Six crosses were investigated using combining ability and generation mean analyses for reaction to cold tolerance in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). The combining ability variances revealed the significance of both additive and nonadditive gene effects, with preponderance of additive gene effects. The generation mean analysis revealed the presence of genie interactions in addition to additive and dominance gene effects. Among the interactions, additive×additive and dominance×dominance with duplicate epistasis were present. Cold tolerance was dominant over susceptibility to cold. Selection for cold tolerance would be more effective if dominance and epistatic effects were reduced after a few generations of selfing.