45th Chess Olympiad: Budapest plays host after 98 years

From the 10th of September, Budapest is all set to host the 45th edition of the Chess Olympiad. The event will witness a record-breaking number of teams and shall go on till the 23rd of September.

A total of 193 teams have been announced for the open section, whereas in the women's section, 184 teams have been registered.

The last time that Budapest hosted the Olympiad was in 1926 when it played host to the 2nd unofficial Chess Olympiad.

The event, organized by FIDE, will feature the best players from across the world, including the likes of Magnus Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa, the 2024 Candidates winner D. Gukesh and Fabiano Caruana.

The U.S., India, China, and Uzbekistan enter the tournament as the top-seeded teams, in that order, and except for Uzbekistan, who are the reigning champions, all others have players who boast of an average rating that exceeds 2700.

Formidable squads in open section

Team USA consists of Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Leinier Dominguez, Levon Aronian, and Ray Robson (reserve).

Despite not featuring players such as Hikaru Nakamura, the world no.2, or Hans Niemann, the current world no.5, team USA is still looking formidable.

The squad has a very good track record in the Olympiad, having won 20 medals in 40 appearances, including 6 golds, 6 silver and 8 bronze.

India, on their part, have also named a young but strong squad, featuring Arjun Erigaisi, Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrati, and Pentala Harikrishna.

Veteran Vishwanathan Anand opted out of the Olympiad, paving the way for the next generation of Indian chess stars to take over the mantle.

Having won the Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and winning bronze in 2022, India will look to go for the gold, with a squad that is more than capable of doing so.

China will feature the world champion Ding Liren along with Wei Yi as part of their team, a team that boasts of experience, with no member below the age of 25.

After winning the Chennai Olympiad two years ago, Uzbekistan enter as the reigning champions and have named the same squad: Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Yakubboev, Shamsiddin Vokhidov, and Jakhongir Vakhidov.

Magnus Carlsen will be leading the Norway team, and having won virtually every accolade in the sport, the world no.1 will be eager to win team medals.

Ukraine, Georgia, and India favorites in women's section

India leads the way as the top-seeded team in the women's section, with an average rating of 2467, followed by Georgia (2462), Poland (2422), China (2416), and Ukraine (2400).

The Indan team, comprising Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agarwal, and Tania Sachdev, will look to better their bronze medal secured in the 2022 Olympiad.

Georgia, the 2022 silver medalist, has named a strong squad, comprising Nana Dzagnidze, Lela Javakhishvili, Nino Batsiashvili, Bella Khotenashvili, and Salome Melia.

They will be eager to win the gold medal this time, having named a squad that is filled with experienced campaigners.

Ukraine, the defending champions, enter the tournament without two of their star players, the Muzychuk sisters.

Despite that, their team is still fifth-seeded in the competition with Anna Ushenina, Nataliya Buksa, Inna Gaponenko, and Evgeniya Doluhanova making up the team.

Although gold is very difficult, it is certainly not out of reach for them.

Format of the 2024 Chess Olympiad

The Olympiad shall follow the 'Swiss format'. In the first round, teams or players with higher ratings are intentionally paired with those who have lower ratings.

For subsequent rounds, pairings are determined based on performance in the initial round: winners face other winners, and losers face other losers.

The goal is to minimize repeated colors in the pairings.

The tournament is ultimately won by the participant with the highest number of points.

A win earns 1 point, a draw 0.5 points, and a defeat gets you 0 points.