan Zone and Expo. That is not the same as a public ticket.

Uzbekistan is one of the easier countries to enter. Most visitors travel visa-free, and everyone else applies for a cheap e-visa online. Check the rule for your own passport before you book.

Samarkand has its own airport, but many visitors from Europe route through Istanbul or Dubai, or fly into the capital Tashkent and take the high-speed train. Book trains and flights early, because mid-September is peak season and the Olympiad adds heavy demand.

The best base for sightseeing is the historic centre near the Registan, where you can walk between the main monuments. Rooms range from about 23 USD for a simple guesthouse to boutique hotels in the 40 to 75 USD range.

The alternative is the Silk Road Samarkand resort next to the venue, which has eight on-site hotels and puts you a short walk from the playing hall rather than in the old town.

The currency is the Uzbekistani som, and in September 2026 roughly 12,000 som buys 1 USD. Uzbekistan is still largely a cash economy, so carry som for taxis, bazaars and small cafes.

Cards work at bigger hotels, restaurants and supermarkets, and ATMs that take Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay are easy to find in the city. Clean US dollar bills are useful as a backup to change on arrival.

Uzbekistan is outside the European Union, so the EU Roam Like at Home rules do not apply. An EU or UK SIM roams here at full international rates, which can run to several dollars per megabyte. Do not assume your home plan covers Uzbekistan cheaply, because it does not.

Buying a local SIM is more effort here than in most countries. It requires your passport and a biometric scan at the counter, and Uzbekistan enforces IMEI registration, so a phone used with a local SIM must have its IMEI registered or the device gets blocked. The main networks are Ucell, Beeline, Uzmobile and Mobiuz.

A travel eSIM you install before you fly sidesteps both hurdles: no passport-and-biometrics SIM purchase and no local-SIM IMEI paperwork. You land in Samarkand already connected, with no counter queue and no roaming bill. Coverage is solid 4G across the tourist areas, with 5G still limited.