Chess Olympiad facts for kids

35th Chess Olympiad, Bled 2002

Chess Olympiads are chess events open to all national teams. They have been run since 1927 by the world chess organisation, FIDE. Since 1950, they have been run every two years. Earlier events were all-play-all. Then, as numbers grew, a system of qualifying sections were used. In recent times, the format has been a Swiss system. This, in chess terms, is a method whereby opponents are chosen each round to have similar scores. It has been widely used for individual tournaments.

Recognised sport

Chess is a recognized sport by the International Olympic Committee with FIDE being the recognized International Sports Federation for chess since June 1999. As a member of the International Olympic Committee, FIDE adheres to its rules, including controversially having doping tests. The prospects of chess becoming an Olympic sporting event at some future date remain unclear. The naming of FIDE's team championship as the "Chess Olympiad" is of historical origin and implies no connection between this event and the Olympic Games.

The next Chess Olympiad will be held in 2014 in Norway.

Open section

Year	Event	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1927	1st Chess Olympiad	London, United Kingdom	Hungary 40	Denmark 38.5	England 36.5
1928	2nd Chess Olympiad	The Hague, Netherlands	Hungary 44	USA 39.5	Poland 37
1930	3rd Chess Olympiad	Hamburg, Germany	Poland 48.5	Hungary 47	Germany 44.5
1931	4th Chess Olympiad	Prague, Czechoslovakia	USA 48	Poland 47	Czechoslovakia 46.5
1933	5th Chess Olympiad	Folkestone, United Kingdom	USA 39	Czechoslovakia 37.5	Sweden 34
1935	6th Chess Olympiad	Warsaw, Poland	USA 54	Sweden 52.5	Poland 52
1936	non-FIDE unofficial Chess Olympiad *	Munich, Germany	Hungary 110.5	Poland 108	Germany 106.5
1937	7th Chess Olympiad	Stockholm, Sweden	USA 54.5	Hungary 48.5	Poland 47
1939	8th Chess Olympiad	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Germany 36	Poland 35.5	Estonia 33.5
1950	9th Chess Olympiad	Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia	Yugoslavia 45.5	Argentina 43.5	W. Germany 40.5
1952	10th Chess Olympiad	Helsinki, Finland	USSR 21	Argentina 19.5	Yugoslavia 19
1954	11th Chess Olympiad	Amsterdam, Netherlands	USSR 34	Argentina 27	Yugoslavia 26.5
1956	12th Chess Olympiad	Moscow, Soviet Union	USSR 31	Yugoslavia 26.5	Hungary 26.5
1958	13th Chess Olympiad	Munich, West Germany	USSR 34.5	Yugoslavia 29	Argentina 25.5
1960	14th Chess Olympiad	Leipzig, East Germany	USSR 34	USA 29	Yugoslavia 27
1962	15th Chess Olympiad	Varna, Bulgaria	USSR 31.5	Yugoslavia 28	Argentina 26
1964	16th Chess Olympiad	Tel Aviv, Israel	USSR 36.5	Yugoslavia 32	W. Germany 30.5
1966	17th Chess Olympiad	Havana, Cuba	USSR 39.5	USA 34.5	Hungary 33.5
1968	18th Chess Olympiad	Lugano, Switzerland	USSR 39.5	Yugoslavia 31	Bulgaria 30
1970	19th Chess Olympiad	Siegen, West Germany	USSR 27.5	Hungary 26.5	Yugoslavia 26
1972	20th Chess Olympiad	Skopje, Yugoslavia	USSR 42	Hungary 40.5	Yugoslavia 38
1974	21st Chess Olympiad	Nice, France	USSR 46	Yugoslavia 37.5	USA 36.5
1976	22nd Chess Olympiad *	Haifa, Israel	USA 37	Netherlands 36.5	England 35.5
1978	23rd Chess Olympiad	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Hungary 37	USSR 36	USA 35
1980	24th Chess Olympiad	Valletta, Malta	USSR 39	Hungary 39	USA 35
1982	25th Chess Olympiad	Lucerne, Switzerland	USSR 42.5	Czechoslovakia 36	USA 35
1984	26th Chess Olympiad	Thessaloniki, Greece	USSR 41	England 37	USA 35
1986	27th Chess Olympiad	Dubai, UAE	USSR 40	England 39	USA 38
1988	28th Chess Olympiad	Thessaloniki, Greece	USSR 40.5	England 34.5	Netherlands 34.5
1990	29th Chess Olympiad	Novi Sad, Yugoslavia	USSR 39	USA 35.5	England 35.5
1992	30th Chess Olympiad	Manila, Philippines	Russia 39	Uzbekistan 35	Armenia 34.5
1994	31st Chess Olympiad	Moscow, Russia	Russia 37.5	Bosnia/Herzegovina 35	Russia II 34.5
1996	32nd Chess Olympiad	Yerevan, Armenia	Russia 38.5	Ukraine 35	USA 34
1998	33rd Chess Olympiad	Elista, Russia	Russia 35.5	USA 34.5	Ukraine 32.5
2000	34th Chess Olympiad	Istanbul, Turkey	Russia 38	Germany 37	Ukraine 35.5
2002	35th Chess Olympiad	Bled, Slovenia	Russia 38.5	Hungary 37.5	Armenia 35
2004	36th Chess Olympiad	Calviá, Spain	Ukraine 39.5	Russia 36.5	Armenia 36.5
2006	37th Chess Olympiad	Turin, Italy	Armenia 36	China 34	USA 33
2008	38th Chess Olympiad	Dresden, Germany	Armenia 19	Israel 18	USA 17
2010	39th Chess Olympiad	Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia	Ukraine 19	Russia 18	Israel 17
2012	40th Chess Olympiad	Istanbul, Turkey	Armenia 19	Russia 19	Ukraine 18

* In 1936 FIDE refused its approval on grounds of Nazi anti-semitism; however, the organisers accepted Jewish players, and many did play in the event.

* In 1976 the USSR and other communist countries did not compete for political reasons.

Images for kids

• 

  There were 16 participating nations in the 1st Chess Olympiad, 1927.

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  By the 41st Olympiad, 2014, there were 172 participating nations.

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  Bobby Fischer's score card from his round 3 game against Miguel Najdorf in the 1970 Chess Olympiad

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  Symbol of the 6th Chess Olympiad in Warsaw 1935 by Jerzy Steifer

See also

In Spanish: Olimpiadas de ajedrez para niños