Vladimir Putin Sends Greetings to Participants and Organisers of FIDE Online Olympiad

Teams from 163 countries are participating.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin sent greetings to participants and organisers of the FIDE Online Olympiad 2020.

The message reads in part: 

“The initiative to hold online competitions met with broad support. It brings together teams from 163 countries. I am confident that your comprehensive international tournament will effectively replace in-person competitions for the 44th Chess Olympiad that, unfortunately, had been postponed due to the complicated epidemiological situation.

“Interactive chess has already become popular; over 16 million online games are played every day. But a major event like the FIDE Online Olympiad 2020 is taking place for the first time. I hope the chess-playing public at large will recognise your tournament, that it will boast high organisational and technical levels, and that it will help promote chess further through advanced information technologies.

“I wish good luck and every success to tournament participants who will display their professionalism and the ability to think creatively in the next few days. And I also wish exceptional and unforgettable impressions to fans and chess lovers.”

Vladimir Putin

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The International Chess Federation published the team line-ups for the FIDE Online Olympiad. All in all, 163 national teams are registered. The starting list is headed by teams Russia, China, USA, Armenia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan. The event will be held from July 22 till August 30. According to the tournament rules, the Russian and other strong teams will start playing from the final stage, on August 19. 

Representing the Russian team are: 

Men: Alexander Grischuk, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Daniil Dubov, Vladislav Artemiev

Juniors: Andrey Esipenko and Alexey Sarana

Women: Kateryna Lagno, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Valentina Gunina

Girls: Polina Shuvalova and Margarita Potapova. 

The team captain is GM Alexander Motylev.

Other teams  

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.

Each team consists of six players, in a mixed format with a minimum of three female players and two junior players. The teams may have up to six reserves, plus a team captain.