Chess Olympiad Explained: Swiss system, team format, board order & scoring

India begin their Chess Olympiad 2026 campaign on Wednesday, with the Open team taking on Thailand and the Women’s team facing the Dominican Republic in Samarkand in the first round. India are the defending champions in both the Open and Women’s sections, having won historic double gold medals in both sections in Budapest in 2024.

207 countries are in the Open section, while 191 countries in the Women’s section are competing at the Samarkand Olympiad, making it one of the biggest Chess Olympiads in history.

Here is a breakdown of how the tournament works.

The Chess Olympiad is the world’s premier team chess competition, organised by FIDE, the International Chess Federation. First held officially in 1927 in London, it crowns the strongest chess nation and is considered FIDE’s Team Champion. The 2026 edition is the 46th, hosted at the Silk Road International Exhibition Centre in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Each country registers five players, but only four play in any given match, with one reserve player. A team match consists of four individual games.

The Olympiad follows an 11-round Swiss system, where teams with similar scores are paired against each other in each round. No team is eliminated, and every squad plays all 11 rounds.