2024 Chess Olympiad: Budapest Hosts the Ultimate Chess Showdown
The chess community is gearing up for the most prestigious team competition, the 2024 Chess Olympiad, set to take place in Budapest, Hungary. This biennial event, scheduled between September 10 and 23, will see a record-breaking 193 nations compete in the open section and 181 teams in the women’s event.
Understanding the 2024 Chess Olympiad: Format and Schedule
The 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest follows a format similar to previous editions. The competition features a Swiss format and 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. Draw offers are allowed but only after move 30.
Each national team comprises five players, with each match being a four-game encounter as one reserve player sits out. Teams usually place their highest-rated player on the first board, although some, like India, may use alternative strategies to gain an advantage. Players compete for individual medals based on their performance ratings.
Teams earn two points for a match win and one point for a draw. The tiebreaker rules are as follows:
- Tiebreak One: Modified Sonneborn-Berger (points scored in the match against the opponents) x (total match points collected by the opponents), excluding the worst match result.
- Tiebreak Two: Total number of game points scored.
- Tiebreak Three: Sum of match points scored by the opponents, excluding the worst match results.
Notable Teams and Players
While it’s impossible to list all teams and players, here are some standout squads:
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)
