The chess world’s gearing up for its greatest international team competition, the Olympiad. This biennial chess competition is always a special occasion for fans of the royal game, and its 2024 edition promises to be a very special one.
Set to take place in Budapest, Hungary between Sept. 10 and 23, a record-breaking 193 nations will compete in the open section, and 181 teams will battle for supremacy in the women’s event.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 Chess Olympiad, including the standings, the most important teams, and the biggest happenings of each day.
What is the 2024 Chess Olympiad? Format and schedule, explained
The 45th Chess Olympiad is organized in Budapest, Hungary, with a format identical to recent editions of this prestigious competition. Just like two years ago, the tournament features a Swiss format and a classical time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves plus 30 more minutes after the first 40 moves, with a 30-second increment per move throughout. Draw offers are fair game, but only after move 30.
Each national team has five players, and every match is a four-game fight as one reserve player always sits out for each matchup. Most nations put their highest-rated player on the first board, but some nations, like India, opted for a different strategy in a bid to draw on the higher boards while scoring consistent wins lower down. Players assigned to the same board number compete for individual medals, which are then awarded according to their performance rating.
Teams earn two points for every match win and one for each draw. The tiebreaker regulations are complicated, but here’s how they go:
- Tiebreak One: Modified Sonneborn-Berger: (points scored in the match against the opponents) x (the total match points collected by the opponents), excluding the worst match result
- Tiebreak Two: Total number of game points scored
- Tiebreak Three: The sum of match points scored by the opponents, excluding the worst match results.
Seriously, don’t even try to keep up with the potential tiebreakers. It’s bad enough in solo chess tournaments.
There’s no way we can list all teams and players in this massive tournament, but here are a few standout squads to follow, with notable players highlighted in bold:
| Team | Players (with ratings) |
|---|---|
| United States (#1 seed, average rating: 2757) | Fabiano Caruana (2,798) Wesley So (2,752) Leinier Dominguez Perez (2,748) Levon Aronian (2,729) Ray Robson (2,700) |
| India (#2 seed, average rating: 2753) | Vidit Gujrathi (2,720) R Praggnanandhaa (2,750) Gukesh D (2,764) Arjun Erigaisi (2,778) Pentala Harikrishna (2,686) |
| China (#3 seed, average rating: 2724) | Ding Liren (2,736) Wei Yi (2,762) Yu Yangyi (2,703) Bu Xiangzhi (2,693) Wang Yue (2,637) |
| Uzbekistan (#4 seed, average rating: 2690) | Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2,766) Nodirbek Yakubboev (2,666) Javokhir Sindarov (2,677) Shamsiddin Vokhidov (2,650) Jakhongir Vakhidov (2,571) |
| Norway (#6 seed, average rating: 2670) | Magnus Carlsen (2,832) Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (2,661) Aryan Tari (2,642) Elham Amar (2,539) Frode Olav Olsen Urkedal (2,546) |
| Hungary (#9 seed, average rating: 2663) | Richárd Rapport (2,715) Péter Lékó (2,666) Sanan Sjugirov (2,644) Berkes Ferenc (2,605) Gledura Benjámin (2,628) |
| France (#14 seed, average rating: 2653) | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2,731) Etienne Bacrot (2,665) Laurent Fressinet (2,616) Marc’andria Maurizzi (2,595) Maxime Lagarde (2,598) |
Here is the tournament schedule, with the solitary rest day highlighted for your convenience:
2024 Chess Olympiad schedule
All times below are in Central Time (CT).
| Date | Activity |
|---|---|
| Sept. 10 | Opening ceremony |
| Sept. 11 8am |
Round one |
| Sept. 12 8am |
Round two |
| Sept. 13 8am |
Round three |
| Sept. 14 8am |
Round four |
| Sept. 15 8am |
Round five |
| Sept. 16 8am |
Round six |
| Sept. 17 | Rest day |
| Sept. 18 8am |
Round seven |
| Sept. 19 8am |
Round eight |
| Sept. 20 8am |
Round nine |
| Sept. 21 8am |
Round 10 |
| Sept. 22 4am |
Round 11 |
2024 Chess Olympiad standings
Here are the top-performing teams in the open section:
| Team | Points | Tiebreakers |
|---|---|---|
| India | 19/20 | 380.5 / 31.5 / 127 |
| China | 17/20 | 334 / 26.5 / 135 |
| Slovenia | 16/20 | 317 / 29 / 117 |
| United States | 15/20 | 325 / 27 / 129 |
| Uzbekistan | 15/20 | 322 / 26.5 / 129 |
| Ukraine | 15/20 | 299 / 25.5 / 121 |
These are the leaders in the women’s section:
| Team | Points | Tiebreakers |
|---|---|---|
| India | 17/20 | 339 / 27.5 / 130 |
| Kazakhstan | 17/20 | 321 / 27.5 / 126 |
| United States | 16/20 | 333 / 28.5 / 124 |
| Poland | 16/20 | 324 / 27 / 129 |
| Spain | 15/20 | 322.5 / 29 / 117 |
| Armenia | 15/20 | 318 / 27.5 / 126 |
Be sure to check back here after each day of action for an updated list of the top-performing nations! For a comprehensive listing, check out the event’s chess-results page for the open event and the women’s event.
2024 Chess Olympiad streams: How to watch
There are countless relays and streams where you can follow the Chess Olympiad action, including national coverage all around the world cheering on the various participants, and move relays if you only want to see the action on the board without additional commentary.
As for the official and most prominent broadcasts, here is where you can follow the chess bonanza:
FIDE broadcast
The International Chess Federation’s official broadcast will be available on the FIDE_Chess Twitch and YouTube channels. You can also stay up to date via the official webpage of the Olympiad.
Chess.com stream
The biggest chess site in the world also has a dedicated page for the 45th Chess Olympiad, with dedicated coverage on Twitch and YouTube.
Lichess coverage
The Lichess broadcast will feature “live camera feeds and rotating commentators including GM Illia Nyzhnyk and IM Eric Rosen” on their YouTube and Twitch channels alongside the usual board broadcasts.
