Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012
It's nearly here! The 40th Chess Olympiad takes place from 27 August - 10 September in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Chess Olympiad is the world's premier international team chess competition - a huge biennial celebration of chess for the biggest team prize of them all.
Over 160 countries and more than 1,200 players will be taking part in the 11-round competition, with some of the best players in the world fighting for their country.
The 2010 champions Ukraine will be defending their title, with a number of teams having realistic chances of taking their crown. They are represented by Vassily Ivanchuk, Ruslan Ponomariov, Alexander Moiseenko, Andriy Volokitin and Pavel Eljanov.
The top seeds are Russia, who finished second last time, with Vladimir Kramnik, Sergey Karjakin, Alexander Grischuk, Evgeny Tomashevsky and Dmitry Jakovenko.
Armenia are always dangerous opponents, and are at full strength with Levon Aronian, Sergei Movsesian, Vladimir Akopian, Gabriel Sargissian and Tigran L. Petrosian.
The US team are seeded 7th, represented by Hikaru Nakamura, Gata Kamsky, Alexander Onischuk, Varuzhan Akobian and Ray Robson.
You can find out who is representing your country here. The schedule is: (times are UTC+3)
| Date | Time | Event |
| 28-Aug-12 | 15:00 | 1st Round |
| 29-Aug-12 | 15:00 | 2nd Round |
| 30-Aug-12 | 15:00 | 3rd Round |
| 31-Aug-12 | 15:00 | 4th Round |
| 01-Sep-12 | 15:00 | 5th Round |
| 02-Sep-12 | 15:00 | Free Day |
| 03-Sep-12 | 15:00 | 6th Round |
| 04-Sep-12 | 15:00 | 7th Round |
| 05-Sep-12 | 15:00 | 8th Round |
| 06-Sep-12 | 15:00 | 9th Round |
| 07-Sep-12 | 15:00 | 10th Round |
| 08-Sep-12 | 15:00 | Free Day |
| 09-Sep-12 | 11:00 | 11th Round |
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Russia and China are expected to battle for the gold medal in the separate women's competition, with both having strong line-ups. China have Hou Yifan, Zhao Xue, Ju Wenjun, Huang Qian and Ding Yixin. Russia are represented by Tatiana Kosintseva, Valentina Gunina, Nadezhda Kosintseva, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Natalia Pogonina.
There will be live coverage on www.chess.com/tv (scroll down on that page to check the schedule for times).
More information can be found at the comprehensive official website and for the first time you can follow the results via official apps for your iPhone or Android device!
