Chess Olympiad 2018: All you need to know
What's the story
2018 Chess Olympiad, the 43rd edition of the tournament, kick-started on September 23 and will go on till October 6. The Open and Women's events are being held at the tournament. Both events witnessed a record number of participants in this year's edition. The city of Batumi in Georgia is hosting the tournament, this year. Here are further details.
Participation
The participants include some of the world's biggest chess icons
1,667 players are participating this year, with 920 in the Open Event and 747 in the Women's Event. Except for Magnus Carlsen, all the top 10 ranked chess players are participating in this year's edition of the tournament. The big players include Vladimir Kramnik, Nakamura, and Vishwanathan Anand. In the Open Event, 185 teams from 180 countries are trying their luck, this term.
Format
What is the format of the competition?
The competition will be held in a Swiss system format, with the time limit of 90 minutes for 40 moves, with 30 seconds as additional time per move. 11 rounds will be played in total, with each team getting to select one reserve for every match. Teams will be ranked according to points won in each round played.
Seeds
Who are the top seeds in this year's competition?
Surprisingly, this is the first time Russians did not enter the competition as the top seeds, but as second. The United States have entered as top seeds, and are also the defending champions. Their average FIDE rating is 2,772. India have entered as fifth seeds, with Anand leading the roost, followed by P Harikrishna, Vidit Gujrathi, B Adhiban, and Krishnan Sasikaran.
India
India at the Chess Olympiad
With Anand returning to the Indian team after a 12 year hiatus, the men's team looks stronger than ever. India had earlier finished third and fourth in 2014 and 2016 editions of the tournament, respectively. The women's team has also been seeded fifth and consists of Koneru Humpy, Tania Sachdev, Eesha Karavade, Padmini Rout, and D Harika. Notably, both teams started off with wins.