Chennai, July 26: The highly-anticipated 44th Chess Olympiad will begin on Thursday (July 28) with a record 187 countries set to participate in the global event in Chennai. 188 Teams in the Open section and 162 in the Women's section are going to participate which will make this Olympiad as highest ever participation.
A record total of 30 Indian Players across six teams (3 in open and 3 women) will be participating in the biennial event. Each team will have 5 members out of which four will be fielded in each round.
The Captain of the Team, in most cases non-playing, will decide the team composition. The Olympiad will be an 11 Round Swiss League event. The host countries can field two teams but India could field one additional team in both categories as the total number of teams is odd.
Chess Olympiad 2022: Schedule, Dates, Venue, India Team, Live Streaming, Results and Standings
Here's the complete format and points system for the 44th Chess Olympiad:
Format:
# Every team consists of four players and one reserve.
# Each team has a captain, who can also be one of the players.
Tournament Format
# Teams will be competing in an 11-round Swiss tournament format.
# Teams will assign players to play on boards one, two, three, and four.
# Matches will consist of players from each board of one nation playing against the corresponding board of the opponent nation (board one vs. board one, board two vs. board two, and so on).
Chess Olympiad All-Time Winners List: Russia, United States dominate the competition
# The time control is 90+30, with 30 minutes added after move 40.
# Players cannot draw by agreement before move 30.
Points System
# Match results will be decided by 'game points.'
# Each team gets one game point per win, 0.5 game points for a draw, and 0 points for a loss.
# The team with the most game points wins the match.
# There are no tiebreaks if the match ends in a draw.
# Teams will be rewarded two 'match points' for winning a match, one match point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss.
# The team with the most match points at the end of the tournament will be adjuged the Olympiad Champion.
# Federations also rank in a 'combined classification' based on the sum of their Open and Women's placements.
Prizes awarded to the winners:
The Olympiad features team and individual non-monetary prizes based on performance.
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 place: Gold
2nd place: Silver
3rd place: Bronze
Individual Prizes
Players assigned to the same board number compete for individual medals, awarded according to their performance rating:
1st place: Gold
2nd place: Silver
3rd place: Bronze
Highest-ever participation list
Chennai, 2022: 188 (open), 162 (women)
Batumi, 2018: 185 (open), 151 (women)
Baku, 2016: 180 (open), 142 (women)
Tromso, 2014: 177 (open), 136 (women)
Istanbul, 2012: 157 (open) 127 (women)
Khanty-Manisiysk, 2010: 148 (open), 115 (women)