In an on‑the‑move interview at Almaty airport, Indian chess coach Srinath Narayanan reflects on his recent stint coaching the Fire’s American Gambits in the Global Chess League (GCL) and looks ahead to the 2026 Chess Olympiad. He praises the Gambits’ youthful energy, highlights the importance of pre‑existing friendships among players (Javokhir, Nihal, Mark, Andrea, Dubov, Bibisara, Sara Khadem) for rapid team cohesion, and commends owner Prachura for enthusiastic fan‑engagement initiatives such as the "Gambits Gang" and cross‑sport events. Narayanan contrasts the fast‑paced, low‑increment GCL format with the more controlled Olympiad environment, noting how the latter allows steadier preparation and heart‑rate management. He discusses the subtle conflict of coaching Sindarov in the GCL while anticipating him as an opponent for India in the Olympiad, emphasizing professional neutrality. Regarding the Indian team’s board order, he explains that the lineup was set well before the deadline, based on player roles, chemistry, and intuition rather than engine analysis. He acknowledges the pressure of defending the title but stresses focusing on one game at a time. Finally, he identifies Uzbekistan, the USA, and China as the primary rivals, while also noting the rising strength of teams like Germany and other European squads with average ratings above 2600.
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Hello, Srinath. Hi, Srinath. We are right now at the Almaty airport on our way to Samarkand and just finished the Global Chess League, going to the Olympiad. Very hectic schedule.
Yeah, very hectic schedule, but also when you have such an hectic schedule, you just don't get bored, so it's super interesting. To have one thing after another.
How was it to be the coach of the team of Fire's American Gambits at the GCL?
This was a super exciting team. Jayakir brought in a lot of energy. Jayakir, Nihal, Mark, Andrea. As soon as they got together, they just started playing blitz. And of course, there's also Dubov, who, who was the oldest of the lot, but also not that much older. So it was a super exciting team in general with a lot of energy, a lot of exchange of ideas, and it was a lot of fun to be around them.
And actually, you guys did really well, almost could have reached the finals, just a few things going here and there, right?
Yeah, absolutely. It was a— it was an amazing performance by these 3 players. जावकिर निहाल एंड मार्क एंड्रे इट डज़न हैपन हॉफन दैट यू हैव दिस काइंड ऑफ परफॉर्मेंस फ्रॉम इवन वन प्लेयर बट हियर वी हैड थ्री प्लेयर्स परफॉर्मिंग एंड बीइंग वेरी क्लोज तू बीइंग द प्लेयर ऑफ़ द टूर्नामेंट दे हैड 21 पॉइंट्स एंड स्टावरोला स्कोर्ड 21.5 सो यू सी हाउ क्लोज you have been part of the previous editions as well. Yeah, I think this edition was one of the most enjoyable seasons. The experience was excellent. The playing hall, the general organization, and also I think the fan experience, the spectator experience, everything felt lovely. So in a way, it almost felt like the first season of GCL, and I felt it was a big improvement over the previous season. So it was really good to see them taking feedback and implementing a lot of feedback that was given by a lot of stakeholders. And yeah, it was, it was a great season to build upon.
And when you are coach of such a team where you have players whom perhaps you are meeting for the first time as a trainer, right, as a coach of the team. What would be your role exactly like here? Like, for example, when you are the coach of the Indian team now at the Olympiad, the players know you very well, they have worked with you. But when you are here and Javokhir, maybe it's the first time, then Bibisara is in the team, Sara Khadem, what would you say is the role?
I think the biggest challenge is getting the team together and having them work as a team. So, as you said, it's easy with the Indian team because we have been a team together for many years. But having six players from six different countries and you know getting them to gel as a team, I think is a challenge. Of course, it's not an easy challenge. You can't get any six individuals to work together randomly. But that's something that you also look for in the process of picking the team. Javakir was. was the junior player for my GCL team in the first year, and I also played him before. Dubov also, I played him before, and he's pretty close to my age group. So I knew all of them at a personal level. Bibhishara was with us last year. I have known all of them, but we also took into account that they have good friendly relations with each other, and they were fairly close to each other in Age group, Bibi Sara and Sara are pretty good friends, and Kojawakir and Bibi Sara are very well connected. And Nihal is also pretty good friend with Jawakir. So I think that's an important aspect when picking the team to you know understand how well the team would get along because just getting six. strong players and having them play individually, I think it can backfire. I mean, it can work for a few games, but after a point, I'm not sure how well it can sustain in terms of the results. So that was made easy for me by the fact that they were already good friends with each other, and it didn't take a lot of effort to bring them together.
And how has it been working with the fires American Gambits? Because Prachura is one of the team owners, and also it's one of those teams that brings a lot of energy to the league. For example, Gerard Piqué became a strategic investor in the team, and overall there are many interesting things that are happening, like they went and met the cricketers at the RCB cafe and so on.
Yeah, Prachara is also a good friend. He's very close to my age. He's maybe a year or two older, and it's lovely to have him leading the team in a way. Anything that I require for the team, any kind of support, he's always there, and he doesn't interfere with any of the team workings, but he's around to give me any kind of support that I require. And also the passion he brings to the league, going around getting these, you know, cricketers and chess players together. And we had the Gambits Gang this time cheering for us every match.
Yes.
So Prachiraj goes out of the way to try and—
That was a crazy idea.
Absolutely. Everyone was talking about it, and I think it's a very new thing in the world of chess. We don't have this kind of loud cheering a lot in the world of chess. I haven't seen it before. So yeah, Prachura is a great owner to have, and you can also see that the team is very invested in making the team successful and also making the league successful. So that's also a very positive energy to have. Brilliant.
And now, Srinath, you're going to another event. which is kind of more intense, different format. How are you feeling for the Chess Olympiad?
I'm excited, and I'm also happy to go towards a more comfortable environment. GCL is very interesting but also in a way unpredictable, and you don't have as much control over how a GCL match goes as compared to an Olympiad. In GCL, there's barely any increment, and due to this format, there are a lot of, lot of things turning completely in the last few seconds of the matchup. Olympiad is a more controlled environment, a more familiar environment, and I think I'll— my heart rate will be more stable during Olympiad than it was in GCL.
Right. Uh, basically, when you were coaching the Fyers American Gambits, uh, Sindarov will— was part of the team, and he will be playing now in Uzbekistan, which will be India's one of the main rivals during the Olympiad. Was it in any way like difficult because you are the train— you are the coach of the team, and then, uh, now you will be kind of Hoping that you know India beats Uzbekistan here.
I don't think it is really all that different, all that difficult. One thing we didn't really go deep into, you know the chess specifics during the GCL, during the preparation for the GCL. So and it's also completely different format. And yes, I was really looking forward and hoping for Javadeer to win every game in GCL. And in Olympiad, it will be different. Obviously, I'm not going to be cheering against him. But when India plays Uzbekistan, obviously, I will want India to win. So it will be completely different. I'll be looking at Javakir in a completely different way. But I think that's normal. Like, it's the same thing when I played with a colleague in the same team, and then later we play in an individual game against each other. When we are in the same team, I'm rooting for my colleague to win, and when I'm playing against that person, I'm looking to beat them with whatever raw, whatever I can do, whatever effort and resources I can use. So I think it's very similar in that respect. And besides that, it's a very, very nice camaraderie. I think we are very pleasant feeling. Jayakir is a Very pleasant person, a very nice guy, and we had a lot of fun together off chess. And, um, I really loved the way he played in GCIL, and he's been playing in recent times as well. So the chess fan in me also looks forward to, you know, seeing all these players up close and admiring their games.
Any insights on him in terms of personality that you could share that Such as that you got to know by being with him, like, um, he always feels so happy and energetic.
Yeah, he's always energetic and in fact a little bit restless and sometimes a bit impatient from what I saw. He, when he wants to do something or when he gets excited by something, he immediately wants to do it and he wants to do it at any circumstance. So, these were the things I noticed when I was around him.
And one thing that the chess world is very much interested in and, you know, looking forward to is the board order of Indian team. And I'm sure you have had— you've been thinking about it along with the team for a long time. I guess tomorrow would be the last day to submit it.
Actually, today. 10 PM. 10 PM is the deadline.
And what can you share about it, just like any thoughts, I'm sure that every hour is important here because you can't reveal it before, there could be other teams who would decide on it. But just any thoughts on this.
So I submitted the board order quite a while ago. But I couldn't play around with the board order like I did last time because now it will only be published after the deadline. So yeah, we decided on the board order, I think, quite a while ago so that every player had clarity on what their roles would be. And at this point, I'm not really sure if any team will, you know, look to make big changes because again everyone will have their roles specified and their mindset fixed towards the board order that they have been preparing for. But yeah, I think we should discuss the finer points of it after the board orders are out. And after we see how the tournament goes.
Yeah, I would be very interested to get your thoughts, and I think everyone is curious to know which player will be on board 1, which player will be on board 2, and so on.
Yeah, absolutely. It's, uh, it's of course not a straightforward decision with this team, and there are many different options, and there are no rights and wrongs, and you can't use a stock Stockfish to determine what is the correct move here, or any of the analytical models. You have to use the good old human intuition. And I think there are probably not any clear right and wrongs, but you have to just go with a little bit of logic and a little bit of what you feel as well. But, uh, but yeah, regardless of who plays well. It's an exciting team, exciting unit. The fact that they are such good friends and they are so together as a team, it's very heartening to see.
Yeah.
It's something that you can't really take for granted and doesn't happen with every team, even in the past or with other countries. So that's really nice to see, and I think that will really help the team do well.
Is there any pressure because India is the defending champion?
I think there is pressure regardless. Even in 2024, there was expectations that for India to win. It has reached a point where, you know, we are one of the best chess countries in the world, and everywhere we go, we are expected to perform at the very top and win the tournament. So there's always pressure when Gokesh plays any tournament. For instance, he's the world champion, he has certain standards to live up to. And Pragg or Jon, everyone are top players for a considerable while now. So there are always expectations, and expectations create pressure. So, uh, from an— from outside, there is of course pressure. But from an internal point of view, we are not really thinking too much about these things. We just want to focus on the simpler things, take one game at a time and see how the tournament goes.
Fantastic. And lastly, who do you think— there are, there are these common teams which everyone thinks are the rivals: China, India— sorry, China, USA. Anyone else you think who who seems like a good rival here?
Yeah, I think the obvious teams are Uzbekistan and USA. And of course China has been around for the last ten years since they won the 2016 Olympiad. 2016 or 2014, I think.
2018, I think. Yeah, China. They won both.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. They won. No, they won, I think, 2014 and 2018, and 2016 was USA.
Right.
Because it's been a long time since a country won 2 Olympiads in a row. But yeah, they've pretty much had the same core team for the last 10 years or so, which has its pros and cons. The players are not as young as they used to be, but on the other hand, they have excellent team chemistry built over years. These are of course the top 3 major contenders, and there are also many teams which have improved a lot in the last few years. For instance, Germany, a young team. Vincent keeps getting better each Olympiad, and Lubam has played the Candidates, so he has also improved a lot in the last few years. And their other players are not bad at all. They are 2600, 2650 level. For few years now, and there are many similar European teams. And I think in general, any team with a rating average of above 2600 is a pretty decent team, not at all easy to beat, and can beat any top team on their given day.
Srinath, thank you for your time, for doing this interview, and also for, you know, being the Captain Cool of Indian chess for all these years. It gives, I think, all the fans and, you know, all of us a lot of confidence that you are there for the team.
