FIDE announces Online Olympiad 2020

FIDE Online Olympiad 2020 to be held between July 22nd and August 30th, 2020

The Online Olympiad is a national teams event in which all federations affiliated to FIDE have the right to participate.

Each team will consist of six players, in a mixed format with a minimum of three female players and two junior players. Specifically, each team must include:

- at least 1 player U-20 (born in 2000 or later)

- at least 2 women

- at least 1 girl U-20 (born in 2000 or later)

The teams may have up to six reserves, plus a team captain.

The time control for this event will be 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move.

The event will consist of two main stages: the “Divisions stage”, and the Play-offs stage, from Round of 16 to the final.

Since the Online Olympiad is a mixed event, for pairing purposes the ranking will be established in accordance with the final standings of the last “Gaprindashvili Cup”, which combines the results in the open and women’s sections at the Batumi Chess Olympiad 2018.

FIRST STAGE:

Divisions All the teams-participants will be divided into 5 divisions ranked from “Base Division” to “Top Division”.

Base Division unifies registered teams placed in the bottom part of the final standings of the Gaprindashvili Cup. Base Division’s tournament system depends on the number of participating teams. The top fifteen teams of the Base Division qualify to Division 4.

Base Division composition and tournament’s system as well as all divisions seeded team’s composition are announced on July 18th.  Each pool is played within three days, three rounds per day. The exact dates and times for each pool tournament in each Division are announced two days prior to the beginning, teams’ time zones are taken into consideration.

Division 4 is composed of 35 seeded registered teams ranked higher than teams of Base Division in Gaprindashvili Cup and 15 teams qualified from Base Division.

50 teams are divided into 5 pools (from A to E), 10 teams each, of approximately equal strength determined as the average rapid rating of six main players according to July FIDE rating list. Each pool plays a round robin of 9 rounds. The top three teams of each pool qualify for Divisio 3.

Division 3 is composed of 35 seeded registered teams ranked higher than teams of Division 4 in Gaprindashvili Cup and 15 teams qualified from Division 4.

50 teams are divided into 5 pools (from A to E), 10 teams each, of approximately equal strength. Teams qualified from the same pool of Division 4 cannot be placed in the same pool again. Pool winners of Division 4 cannot be placed in the same pool. Each pool plays a round robin of 9 rounds. The top three first teams of each pool qualify for Division 2.

Division 2 is composed of 35 seeded registered teams ranked higher than teams of Division 3 in Gaprindashvili Cup and 15 teams qualified from Division 3.

50 teams are divided into 5 pools (from A to E), 10 teams each, of approximately equal strength. Teams qualified from the same pool of Division 3 cannot be placed in the same pool again. Pool winners of Division 3 cannot be placed in the same pool. Each pool plays a round robin of 9 rounds. The top three first teams of each pool qualify for Top Division.

Top Division is composed of 5 seeded registered teams placed on the top of Gaprindashvili Cup, 5 teams nominated by each of the four Continents (according to each Continent’s criteria, see Article 3.3) and 15 teams qualified from Division 2.

40 teams are divided into 4 pools (from A to D), 10 teams each, of approximately equal strength. Teams qualified from the same pool of Division 2 cannot be placed in the same pool again. Pool winners of Division 2 cannot be placed in the same pool. Each pool plays a round robin of 9 rounds.

The top three first teams of each pool qualify for Stage 2 – Play-off

SECOND STAGE: Play-off

Twelve teams qualified from Stage 1 play a knock-out tournament. Each duel consists of two matches, alternating which team has white on the first board (and subsecuently, on the rest of even-numbered boards).

Preliminary Round

Duel I:                   Runner-up of Top DIVISION pool A vs Third place of Top DIVISION pool B

Duel II:                  Runner-up of Top DIVISION pool B vs Third place of Top DIVISION pool A

Duel III:                Runner-up of Top DIVISION pool C vs Third place of Top DIVISION pool D

Duel IV:                  Runner-up of Top DIVISION pool D vs Third place of Top DIVISION pool C

Quarter-finals

Duel V:                   Winner of Top DIVISION pool A vs Winner of Duel IV Duel VI:                 Winner of Top DIVISION pool B vs Winner of Duel III Duel VII:                Winner of Top DIVISION pool C vs Winner of Duel II Duel VIII:               Winner of Top DIVISION pool D vs Winner of Duel I

Semi-finals

Duel IX:                 Winner of Duel V vs Winner of Duel VI

Duel X:                  Winner of Duel VII vs Winner of Duel VIII

Final

Duel XI:                 Winner of Duel IX vs Winner of Duel X

Schedule

A registration form will be published on the FIDE website in the coming days. National Federations will receive further instructions via email, and registration will open on Saturday, July 4, 2020.

Hosting Internet Platform

Any chess internet platform may apply for hosting the FIDE Online Olympiad 2020. FIDE’s choice will be based on many factors in the best interest of chess, and the proposed financial conditions are not the only criterion. FIDE will take into account the experience of platform, and its ability to broadcast the tournament at the highest possible level.

The final decision on the hosting internet platform will be announced shortly.

Regulations for Online Olympiad 2020 (pdf)

Source: FIDE