On Saturday afternoon, Srinath Narayanan posted a series of photographs on his X account showing the faces of India’s golden generation grinning back through their computer screens.

“Had an intense but fun pre-Olympiad camp with the Indian Team over the past few days! Great energy, lots of good work and, most importantly, fantastic team spirit!” Srinath wrote. Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri asked how long the camp had been. When Srinath answered that it had run five days, Anish cheekily followed up: “How many hours per day, what openings you discussed and who plays board one?”

Who plays board one for India at the upcoming Olympiad is going to be a hotly debated question, with at least three contenders in the mix: Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi.

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Despite a slump in form over the last year and a half, Gukesh remains the reigning world champion, and the man who has won India two gold medals on board one across the last two Olympiads. Praggnanandhaa, meanwhile, is in red-hot form right now, having won Norway Chess and now the Grand Chess Tour Finals. Arjun has a strong case too, since he’s currently India’s top-rated player, per the August 2026 rating list.

Indian Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi, D. Gukesh and R. Praggnanandhaa. (PHOTO: FIDE/FILE)

Arjun sits at world No. 9, with a rating of 2759; Praggnanandhaa is 12th at 2750; Nihal Sarin is 25th at 2718; Gukesh has slipped to 31st, at 2703, having lost 74 rating points since January 2025, when he was the newly minted world champion. Vidit Gujrathi, the final player in the Indian side, is 33rd, at 2697.

Playing board one is about far more than prestige. It also means facing the world’s heaviest hitters, since most teams at the Olympiad name their strongest players on top board.

A couple of years ago, there was a joke doing the rounds in Indian chess: the hardest position to hold onto is the India No. 1 spot. Now, the hardest decision facing Srinath may be who actually plays India No. 1 at the Olympiad in Samarkand, where the team is hoping to defend its gold medal.

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Asked about it in an interview after winning the Grand Chess Tour Final, Praggnanandhaa said: “We haven’t really had any calls about this. Our captain Srinath anna is really smart. He usually thinks about all possibilities and comes up with a logical idea. For me, I don’t mind playing anywhere, board 4 or even being the reserve player. Whatever he chooses, I’ll happily take it, as long as we win.”