2021 FIDE Online Chess Olympiad: All The Information

CHESScom

Updated: Oct 25, 2021, 7:04 AM | 47 | Other

The 2021 FIDE Online Chess Olympiad is a worldwide online event where hundreds of participants from more than 100 different national teams will compete for the gold. The event will run from August 20 to September 15 on the Chess.com server.

You can find the games, results, and news about the Online Olympiad on our Events page. You can also find the event's official site here and download a PDF with the regulations here.

Broadcast
Teams
Format
Division 4
Division 3
Division 2
Top Division
Playoff
Schedule
Tiebreaks
Results

Broadcast

We will broadcast the event live with expert commentary on ChessTV, as well as on our Twitch and YouTube channels.

You can also keep up with all the games and results on our Events page.

Teams

Team Composition

Teams are made up of six main players, including:

Two open spots;
Two women;
At least one player U-20 (born in 2001 or later);
At least one girl U-20 (born in 2001 or later).

Teams may also have up to six reserves, including:

Two open spots;
Two women;
One U-20 open;
One girl U-20.

Team Rankings

The registered teams will be ranked according to their Federation Performance Ranking (FPR) according to their results in the open and women's section of the 2018 FIDE Olympiad in Batumi and in the 2020 FIDE Online Olympiad. Based on their rankings, teams will be divided into four divisions, from Division 4 to Top Division.

You can find more details about how the FPR was calculated by consulting the event's official regulations.

Format

Matches will be in the 15|5 time control;
The event will have two stages, the first consisting of four divisions, and the second of a knockout playoff.

Divisions

Each Division will be divided into pools of 10 teams of approximately equal strength each;*
Each Division will have teams playing a round-robin of nine rounds;*
The top three teams from each pool in Division 4 move on to Division 3;
The top three teams from each pool in Division 3 move on to Division 2;
The top three teams from each pool in Division 2 move on to the Top Division;
The top two teams from each pool in the Top Division move on to the Playoffs.

You can find more information on each of the Divisions by reading their specific sections in this guide.

* Division 4 format consists of 12 teams playing a round-robin of eleven rounds

Playoffs

The knockout playoff will feature the eight teams that qualified from the Top Division competing in knockout duels consisting of two matches each.

Division 4

The 60 teams with the lowest FPR will start in Division 4.

The Division will consist of five different pools of 12 teams each (from A to E) of approximately equal strength. Each pool will play a round-robin of eleven rounds, with the top three teams from each pool (15 total) qualifying for Division 3.

Division 3

The 16* teams coming from Division 4 will join 35 seeded teams with higher FPR than teams from previous Divisions.

The Division will consist of five different pools with 10 teams each (from A to E) of approximately equal strength, with pool winners from Division 4 never being placed in the same pool. Each pool will play a round-robin of nine rounds, with the top three teams from each pool (15 total) qualifying for Division 2.

Owing to Afghanistan’s withdrawal, the best of the five 4th-placed teams in Division 4, ranked according to the pool tie-breaks, will be invited to participate in Division 3.

Division 2

The 15 teams coming from Division 3 will join 35 seeded teams with higher FPR than teams from previous Divisions.

The Division will consist of five different pools with 10 teams each (from A to E) of approximately equal strength, with pool winners from Division 3 never being placed in the same pool. Each pool will play a round-robin of nine rounds, with the top three teams from each pool (15 total) qualifying for the Top Division.

Top Division

The 15 teams coming from Division 2 will join the 25 seeded teams with the highest FPR of the event.

The Division will consist of four different pools with 10 teams each (from A to D) of approximately equal strength. Each pool will play a round-robin of nine rounds, with the top two teams from each pool (8 total) qualifying for the Playoff.

Playoff

The playoff will feature the eight teams that qualified from the Top Division competing in a knockout tournament.

Each individual matchup (called "duel") consists of two matches:

In the first match, the first-named team has White on the odd-numbered boards and Black on the remaining boards for the first match;
Colors alternate for the second match of the duel.

Below you can see the pairings of this stage of the event:

Quarterfinals
Duel I: Winner of Top Division pool A vs. Runner-up of Top Division pool D
Duel II: Runner-up of Top Division pool C vs. Winner of Top Division pool B
Duel III: Winner of Top Division pool C vs. Runner-up of Top Division pool B
Duel IV: Runner-up of Top Division pool A vs. Winner of Top Division pool D

Semifinals
Duel V: Winner of Duel II vs. Winner of Duel I
Duel VI: Winner of Duel IV vs. Winner of Duel III

Final
Duel VII: Winner of Duel V vs. Winner of Duel VI

Schedule

Division 4: August 20-22
Division 3: August 27-29
Division 2: September 2-4
Top Division: September 8-10
Playoff quarterfinals: September 13
Playoff semifinals: September 14
Playoff final: September 15

Tiebreaks

Stage 1: Divisions

At the end of each division tournament, team ranking is decided by using:

(a) Match point totals (2 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss);
(b) Game point totals (1 for each game won, 1⁄2 for each game drawn, 0 for each game lost);
(c) Match point totals in the results between the teams which remain tied;
(d) Game point totals in the results between the teams which remain tied;
(e) Sonneborn-Berger (match points);
(f) Sonneborn-Berger (game points);
(g) If teams are still tied in positions that qualify for Stage 2, drawing of lots will determine who moves on to the playoffs (Stage 2).

Stage 2: Playoff

In the event of drawn duel, a blitz match in the 3|2 time control will break the tie;
If teams are still tied, the winner will be determined by an armageddon game;
A drawing of lots determines in which of the four boards the armageddon game will be played;
The captain of each team will nominate one player from the respective category (open, women, open U-20, girl U-20) to play;
A drawing of lots will determine which player will choose whether they play White or Black.

The time control for the armageddon game is 5 minutes for White and 4 minutes for Black, with no increment. The player with the black pieces gets draw odds.

Results

Here are the results of the 2021 FIDE Online Olympiad.