--- title: "Chess Olympiad" url: "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/chess-olympiad.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/chess-olympiad" last_updated: "2026-11-07" type: "reference" summary: "The Chess Olympiad is the biennial team event in which national teams compete in open and women's sections, ranked by match points under a Swiss-system pairing." related: ["https://georgelichess.com/glossary/team-event.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/board-number.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/swiss-system.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/bye.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/candidate-master.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/category/tournaments-ratings-titles.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary.md"] --- # Chess Olympiad > **For AI agents:** the complete index of GeorgeLiChess pages is [llms.txt](https://georgelichess.com/llms.txt). Every page is also served as markdown at its URL plus .md. The Chess Olympiad is the biennial team event in which national teams compete in open and women's sections, ranked by match points under a Swiss-system pairing. The Chess Olympiad is the biennial team event in which national teams compete in open and women's sections, ranked by match points under a Swiss-system pairing. The Olympiad is the largest team competition in chess. Countries send teams to an [open section](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/open-tournament.md) and a women's section, and the host federation may enter extra teams. [Pairing](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/pairing.md) follows the [Swiss system](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/swiss-system.md): teams are ranked for the first round by the average rating of their four highest-rated players, with the fifth player's rating as a tiebreaker, and later rounds pair teams by match points, with no team meeting another twice (FIDE Olympiad Pairing Rules, articles 1, 3 and 6). Under the regulations for the 2026 edition, each section is an 11 round Swiss, a team is four players plus one reserve, and a match win scores two points and a draw one. Results are counted twice, as game points on the boards and as match points for the team. An odd number of teams leaves one team with a bye worth one match point and two game points. The event is also notable for titles: the Handbook awards direct titles for strong results at the Olympiad, including a waiver of the minimum rating for direct [Candidate Master](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/candidate-master.md) awards. For players, it is a team format where individual strength is not enough, and board order matters. See [team event](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/team-event.md), [board number](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/board-number.md) and swiss system. Also called: Olympiad. A neighboring idea is [World Chess Championship](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/world-chess-championship.md). The World Chess Championship is the match, run under FIDE regulations, in which the reigning champion defends the title against the winner of the Candidates Tournament. Rating and title terms like "Chess Olympiad" matter once you know your next step, and the [improvement plans by rating band](https://georgelichess.com/improve.md) set out a weekly routine for each rating range. ## Related terms - [Team event](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/team-event.md) - [Board number](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/board-number.md) - [Swiss system](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/swiss-system.md) - [Bye](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/bye.md) - [Candidate Master](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/candidate-master.md) ## Guides that go further - [Chess ratings explained](https://georgelichess.com/chess-ratings-explained.md): What a rating measures, how FIDE, Lichess, US Chess and chess.com compute theirs, and why the numbers differ. - [FIDE chess titles](https://georgelichess.com/titles.md): How the Candidate Master, FIDE Master, International Master and Grandmaster titles are earned, with every Handbook clause. - [How to get a FIDE rating](https://georgelichess.com/how-to-get-a-fide-rating.md): The Handbook rules for a first FIDE rating: five rated games, the 1400 floor, the two 1800 draws and a worked example. ## Sources - FIDE Handbook Olympiad Pairing Rules, effective 1 January 2022 (Articles 1.1, 3.1, 4.3 and 6.1), read 2026-10-21: https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/OlympiadPairingRules2022 - FIDE Handbook B.01 FIDE Title Regulations, effective 1 January 2024 (Clause 0.6.2), read 2026-10-21: https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B012024 - FIDE Handbook B.01 Table for Direct Titles, effective 1 January 2026 (Direct titles table, Olympiad rows), read 2026-10-21: https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B01DirectTitles2026 - FIDE Handbook D.02.01 Regulations for the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2026, Main Competition (Articles 3.1, 4.1, 4.2.1 and 4.5.1), read 2026-10-21: https://handbook.fide.com/files/handbook/Olympiad2026MainCompetition.pdf [Book your first lesson](https://georgelichess.com/book.md) and George Li reviews your games and builds a study plan around them. Questions about lessons: write to hello@georgelichess.com. ## Related - [Team event in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/team-event.md) - [Board number in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/board-number.md) - [Swiss system in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/swiss-system.md) - [Bye in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/bye.md) - [Candidate Master in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/candidate-master.md) - [Chess terms: Tournaments, ratings and titles](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/category/tournaments-ratings-titles.md) - [Chess terms glossary: plain definitions](https://georgelichess.com/glossary.md)