--- title: "Team event in chess" url: "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/team-event.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/team-event" last_updated: "2026-11-07" type: "reference" summary: "A team event is a competition in which players represent a side, individual games on several boards add up to a match result." related: ["https://georgelichess.com/glossary/chess-olympiad.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/board-number.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/tiebreak.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/bye.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/swiss-system.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/category/tournaments-ratings-titles.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary.md"] --- # Team event in chess > **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. A team event is a competition in which players represent a side, individual games on several boards add up to a match result. A team event is a competition in which players represent a side, individual games on several boards add up to a match result, and the team is ranked by the totals. In a team event the unit of scoring is the match between two teams, not the single game. Each match is played across a fixed number of boards, and the FIDE rules for continental team championships require at least four boards per match. A team can be scored in two ways: match points, awarded for winning, drawing or losing the whole match, and game points, the sum of the individual results. Some events rank by match points first and use game points as a [tiebreak](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/tiebreak.md), others do the opposite, and the regulations say which. FIDE's tie-break rules add team-specific methods, including Board Count and the extended [Sonneborn-Berger](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/sonneborn-berger.md) [variants](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/chess-variant.md). The captain submits the line-up before each round, and the order of boards is a strategic choice: placing the strongest players where they will face the strongest opponents, or spreading strength across the order. Team events can also award titles, and appear in the Handbook's direct-title tables. See [chess olympiad](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/chess-olympiad.md), [board number](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/board-number.md) and tiebreak. Also worth reading is [Bye](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/bye.md). A bye is a round in which a player has no opponent and still receives points; in a Swiss event it goes to one player when the field is odd. Also worth reading is [Bughouse](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/bughouse.md). Bughouse is a four-player chess variant on two linked boards, where each capture hands the taken piece to your partner, who may later place it on their own board instead of making a move. Rating and title terms like "Team event" 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 - [Chess Olympiad](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/chess-olympiad.md) - [Board number](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/board-number.md) - [Tiebreak](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/tiebreak.md) - [Bye](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/bye.md) - [Swiss system](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/swiss-system.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 D.03.01 Continental Team Championships, overall regulations (Clause 1.6), read 2026-10-21: https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/D0301 - FIDE Handbook C.07 Play-Off and Tie-Break Regulations, effective 1 March 2026 (Articles 11 to 13), read 2026-10-21: https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/TieBreakRegulations032026 [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 - [Chess Olympiad](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/chess-olympiad.md) - [Board number in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/board-number.md) - [Tiebreak in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/tiebreak.md) - [Bye in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/bye.md) - [Swiss system in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/swiss-system.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)