The Chess Olympiad: By The Numbers

The 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad runs September 11-22 in Budapest, Hungary. In many ways, this is the biggest chess event of the year with 1,893 players representing a record 381 teams across the Open and Women's sections of the competition! IM Rakesh Kulkarni has researched some of the amazing statistics and history of the Chess Olympiad.

• What Is The Chess Olympiad?
• Olympiad History
• The Favorites
• Players To Watch

What Is The Chess Olympiad?

The Olympiad is the main team event in the chess world. Nearly every country sends teams in the Open and Women's sections to compete every two years, over 11 rounds. It's a Swiss System event, so the top teams often start with lopsided victories over smaller countries, but within a few rounds they begin facing each other in high-stakes matches. Each team features four primary players and an alternate. Matches are decided by who wins more of the four games in each round, while the margin of victory is important as a tie-breaker for the medals.

Olympiad History

This is the centennial Chess Olympiad, as the first (unofficial) one was held in 1924. Budapest is hosting for the second time, the first since 1926. Watch out for the Hungarian team who won on their home turf that year! Since 1950 the Olympiad has been held every two years. 

Historically, the Soviet Union has been the most successful team with 18 gold medals. In terms of current countries, the United States and Russia have the most Olympiad victories, with six each. On the women's side, the Soviet Union won 11 golds, followed by China with six, and Georgia with four.

On the individual level, the best performances were by world champion Alexander Alekhine, with a perfect 9-0 on board one for France in 1930, and IM Robert Gwaze, with a matching 9-0 on board one for Zimbabwe in 2002.

Throughout a full career, another world champion has bragging rights for the best score. Mikhail Tal scored a spectacular 82/101 (81.2%) over eight Olympiads.

The player who tops the medals tally at Olympiads is World Champion Tigran Petrosian, with nine Golds and one Silver.

Another amazing accomplishment is that GM Eugenio Torre has played a record 23 Chess Olympiads for the Philippines.

The Favorites

Who's going to win the Olympiad this year? The competition will be fierce, with a total of 245 grandmasters playing in the Open section, including 24 2700s, comprising most of the world's elite. The highest-rated team is the USA, led by world number-three GM Fabiano Caruana. They have an average rating of 2757, just ahead of the Indian team, with an average rating of 2753, which features world title challenger GM Gukesh Dommaraju. Also, don't sleep on the defending champions from Uzbekistan, who narrowly defeated India last year, in part thanks to this wild game.

On the Women's side, India is the top seed, with an average rating of 2467. GMs Harika Dronavalli and Vaishali Rameshbabu lead a stacked team. Georgia is next with an average rating of 2462 and three grandmasters, Nana Dzagnidze, Nino Batsiashvili, and Bela Khotenashvili. Poland, led by IM Alina Kashlinskaya, is 3rd. 

The next two teams by rating can't be ruled out, but China is missing its four top players, and the top-four on the Women's rating list, GMs Hou Yifan, Ju Wenjun, Tan Zhongyi, and Lei Tingjie, while defending champion Ukraine is without both Anna and Mariya Muzychuk.  

Players To Watch

Many amazing players are competing, even outside the top few teams. There are too many stars to highlight, but here are a few that you may want to keep an eye on.

• GM Magnus Carlsen is back for Norway, making them a potential medal contender, as they will have the top-rated player in every match.
• GM Pia Cramling is back for her tenth Olympiad. She's already won three gold, two silver, and two bronze individual medals in past events.

• 9-year-olds WFM Bodhana Sivanandan (England) and Skye Attieh (Lebanon) are amazing kids to watch, but not the youngest participants in the tournament. That honor goes to Arianna Balcombe, an eight-year-old, unrated player from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Meanwhile, 80-year-old WIM Rani Hamid (Bangladesh) is playing her 20th consecutive Olympiad!
• Legendary commentator and former world championship challenger GM Peter Leko is representing Hungary.
• Watch out for Turkey's young grandmasters, GMs Ediz Gurel and Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who will be aiming to claim some major scalps. 
• World Champion Ding Liren is back in action, trying to get into form in time for his world championship match. His rating has fallen in the last year, with GM Wei Yi China's top-rated player at 2762.

Who are you looking forward to seeing in the Olympiad? Let us know in the comments!