Chess Olympiad Starts Soon

Very soon, the biggest chess show on earth takes up residence in the Russian town of Khanty-Mansiysk, when the 39th Olympiad takes place from 21 Sept - 3 Oct.

This biennial chess olympics features national teams from over 150 countries, taking part in an 11-round Swiss event.  A women's event in the same format also takes place at the same time.

Whatever your nationality, you probably have a national team taking part!  All teams comprise of four players and a reserve.

The reigning champions from two years ago in Dresden are the Armenians, with Israel taking the silver and the USA bronze.

Other big teams expected to contest the medals again this time are Russia, Ukraine, China and Azerbaijan.  Favourites for the women's competition include Russia, China , Ukraine and the title holders Georgia.

Many of the top players in the world will be taking part including Magnus Carlsen, Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik.

In the past few weeks and months there have been mutterings about poor organisation, with the times of arranged charter flights to Khanty-Mansiysk changing, and worries that accommodation for the nearly three thousand delegates would not be ready on time.

Hopefully everyone will have a roof over their heads and will sit down for their first round matches on Tuesday refreshed and ready to rock and roll.

While the chess players are battling it out, the climax of the political battle between incumbent FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and challenger Anatoly Karpov will also take place when representatives cast their vote.

Look out for news coverage at Chess.com! The official Olympiad site can be found here.