The 2024 Chess Olympiad
The world of chess is eagerly anticipating the 2024 Chess Olympiad, set to take place in Budapest, Hungary, from September 10 to 23. This prestigious event will see a record-breaking 193 nations compete in the open section, while 181 teams will battle it out in the women’s event. Here’s a rundown of what to expect, including the schedule, top teams, and how to follow the action.
What is the 2024 Chess Olympiad?
The 45th Chess Olympiad follows a format similar to recent editions. The tournament features a Swiss format and a classical time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, plus an additional 30 minutes after the first 40 moves, with a 30-second increment per move throughout. Matches are four-game affairs, with each national team fielding five players, one of whom sits out each round.
Teams earn two points for a match win and one for a draw. Here are the tiebreaker rules:
- Modified Sonneborn-Berger: Points scored in the match against the opponents multiplied by the total match points collected by the opponents, excluding the worst match result.
- Total Game Points: The sum of game points scored.
- Match Points Sum: The total match points scored by the opponents, excluding the worst match result.
Key Teams and Players
United States (#1 Seed, Average Rating: 2757)
- Fabiano Caruana (2798)
- Wesley So (2752)
- Leinier Dominguez Perez (2748)
- Levon Aronian (2729)
- Ray Robson (2700)
India (#2 Seed, Average Rating: 2753)
- Vidit Gujrathi (2720)
- R Praggnanandhaa (2750)
- Gukesh D (2764)
- Arjun Erigaisi (2778)
- Pentala Harikrishna (2686)
China (#3 Seed, Average Rating: 2724)
- Ding Liren (2736)
- Wei Yi (2762)
- Yu Yangyi (2703)
- Bu Xiangzhi (2693)
- Wang Yue (2637)
Uzbekistan (#4 Seed, Average Rating: 2690)
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2766)
- Nodirbek Yakubboev (2666)
- Javokhir Sindarov (2677)
- Shamsiddin Vokhidov (2650)
- Jakhongir Vakhidov (2571)
Norway (#6 Seed, Average Rating: 2670)
- Magnus Carlsen (2832)
- Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (2661)
- Aryan Tari (2642)
- Elham Amar (2539)
- Frode Olav Olsen Urkedal (2546)
Hungary (#9 Seed, Average Rating: 2663)
- Richárd Rapport (2715)
- Péter Lékó (2666)
- Sanan Sjugirov (2644)
- Berkes Ferenc (2605)
- Gledura Benjámin (2628)
France (#14 Seed, Average Rating: 2653)
- Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2731)
- Etienne Bacrot (2665)
- Laurent Fressinet (2616)
