THE 44TH CHESS OLYMPIAD
The 44th edition of the Chess Olympiad is set to take place in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and will take place between July 28 and August 10, 2022. Since FIDE organizes the tournament, it selects the host; however, due to the war-like situation between Russia and Ukraine, the All- India Chess Federation Secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan conveyed to the FIDE president that India was more than willing to host the tournament this year. The strong efforts from the federation and Secretary Chauhan brought FIDE to India and the rights to host the Olympiad, which has been taking place for the last 95 years.
BIRTH OF THE OLYMPIAD
The first attempt to add Chess to the Olympiad was made in 1924 but failed because of the issues in distinguishing amateur players and professional players. However, the first unofficial Olympiad did take place in 1924, and FIDE was formed on Sunday, July 20, 1924, the closing day of the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad. FIDE organized the first official Chess Olympiad in London in 1927. There were 16 nations that participated in the first Olympiad.
LIST OF TOURNAMENT ROUNDS
Day 1 – 27th July – Arrival Day
Day 2 – 28th July – Arbiter’s Meeting at 5 pm – Opening Ceremony at 7 pm
Day 3 – 29th July -Captains Meeting at 9:30, Round 1 at 3 pm
Day 4 – 30th July – Round 2
Day 5 – 31st July – Round 3
Day 6 – 1st August – Round 4
Day 7 – 2nd August – Round 5
Day 8 – 3rd August – Round 6
Day 9 – 4th August – Free Day
Day 10 – Round 7
Day 11 – Round 8
Day 12 – Round 9
Day 13 – Round 10
Day 14 – Round 11, Closing Ceremony at 4 pm, Departure Day.
TEAMS
The tournament is taking place in a team format where every country is represented by a team and the national federations can submit a team to participate in the event. The teams consider four players and one reserve player, and every team has a captain who can also be one of the players.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
It is a Swiss format where the teams will compete across 11 rounds where players are assigned to boards one, two, three, and four. Players on one board play against players of another nation on the board with a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds, with 30 minutes added after every 40th move. Further, players cannot make a draw before the first 30 moves.
PRIZES
Team Prizes
- 1st place in the Open section: Hamilton-Russel Cup
- 1st place in the Women’s section: Vera Menchik Cup
- 1st place in combined classification: Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy
Players from the top-three teams also receive team medals:
- 1st: gold
- 2nd: silver
- 3rd: bronze
Individual Prizes
Players assigned to the same board number compete for individual medals, awarded according to their performance rating:
- 1st: gold
- 2nd: silver
- 3rd: bronze
POINT SYSTEM
Each team gets one game point per win, 0.5 game points for a draw and 0 points for a loss, and the team with the most points wins the match. There are no tiebreaks if the match ends in a draw. Teams win two "match points" for winning a match, one match point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. The team with the most points at the end of the event becomes the Olympiad Champion.
For detailed tournament and tiebreak rules check the following links:
Handbook – Olympiad2022 MainCompetition
