The total number of participants was 1,884: 975 in the Open and 909 in the Women's event. The number of registered teams was 197 from 195 nations in the Open section and 183 from 181 nations in the Women's section. Both sections set team participation records. This was the first Chess Olympiad in which teams of refugees participated due to efforts made through FIDE's initiative for refugees "Chess for Protection". Nine national teams made their debut in the Women's event and many players with children under the age of one decided to play, which was largely a result of the "National Female Team Initiative" and "ChessMom" programmes run by FIDE Commission for Women's Chess to ensure gender equality and support the provision of childcare. The main venue of the Chess Olympiad was SYMA Sports and Conference Centre. The Chief Arbiter of the event was Slovakia's International Arbiter Ivan Syrovy.
A total of 11 rounds were played in both the Open and Women's events, and each featured four players from one team facing four players from another team. India won the gold medal in both the Open and Women's events, which were the country's first overall victories at the Chess Olympiad, after they had previously won one bronze medal in the Women's event in 2022. It was the first time since 2018 that the same nation won the titles in both events, and India became the third nation to do so after the former Soviet Union and China. In the Open event, the Indian team set a new record by scoring 21 out of 22 possible match points, being the only unbeaten team in the tournament with four match points more than the rest of the field. The United States won silver and Uzbekistan won bronze in the Open event, while Kazakhstan and the United States completed the podium in the Women's event. For the first time in a Chess Olympiad, no European team won a medal in either the Open or the Women's event. Indian top-board player Gukesh Dommaraju had the highest performance for an individual player in the Open event with a performance rating of 3056 (he scored 9 out of 10 points). Israeli player Dana Kochavi had the highest individual performance in the Women's event with a performance rating of 2676 (she scored a perfect 8 of a possible 8 points). Overall, India players won four gold medals on individual boards in both events.
The 95th FIDE Congress also took place during the Olympiad, at which FIDE's General Assembly upheld the ban on Russian and Belarusian players by rejecting the Kyrgyz Chess Federation's proposal to restore the full membership of their respective chess federations.
Background
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations compete in an Olympic-style event.[1][2] The first unofficial edition, labelled as the "Chess Olympic Games", was held in Paris in 1924, and coincided with the Summer Olympic Games that took place in the city in the same year.[3] Despite that the event was not officially part of the Olympic Games and the winners were not awarded official Olympic medals, the rules of the Olympic Games applied.[4] The organisers of the Summer Olympics defined chess as a sport,[a] but demanded that only amateurs be allowed to participate, which posed a problem because it was difficult to draw a line between amateurs and professionals.[6] The first official edition of the Chess Olympiad was held in London in 1927.[7][8] Up until 1950 the tournament was organised at irregular intervals. From then on it has been held once every two years.[9][6] The first Women's Chess Olympiad took place in Emmen, Netherlands in 1957;[10] since 1976, the Women's tournament has been held simultaneously with an Open tournament[b] at the Chess Olympiads.[11] The former Soviet Union has historically been the most successful nation with 18 gold medals won.[1]
The bidding process for organising both the 45th Chess Olympiad and the coinciding FIDE Congress was opened in November 2019.[12] Each city interested to host the event had to submit their bid to FIDE by 1 May 2020. The bids were to guarantee that all necessary provisions in accordance with the Olympiad Regulations of the FIDE Handbook would be covered by the organiser, including articles 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 pertaining to the organising committee, finances, and provision of amenities and stipends, respectively.[2]Budapest submitted the only bid to host the Chess Olympiad, which was approved by the FIDE General Assembly in December 2020. Political authorities, chess legends, and prominent members of the Hungarian Olympic movement and the sports administration expressed their unconditional support to the event.[13] It was the first Chess Olympiad that took place in Hungary since Budapest hosted the 2nd unofficial Chess Olympiad in 1926.[13]
The 45th Chess Olympiad was originally scheduled to take place in Minsk in 2022, but FIDE decided to move it from there and re-open the bid after the Belarusian organisers failed to accomplish their organisational and financial duties.[14] After failing to find an alternative host for the event in 2022, FIDE decided to reschedule the 44th Chess Olympiad from 2021 to 2022, and the event planned for 2024 in Budapest became the 45th Chess Olympiad instead of the 46th.[13]
Preparations
The provisional total budget for the Chess Olympiad was €16.6 million, including €9 million for event services and operations as well as the hosting fee.[15] In June 2021, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, together with the president of the Hungarian Chess Federation László Szabó and the executive director of the National Sports Agency of Hungary Attila Mihok, signed the contract in Budapest.[16] The organisers of the event intended to make it an innovative Olympiad by introducing new technologies, such as a 5G high-speed wireless network, a real-time visual broadcast, holograms and newly invented "sensitive" chess boards for the visually impaired. It was announced to be a "green" Olympiad with the possibility of transfers between the venues and the hotels using bicycles and electric vehicles, as well as avoiding the use of paper and plastic.[13] The Government of Hungary supported the event.[17] Robert Kapas was the tournament director, and Slovakia's International Arbiter Ivan Syrovy was the Chief Arbiter.[18][19]
Visitors had access to the stands at the playing field in five one-hour shifts per day from 15:00 to 20:00 (CEST). Interested visitors could sign up for a visit to the grandstands on site at the counter near the cloakroom. In order for the competition to run smoothly without any disturbances, the number of visitors per shift was limited to 100, and they had to place their mobile phones and prohibited devices in the cloakroom.[21]VIPs were allowed to use their mobile phones in silent mode in specially designated VIP areas. The use of laptops and tablets was forbidden. Online checking of the games or any communication regarding the ongoing games was prohibited.[22]
In July 2024, the Fair Play Team (FPT) for the Olympiad was announced. The FPT consisted of 16 members, including Fair Play Officers (FPO), Fair Play Experts (FPE) and FPE Candidates. Bojana Bejatović was appointed Chief Fair Play Officer.[23] The FPT published instructions that players, team captains and third parties were required to comply with. Before the start of each round, all players and team captains had to undergo scanning before entering the playing venue, and all forbidden items (electronic devices and complex bags bigger than A4 format) had to be placed in a designated area. During each round, FPT members observed play to identify suspicious behaviour, and random checks were conducted using hand-held scanners. There were also privately conducted thorough checks in the presence of at least two officials if needed. Players were prohibited to leave the playing hall during their games. Immediately after each round, thorough random checks were performed in the FPT frisking areas. All games were checked for cheating using Kenneth W. Regan's software. The Chief Fair Play Officer and her deputies received daily reports.[22]
The event
The torch relay began in India, which hosted the previous Chess Olympiad, and passed through eleven countries: Canada, Colombia, France, Georgia, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Morocco, New Zealand, Romania, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates. Judit Polgár marched with the torch on the streets of Budapest before entering the venue where she lit the cauldron.[24]
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony took place on 10 September at 18:00 CEST (UTC+2:00) at the Dr. Jeno Koltai Sports Center.[25] Only participants in the Olympiad and members of the press were allowed to attend the ceremony.[26]
Deputy State Secretary for Sport of the State Secretariat for Sports at the Ministry of Defence of Hungary Gábor Schmidt, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and President of Hungarian Chess Federation Zoltán Polyánszky spoke during the ceremony. Dvorkovich officially declared the 45th Chess Olympiad as open.[27] The highlight of the ceremony was the lighting of the Olympic cauldron. A video documenting the route of the torch relay around the world was played. In the final seconds of the video, Judit Polgár appeared marching through the streets of Budapest holding the torch while dressed in red. The video ended with Polgár entering the venue of the opening ceremony to greet the audience and light the Olympic cauldron. Shortly afterwards, Judit's sisters Susan and Sofia joined the stage to draw lots for the colour of pieces for the top teams. They were directed by Chief Arbiter Ivan Syrovy to the gigantic Rubik's cubes containing two smaller cubes, of which they had to choose one. It was determined that the top teams in both events would start their games in the first round with the black pieces.[27][28]
The ceremony featured performances from French pianist and composer Jason Kouchak and Hungarian singer Lilla Vincze. Together they composed a song titled "Royal Game", which premiered during the opening ceremony. Rose May & Raul also performed "Trojan War", the official song of the Olympiad. The ceremony ended with a video tribute to all participating countries, which featured their names and flags shown one after another with songs performed by Kouchak and Vincze in the background.[27]
Participating teams
The event was contested by a total of 380 teams, representing 196 national federations, both records for a Chess Olympiad.[28][29] Hungary, as host country, was permitted to field three teams in each of the two sections.[30] The Women's tournament featured a record-number of 183 teams from 181 federations.[31][32] Russia and Belarus were banned from taking part by FIDE as a result of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.[33] A team representing the Netherlands Antilles was permitted to compete, despite having dissolved itself in 2010, because the Curaçao Chess Federation remains officially registered as representing the dissolved country in the FIDE Directory.[34]
Gender equality
FIDE initiated programmes with the goal of ensuring equal opportunities for women in chess. In this regard, FIDE Commission for Women's Chess launched a special project called "National Female Team Initiative", which would enable more countries to send women's teams to the Chess Olympiad. The project provided support for preparation of women's teams from nine countries and territories—Liechtenstein, Guernsey, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, the United States Virgin Islands, Saint Lucia, Nauru, and the Cayman Islands—who made their debut in the Women's section.[35] The debuting teams received financial support, expert coaching as well as substantial mental and material support for the training sessions conducted in July and August 2024. In addition, FIDE Commission for Women's Chess started a pilot project called "ChessMom" aimed at supporting female players with children under one year of age who were not able to participate at the Chess Olympiads in the past due to difficulties with finding childcare during the tournament. The commission appointed a care-giver for each child as official members of the national delegations. Some of the players who were involved in this pilot project included Alina Kashlinskaya, Nana Dzagnidze, Yuliia Osmak, Aster Melake Bantiwalu, Rauha Shipindo and Nolwazi Nkwanyane.[36]
Refugee Team
Teams of refugees participated for the first time at the Chess Olympiads. A selection process consisting of tournaments organised by FIDE at schools and community centres in Kakuma, Kenya, was conducted in order to find ten promising players—five for the team in the Open and five for the team in the Women's event—that would represent the refugees at the Budapest Chess Olympiad. The participants at the tournaments were from community chess clubs, primary and secondary schools, and the Girls Club. The effort was part of FIDE's initiative for refugees "Chess for Protection", which was launched in 2021 and jointly executed with UNHCR, Lutheran World Federation, Chess Kenya, and the Kakuma Chess Club.[37]
^a Countries in italics denote those fielding teams in the Open event only.
^b Countries in bold denote those fielding teams in the Women's event only.
^c FIDE officially recognises the flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.[38]
Competition format and calendar
The tournament was played in a Swiss system format. The time control for all games was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, after which an additional 30 minutes were granted; an increment of 30 seconds per move was applied from the first move. Players were permitted to offer a draw at any time. A total of 11 rounds were played, and all teams had to be paired in every round.[c][40]
In each round, four players from each team faced four players from another team; teams were permitted one reserve player who could be substituted between rounds. The four games were played simultaneously on four boards with alternating colours, scoring 1 game point for a win and ½ game point for a draw. The scores from each game were summed together to determine which team would win the round. Winning a round was worth two match points, regardless of the game point margin, while drawing a round was worth one match point. Teams were ranked in a table based on match points. Tie-breakers for the table were i) the Sonneborn–Berger system; ii) total game points scored; iii) the sum of the match points of the opponents, excluding the lowest one.[40]
The event took place from 10 to 23 September 2024.[41] Tournament rounds started on 11 September and ended with the final round on 22 September. All rounds began at 15:00 CEST (UTC+2:00), except for the final round which began at 11:00 CEST (UTC+2:00). There was one rest day on 17 September, after the sixth round.[42]
The Open event was contested by a total of 975 players from 197 teams.[43] It featured seven of the top ten players from the FIDE rating list published in September 2024. World number 2 Hikaru Nakamura decided not to play for a second Olympiad in a row, and Alireza Firouzja did not play for France.[28] United States, India and China were regarded as favourites with all three having an average rating above 2700 points. United States' team, consisting of Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Leinier Dominguez, Levon Aronian and Ray Robson as a reserve player, had the highest average rating of 2757.[44] India, whose second team had won bronze at the previous Olympiad, which the country had hosted, had the second highest rating of 2753 with three players from the bronze-winning team. The squad consisted of the challenger in the World Chess Championship 2024Gukesh Dommaraju on board one followed by R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi and Pentala Harikrishna.[45] Former five-time World Champion Vishwanathan Anand decided to step aside for the younger generation and was the only one of India's top-rated players who did not play.[46] China had the third highest average rating of 2727 with reigning World Champion Ding Liren playing on top board, followed by Wei Yi, Yu Yangyi, Bu Xiangzhi and Wang Yue.[47][46]
The defending champions Uzbekistan were the fourth seeds. They were captained by former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik and fielded the same line-up that won the gold medal in 2022, which included Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Yakubboev, Shamsiddin Vokhidov and Jakhongir Vakhidov.[48][49] Former five-time World Champion and current world number one Magnus Carlsen played on top board for the sixth-seeded team of Norway.[46] Hungary's first team had the ninth highest pre-tournament average rating and were stronger for Richard Rapport, who returned to play for his native country three months before the Olympiad, and Peter Leko.[50] Other strong contenders included Poland, the Netherlands and England (strengthened by Nikita Vitiugov).[48]
Open summary
Gukesh Dommaraju of India was the best individual player in the Open event.
India won the gold medal in the Open event with a total of 21 out of 22 possible match points, which broke the previous record set by the United States and Ukraine of 20 out of 22 points in 2016.[51] They were the only unbeaten team in the tournament, having scored ten wins and one draw, and scored four match points more than the rest of the field.[52] It was India's first overall win at the Chess Olympiads.[53] On the road to the gold medal, they defeated the United States, Hungary and China, and were held to a draw only by Uzbekistan in the ninth round.[54] A group of five teams finished with 17 match points (eight wins, one draw and two losses), but the pre-tournament first-seeded team of the United States and defending champions Uzbekistan achieved better tie-breakers and won the silver and bronze medals, respectively.[55] Despite the lacklustre performance from World Champion Ding Liren, who did not win a single game in the tournament, the Chinese team was in the race for the gold until the final round and ended in fourth place due to their last-round loss to the US team.[56][57] Serbia came fifth and Armenia sixth after scoring 17 match points as well. Slovenia's strong performance with 16 match points (eight wins and three losses) earned them the ninth place even though they were not among the main pre-tournament favourites.[52] For the first time in the history of Chess Olympiads, no European team won a medal in the Open event.[58]
The challenger in the World Chess Championship 2024, Gukesh Dommaraju of India, achieved the highest rating performance of 3056 in the Open event after scoring 9 out of 10 points (eight wins and two draws) on board one.[55][54] On the other boards, individual gold medals were also won by Thai Dai Van Nguyen of the Czech Republic with 7½ out of 10 and a rating performance of 2783, Arjun Erigaisi of India who had the highest individual score in the tournament of 10 out of 11 with a rating performance of 2968, Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan who scored 8 out of 10 with a rating performance of 2779, and Frederik Svane of Germany who played as a reserve player and finished with 9 out of 10 and a rating performance of 2791.[59] Gukesh's win against China's Wei Yi in the seventh round was awarded the Olympiad Best Game prize.[58][60] Erigaisi's performance earned him the third place on the FIDE rankings. Magnus Carlsen won the bronze medal on board one, leaving his ambition of eliminating one of the few gaps in his career unfulfilled.[58]
English chess journalist Leonard Barden described India's performance as "seminal moment in chess history", and compared it to the radio chess match between the US and the Soviet Union in 1945 that the Soviet Union won 15½–4½ to mark the beginning of their chess dominance. He added that Gukesh and Erigaisi could be Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov or Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov of the 2020s and 2030s. Barden mentioned Vishwanathan Anand as inspiration of India's success as he had mentored several of the players. India's prime minister Narendra Modi received the Indian teams at his residence to congratulate for their achievements,[58] and All India Chess Federation announced cash awards for the members of the winning teams.[61]
Average ratings calculated by chess-results.com based on September 2024 FIDE ratings.
^† The Sonneborn-Berger score is a tie-breaking criterion used to rank teams with equal match points.
All board medals were given out according to performance ratings for players who played at least eight games at the tournament. Gukesh Dommaraju on the first board had the best performance of all players in the tournament with a rating of 3056.[59] On Board 1, the same three competitors received the same medals in back-to-back editions of the Olympiad.
Despite the fact that China was missing all four top players—Hou Yifan, Ju Wenjun, Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie—the young team was still competitive and were seeded in fourth place with an average rating of 2416.[35] Ukraine as defending champions were fifth seeds and were severely weakened by the absence of Anna and Mariya Muzychuk, who were both among the top-ten rated players in the world. In their absence, the team was led by Yuliia Osmak on board one followed by former World Women's Champion Anna Ushenina, Nataliya Buksa, Inna Gaponenko and Evgeniya Doluhanova.[35][66]
Women's summary
Zhu Jiner of China won an individual gold medal on board one in the Women's event.
India justified their role as pre-tournament top seeds according to the average rating and won the gold medal in the Women's event with a total of 19 match points, having recorded nine wins, one draw and one loss.[67] It was India's first overall win at the Chess Olympiads.[53] The team defeated Georgia in round seven and China in round ten on the road to the gold medal, but also lost to the third-seeded team of Poland in the eighth and drew with the United States in the ninth rounds.[68] Kazakhstsan had a strong performance that earned them the silver medal with 18 match points (eight wins, two draws and one loss), and the United States completed the podium with 17 match points (eight wins, one draw and two losses).[55] Following India's loss to Poland and draw with the United States, the Kazakh team was sole leader with two rounds to go.[69] However, they lost the lead due to the two ties with Georgia and the United States in the final rounds.[70] The US team had the best tie-breaker amongst the four teams tied for third place, ahead of Spain, Armenia and Georgia, which got them the bronze medal.[71] Without their top players, China finished in seventh place and defending champions Ukraine came eighth.[67] For the first time in the history of Chess Olympiads, no European team won a medal in the Women's event.[58]
The highest rating performance of 2676 was achieved by Dana Kochavi who played as a reserve for Israel and had a perfect score of 8 out of 8 possible points.[72] On the other boards, individual gold medals were also won by Zhu Jiner of China with 7 out of 9 and a rating performance of 2597, Carissa Yip of the United States who had the highest individual score in the tournament of 10 out of 11 with a rating performance of 2634, Divya Deshmukh who scored 9½ out of 11 with a rating performance of 2608, and Vantika Agrawal of India with 7½ out of 9 and a rating performance of 2558.[73]
Average ratings calculated by chess-results.com based on September 2024 FIDE ratings.
^‡ The Sonneborn-Berger score is a tie-breaking criterion used to rank teams with equal match points.
All board medals were given out according to performance ratings for players who played at least eight games at the tournament. Dana Kochavi as a reserve player had the best performance of all players in the tournament with a rating of 2676.[75]
The Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy, created by FIDE in 1997 and named after former Women's World Champion Nona Gaprindashvili, is given to the teams with the best combined performance in the Open and Women's tournaments (sum of their positions in both standings). India won the Trophy ahead of the United States in second place and Armenia in third place.[76]
#
Team
Sum of positions
1
India
2
2
United States
5
3
Armenia
11
FIDE Congress
The 95th FIDE Congress[d] was held during the Olympiad, from 17 to 22 September, with its General Assembly on 21 and 22 September.[78][79] On 19 September, the FIDE Council rejected the proposal by the Kyrgyz Chess Federation to restore the full membership rights of the Russian Chess Federation and the Belarusian Chess Federation with immediate effect. This decision came after several national federations and chess players raised their voices against the proposals, and national federations of FIDE had received warning messages by the IOC, the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (AIRISF) and Western government agencies. Nonetheless, it was suggested that FIDE should consult the IOC to allow Russian disabled or junior teams to be excluded from the ban.[80] On 22 September, the General Assembly upheld the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, but it supported a move to consider easing the restrictions on disabled and junior players in consultation with the IOC.[81][82]
The elections for three FIDE Commissions were held during the Congress. Roberto Rivello (Italy) was re-elected as Chairman of the Constitutional Commission without opposition, while Erald Dervishi (Albania), Ian Wilkinson (Jamaica), Marouane Tabti (Algeria) and Ivy Claire Amoko (Uganda) were elected as members out of a total of six candidates.[e] Allen Priest (United States) was elected Chairman of the Verification Commission as the only candidate, while Gulmira Dauletova (Kazakhstan), Eric Bopala (Canada), Malcolm Powell (Cayman Islands) and Panu Laine (Finland) were elected as members out of seven candidates.[84] Yolander Persaud (Guyana) was elected Chairman of the Ethics & Disciplinary Commission out of four candidates,[85] while Khaled Arfa (Tunisia), David Hater (United States), Olga Baskakova (Kazakhstan), Ravindra Dongre (India), Alan Borda (Bolivia) and Ali Nihat Yazıcı (Turkey) were elected as members of the FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Commission out of eight candidates.[84]
Other notable decisions made at the Congress included the support for the proposal by Kazakhstan Chess Federation president Timur Turlov to make The International School Chess Federation (ISCF) an affiliated organisation, the approval of the Azerbaijani proposal to establish a Turkic-speaking Countries' Chess Association as an affiliated organisation, and the approval of the application from the Greenlandic Chess Federation to become an affiliate member of FIDE.[84]
FIDE 100 Awards
As 2024 marked the hundredth anniversary of FIDE, the organisation decided to honour those who had made and were making exceptional contributions to the world of chess.[86] In this regard, a series of awards was announced to recognise individuals and organisations who had significantly contributed to the development and promotion of chess throughout the past century. The FIDE 100 Awards aimed at different members of the chess community, including players, arbiters, organisers, photographers, journalists, project leaders, authors, educators and others. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich said that these awards would hopefully "inspire future generations to take up chess and bring the game to new heights". The deadline for submitting nominations was 15 August, and each category had specific qualification criteria, nomination procedures and selection processes. Self-nominations were allowed in the following categories: Best Chess Journalist, Best Photographer, Best Educator, Chess Social Impact and Advocate for Women in Chess. Some recipients were chosen by a distinguished panel of chess grandmasters, historians and educators, while the winners of the Best Male Player and Best Female Players would be determined through a public vote.[87] The winners across award categories were:[88]
Hungarian music portal Zeneszöveg collaborated with Artisjus to organise a three-day camp where composers, lyricists and producers from nine countries worked with their Hungarian colleagues to produce songs inspired by the Chess Olympiad. Of all songs, the Hungarian Chess Federation and the National Event Management Agency selected "Trojan War" by Rose May & Raul as official song of the 45th Chess Olympiad. The song combines elements of pop and drum and bass, and its dynamic character evokes the excitement of chess games. A video clip for the song was recorded, which features chess motifs and speaks about love and strategy.[89] Additionally, a Fan Anthem "Checkmate Dreams" was composed by Jan Matthies, an IT specialist as well as a music and chess enthusiast, who used the program Suno AI to produce a rap song with lyrics. He contacted the organisers of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest and was permitted to use the official logo in the video clip for the song.[90]
Promotional activities
Every participant of the Olympiad received a Rubik's cube as a souvenir along with their accreditation badge.[91] A FIDE100 Exhibition took place from 10 to 23 September to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of FIDE. It enabled discovery of the world of chess through a collection of exhibits as well as inviting visitors to explore the history of chess and learn about the 100-year development of the International Chess Federation.[92] A photographic art installation called "CAPTURE", which celebrated the game of chess, was exhibited on the Vigadó Square from 17 to 23 September. The installation featured luminous photos of people playing chess from different locations around the world.[26][93] Singer Juga released the song "Queen Trap" with just lyrics promoting female empowerment and sorority, and produced a music short film in co-production with FIDE Commission for Women's Chess. The filming took place at the Museum of Fine Arts during the rest day of the Olympiad, on 17 September, and it brought together female chess players from 160 countries, including Judit Polgár, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Elisabeth Pähtz, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Tania Sachdev amongst others. Players were filmed while playing friendly blitz games with a similarly ranked player on chessboards placed on low tables and sitting on cushions on the floor. All participants were asked to be fully dressed in either white or black.[94] The 10th Judit Polgar Global Chess Festival was held at the Hungarian National Gallery on 17 September and at the InterContinental Hotel Budapest on 18 September. The festival enabled attendees to participate in games, workshops, demonstrations and chess tournaments, as well as to meet famous players and chess content creators.[95][92] The event set an on-site attendance record as more than 6,000 visitors went to the Hungarian National Gallery on the first day and more than 250,000 people joined the events over the two days.[96] The Judit Polgar Chess Foundation also invited children and adults to the Chess Palace, a project by Judit Polgár with the goal of exploring the chess world and its inhabitants, where attendees could get an autograph of the Polgár sisters.[26] The 4th EDU Chess Summit took place during the Olympiad, at which guest speakers discussed chess as an educational tool to develop essential life skills.[92] There was also a chess quiz in which participants walked around the hall to find and scan QR codes that led to the questions that they had to answer.[97] Official partners for the Olympiad included Tech Mahindra,[98] Coca-Cola HBC Hungary, Chessable, Freedom Holding, and official sponsors were Judit Polgar Chess Foundation and Dorko.[99]
Other events
Tournaments
A number of tournaments intended for the general public took place during the Olympiad. The Olympiad Expo Classic was held in the BOK "C" Sports Hall from 12 to 21 September, which offered opportunities to compete in the same venue as the participants in the Olympiad. Prizes were awarded to the top five participants, and the first prize was worth €350 plus a cup and a medal. Special prizes were given to the best senior, best woman and best participants with a rating under 2000.[100][101] Other tournaments held during the Olympiad included the Expo FIDE Rapid on 11 September,[102] the U18 Expo FIDE Rapid on 13 September,[103] the Expo Theme Tournament (Hungarian Openings) on 12, 16 and 20 September,[104] the Expo Dynamic Endgames on 14 September,[105] the Expo Hand and Brain Chess on 15 September,[106] the Expo Chess 20 on 15 September,[107] the Expo Consul Chess on 16 September,[108] the Expo Fischer Random Chess (Chess 960) on 19 September[109] the Expo FIDE Blitz on 20 September,[110] and the Mad Scientist EXPO Rapid on 21 September.[111] Additionally, simultaneous exhibitions were played by international master and women's grandmaster Ildikó Mádl and grandmaster József Pintér on 15 boards on 14 September, and by grandmasters Zoltan Gyimesi and Csaba Balogh also on 15 boards on 19 September.[97]
Seminars and conferences
Several seminars and conferences took place during the Olympiad. The FIDE EDU Preparation of Teachers course was held in the periods 15–16 September and 20–21 September with the goal of providing hands-on activities designed to integrate chess into academia. Lecturers in the course were women international master and Secretary of the FIDE Chess in Education Commission Rita Atkins of Hungary and women international master, FIDE Instructor and FIDE EDU Commission Member Anzel Laubscher of South Africa.[112] The FIDE Fair Play Seminar took place in the period 15–18 September with the aim to provide knowledge about fair play and best practices at events.[113] The #SOCIALCHESS Conference was organised by the FIDE Social Commission at the InterContinental Hotel Budapest on 21 September with the goal to discuss the benefits chess gives to the society through the FIDE social projects, such as Chess for Protection, Chess for Freedom, Infinite Chess, Chess for Elderly and Chess for Life. Some of the participants in the conference included the Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board Dana Reizniece-Ozola, FIDE Social Commission Chair André Vögtlin, a FIDE Refugee Team representative and a UNHCR representative.[114] The Women&Chess&Balance conference was organised by the Commission for Women's Chess at the InterContinental Hotel Budapest on 21 September and aimed at empowering women in the world of chess and beyond. Some of the topics in the conference programme included "Sporty Strategists: Chess and Beyond", "Management", "Women's Safeguard", "Building a Chess Tournament's Brand" and "Social Media Management". Speakers at the conference were the CEO of Chess.comDaniel Rensch, Dana Reizniece-Ozola, top chess event organisers, renowned bloggers and representatives from UNHCR amongst others.[115]
Concerns and controversies
Sanctions against Russia and Belarus
In March 2022, following the recommendation by the International Olympic Committee in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the FIDE Council suspended the national teams of Russia and Belarus from participation in official FIDE tournaments until further notice.[33] As a result, the national teams of both countries did not enter the 44th Chess Olympiad,[116] and some players who disapproved of the invasion decided to leave the country, switch federations or play under the FIDE flag instead of the Russian flag.[117]
Conditional ban for the Chess Federation of Russia
In June 2024, the FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Commission (EDC) imposed a two-year conditional ban on the Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) and reprimanded FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich for violations related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The EDC found the CFR guilty of damaging FIDE's reputation or bringing chess into disrepute, non-compliance with FIDE principles, violation of duty or obligation imposed by the FIDE Charter and disparagement of FIDE's reputation and interest. The violations were a consequence of the CFR's board of trustees consisting of several individuals who were subject to international sanctions as well as the CFR organising chess events in illegally occupied parts of Ukraine.[118] Dvorkovich and the President of the Russian Chess Federation argued that the EDC had no authority to make the decision.[119]
In September 2024, the appeal submitted by Dvorkovich and the CFR on the decision made by a First Instance Chamber of the EDC to suspend the CFR from organising events on Ukrainian territory according to the IOC and FIDE jurisdictions was accepted, and the Appeal Chamber of the EDC reduced the sanction from a suspension to a fine of €45,000. This decision was surprising given that FIDE statutes, similarly to the IOC statutes and those of other sport federations, use the United Nations maps to determine jurisdictions for holding of sport events. Magnus Carlsen's coach Peter Heine Nielsen commented that they were planning to appeal the decision of the Appeal Chamber to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after they had found information that EDC President Francois P. Strydom was connected to the Russian law firm Sila Lawyers, which represents several Russian sport federations.[120] The Lithuanian Chess Federation issued a statement in which they condemned the decision of the EDC.[121] The Secretary General of the European Chess UnionTheodoros Tsorbatzoglou issued a personal statement in which he criticised the decision made by the secondary FIDE disciplinary committee. Tsorbatzoglou's statement on the decision of the Appeal Chamber of the EDC was linked to the resolution submitted by the Kyrgyzstan Chess Federation as its president and initiator of the resolution Babur Tolbaev was amongst the candidates for EDC chairman.[122][123]
Kyrgyz proposal to restore full membership
In August 2024, the Kyrgyzstan Chess Federation submitted a resolution to the FIDE Congress to restore the full membership rights of the Chess Federation of Russia and the Belarusian Chess Federation with an immediate effect,[124] which had to be discussed at the meeting of the General Assembly during the FIDE Congress at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest.[28] Following the resolution, the German Chess Federation issued a statement in which they strongly objected to the proposal.[125] The chess federations of the United Kingdom and the United States also opposed the proposal stating that it would hand a symbolic victory to Vladimir Putin.[126] The president of Ukrainian Chess Federaton Oleksandr Kamyshin published a statement from his X account that he would work to stop the resolution being approved. He added that 21 chess players had already been killed in Ukraine and two more were still missing as a result of the invasion. Kamyshin urged that FIDE remove the topic from the agenda.[127] Former World Champion Garry Kasparov supported Kamyshin.[128]Malcolm Pein of the English Chess Federation said that Russia's control of FIDE was absolute. He added that they were staging a slow takeover of the federation with changes in its constitution and the way the decisions were made.[129] Ukrainian chess player Vasyl Ivanchuk signed a petition against the Kyrgyz resolution, which was later signed by the whole Olympic team of Ukraine, urging not to lift the sanctions against Russia.[130] As a result of the proposed resolution, the potential exclusion of chess from IOC was brought to a table, which might put the government funding for national chess federations at risk. George Mastrokouskos compared the situation of FIDE with that of the International Boxing Association (IBA), which had recently been excluded from IOC.[131]
On 19 September 2024, while receiving the FIDE 100 Award for Best Male Player, Magnus Carlsen spoke clearly against lifting the suspension of the Russian and Belarusian chess federations.[132] The CFR reacted to his speech by stating that he could play chess but should not meddle into things that he did not understand.[133] In addition, the Vice President of the Chess Federation of Russia Sergey Smagin stated that Carlsen represents the Norwegian Chess Federation, which had always stood sharply against Russia. He added that Carlsen's professional career had started in Russia and said that it would be nice if Carlsen returned the money he had earned and all the prizes he had won in tournaments held there.[134]
On 20 September 2024, the United States Department of State issued a statement in which they called on FIDE to maintain the ban. They stated that there was no place for the Russian and Belarusian flags at the chess tournaments while chess players in Ukraine were being killed by Russia's forces, and they urged the national chess federations to continue to stand with Ukraine. United States Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget A. Brink as well as the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs shared this view from their X accounts.[135]
Accommodation
In early 2024, many chess federations and delegations raised concerns regarding difficulties with accommodation and the extra costs incurred.[136] President of the Monaco Chess Federation Jean-Michel Rapaire explained that, according to the initial invitation sent by the organisers to chess federations on 18 April, all teams would get two free standard double rooms and two free standard single rooms with full board, whereas the chief of delegation would be provided with a standard single room with full board. However, on 15 August, they were emailed that the chief of delegation is at their own cost and would not stay in the same hotel. The chess federations of Germany and Scotland reported that their teams had been scattered in different hotels. Eventually, Monaco, Germany and Scotland rented accommodation on their own outside of the official hotels recommended by the organisers.[136] Similar accommodation problems were later stated by the delegations from Turkey, Croatia and Bulgaria.[137][138][139] Malcolm Pein reported that the organisers had no understanding that many countries would need extra rooms in addition to the standard offer of two free single and four free double rooms per team.[140] Dutch player Anish Giri commented on the situation that there were not enough hotel rooms at the Olympiad.[141] FIDE Chief Executive Officer Emil Sutovsky faced criticism for his alleged ignorance of the situation.[136]
Visas
A source associated with FIDE revealed that up to 60 countries were experiencing visa problems for the Chess Olympiad, and most of these countries were from Africa and the Caribbean. As of 9 September, the list of countries with visa problems included Algeria, Eswatini, Lesotho, Gambia, Central African Republic, Tunisia and Egypt from Africa as well as Afghanistan, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq.[142] Afghan player on board four Sepehr Sakhawaty explained that the team applied for visas on 7 August at the Embassy of Hungary in Iran, as there is no Hungarian embassy working in Afghanistan. The whole team's applications were rejected on 5 September. They requested an appeal from the embassy on 7 September, but were still awaiting response one day before the start of the Olympiad.[143] In the first round, a total of 20 teams in the Open and Women's sections were not paired largely due to visa and travel problems.[144][28] President of the Hungarian Chess Federation Zoltán Polyánszky said that they did a lot to get teams to Budapest. He added that teams were still on their way and asked one-two days of patience. FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich mentioned the rejection rate for the Chess Olympiad was significantly lower than the normal rejection rate of 16.5 per cent for the Schengen Area.[145]
Other incidents
The accommodation problems caused members of the national delegations to be scattered across different hotels, contributing to transport difficulties in Budapest. As a result, the games of the first round started with a 20-minute delay and the games of the second round with a 10-minute delay. Journalist Vlad Ghita wrote from his X account that it was "unclear whether the shuttle buses are to be blamed, or whether the delegations ran late".[146] Magnus Carlsen arrived ten minutes late for his game against Colombian grandmaster Roberto Garcia Pantoja in the third round as he had been travelling by bike in the rain, rushing to the venue and was confused about the entrance.[147] Carlsen thought that he had forfeited the game before he arrived to the venue, but the games of the third round had already started with a delay, so he had enough time to avoid forfeit thanks to Chess.com photographer Maria Emelianova who showed him a shortcut to the playing hall.[148] Following the game, he commented that he was staying in a different hotel from the others and was supposed to be picked up by them. However, he was suddenly informed that the traffic was horrible and they would arrive later, so he decided that biking to the venue might be faster than travelling by car.[147]
A fair-play check in the match between Lebanon and Egypt in the third round of the Open event detected a SIM card in Egypt's Sameh Sadek. Consequently, his win against Antoine Kassis was reversed as the SIM card was a disallowed electronic device according to the anti-cheating measures at the Olympiad.[149][150][151] A disallowed device was detected in the match between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Thailand in the fourth round of the Open event, in which Dejan Marjanović initially lost his game against Tinnakrit Arunnuntapanich, but the score was reversed after the anti-cheating control had been performed.[152][153][154] In the same round, an unused SIM card was found in the wallet of seven-time Argentine Champion Diego Flores in a fair-play check following his win in Argentina's 3½–½ victory over Bolivia, so his win was turned into a loss. However, the appeal by his federation and captain Robert Hungaski was accepted, and the result was reversed again.[155]
In the match between Israel and Bangladesh in the tenth round in the Open event, Bangladeshi grandmaster Enamul Hossain forfeited his game against Tamir Nabaty. He announced his boycott in a post from his Facebook profile and complained about Israel's participation due to the ongoing conflict with Palestine by referring to the non-participation of Russia and Belarus.[156] The Swiss system paired Israel and Iran to play in the final round of the Women's event. However, as Iran's government refuses to recognize the nation of Israel, the Iranian team decided not to play. The arbiters fixed the score to 4–0 in Israel's favour after the game's default times were finished. Israel's top-board player Marsel Efroimski said that it "was a shame that politics is mixed with sports". Chess journalist Leon Watson commented that the problem with Iran was a big reason why chess was out of the Olympic movement until 1995. He called on FIDE to take an action.[157]
^The Open tournament enables participation of players from all genders.
^In case of an odd number of participating teams, a bye was allocated to the eligible team with the lowest ranking prescribed.[39]
^The FIDE Congress is an annual event that combines the sessions of FIDE's main bodies—namely, the General Assembly, the FIDE Council, the Zonal Council and the FIDE Commissions. In even years, it is preferred that the FIDE Congress takes place during the Chess Olympiad, and it is therefore organised by the organiser of the Chess Olympiad.[77]
^According to Article 24.10 of FIDE Electoral Rules, "if all the most voted candidates are of the same gender, the less voted of them will not be elected and the most voted candidate of the other gender will be elected".[83] In this particular case, Ivy Claire Amoko (Uganda) was elected as a member of the FIDE Constitutional Commission despite winning less votes than Jorge Arias Bouzada (Uruguay).[84]
^Brace, Edward R. (1977). An Illustrated Dictionary of Chess. Hamlyn Publishing Group. p. 64. ISBN1-55521-394-4.
^Sprecher, Mary Helen (26 August 2022). "Inside Events: Chess Olympiad". Sports Destination Management. Archived from the original on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
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