Seven Kurdish chess players will represent Iraq at the 46th Chess Olympiad, scheduled to take place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from September 15 to 28, 2026.
Iraq will field a 10-player national team at the tournament, consisting of five men and five women. Seven of the 10 players are Kurdish, including three men and four women, according to Pishtiwan Sheikh Ahmed, a member of the Iraqi Central Chess Federation.
“The Iraqi national team will participate with 10 players, five men and five women. Fortunately, seven of the 10 chess players representing Iraq at the Olympiad are Kurdish, including three men and four women,” Sheikh Ahmed told Yariga Sport.
The Kurdish players on the Iraqi team are Chia Modeer from Erbil; Zozk Salah and Aryan Ali from Sulaymaniyah; Sara Masoud, Parwa Pishtiwan and Nvar Sadar from Erbil; and Dlpak Ismail Ibrahim Kakakhan from Baghdad.
The Chess Olympiad is one of the world’s largest international chess competitions, bringing together national teams from across the globe for a two-week competition in Samarkand.
The strong Kurdish presence in Iraq’s national squad highlights the growing role of Kurdish players in the country’s chess scene and their participation in major international competitions.
