# Chess Olympiad

The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and 2021, with a rapid time control that affected players' online ratings.
The use of the name "Chess Olympiad" for FIDE's team championship is of historical origin and is not connected to the Olympic Games.

## Birth of the Olympiad

The first Olympiad was unofficial. For the 1924 Olympics an attempt was made to include chess in the Olympic Games but this failed because of problems with distinguishing between amateur and professional players. While the 1924 Summer Olympics was taking place in Paris, the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad also took place in Paris. FIDE was formed on Sunday, July 20, 1924, the closing day of the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad. FIDE organised the first Official Olympiad in 1927 which took place in London. The Olympiads were occasionally held annually and at irregular intervals until World War II; since 1950 they have been held regularly every two years.
Growth of Chess Olympiads :
| There were 16 participating nations in the 1st Chess Olympiad, 1927. | By the 41st Olympiad, 2014, there were 172 participating nations. |

## Drug testing

As a sporting federation recognized by the IOC, and particularly as a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) conventions, FIDE adheres to their rules, including a requirement for doping tests, which they are obligated to take at the events such as the Olympiad. The tests were first introduced in 2002 under significant controversy, with the widespread belief that it was impossible to dope in chess. Research carried out by the Dutch chess federation failed to find a single performance-enhancing substance for chess. According to Dr Helmut Pfleger, who has been conducting experiments in the field for around twenty years, "Both mentally stimulating and mentally calming medication have too many negative side effects". Players such as Artur Yusupov, Jan Timman and Robert Hübner either refused to play for their national team or to participate in events such as the Chess Olympiad where drug tests were administered. All 802 tests administered at the 2002 Olympiad came back negative. However, in the 36th Chess Olympiad in 2004, two players refused to provide urine samples and had their scores cancelled. Four years later, Vasyl Ivanchuk was not penalized for skipping a drug test at the 38th Chess Olympiad in 2008, with a procedural error being indicated instead.
In 2010, a FIDE official commented that due to the work of the FIDE Medical Commission, the tests were now considered routine. In November 2015, FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced they are working with WADA to define and identify doping in chess.

## Competition

Each FIDE-recognized chess association can enter a team into the Olympiad. Each team is made of up to five players, four regular players and one reserve (prior to the tournament in Dresden 2008 there were two reserves).
Initially each team played all other teams but as the event grew over the years this became impossible. At first team seeding took place before the competition, with teams playing in preliminary groups and then finals. Later certain drawbacks were recognized with seeding and in 1976 a Swiss tournament system was adopted. Starting from 2008, the first criterion for determining ranking has been match points instead of board points. Teams score 2 points for a match win, 1 point for a drawn match and 0 points for a match loss.
The trophy for the winning team in the open section is the Hamilton-Russell Cup, which was offered by the English magnate Frederick Hamilton-Russell as a prize for the 1st Olympiad (London 1927). The cup is kept by the winning team until the next event, when it is consigned to the next winner.
There is a separate women's competition. Since 1976 it has been held at the same time and venue as the open event, with the two competitions comprising the Chess Olympiad. The trophy for the winning women's team is known as the Vera Menchik Cup in honor of the first Women's World Chess Champion. Judit Polgár from Hungary is the only player who won Chess Olympiad medals in both competitions – two gold medals in the women's event (1988, 1990) and two silver medals in the open event (2002, 2014).

## Results (open event)

| Year | Event | Host | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1924 | 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad (individual) | Paris, France | Czechoslovakia 31 Karel Hromádka, Jan Schulz, Karel Vaněk, Karel Skalička | Hungary 30 Árpád Vajda, Károly Sterk, Endre Steiner, Kornél Havasi | Switzerland 29 Erwin Voellmy, Otto Zimmermann, Hans Johner, Oskar Naegeli |
| 1926 | 2nd unofficial Chess Olympiad The Team Tournament (part of FIDE summit) | Budapest, Hungary | Hungary 9 Endre Steiner, Árpád Vajda, Károly Sterk, György Négyesy, Elek Bakonyi, Sándor Zinner | Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes 8 Boris Kostić, Lajos Asztalos, Stevan Ćirić, Imre György | Romania 5 János Balogh, Miklós Bródy, Alexandru Tyroler, Iosif Mendelssohn, Zeno Proca |
| 1927 | 1st Chess Olympiad | London, United Kingdom | Hungary 40 Géza Maróczy, Géza Nagy, Árpád Vajda, Kornél Havasi, Endre Steiner | Denmark 38½ Orla Hermann Krause, Holger Norman-Hansen, Erik Andersen, Karl Ruben | England 36½ Henry Atkins, Fred Yates, George Thomas, Reginald Michell, Edmund Spencer |
| 1928 | 2nd Chess Olympiad | The Hague, Netherlands | Hungary 44 Géza Nagy, Endre Steiner, Árpád Vajda, Kornél Havasi | United States 39½ Isaac Kashdan, Herman Steiner, Samuel Factor, Erling Tholfsen, Milton Hanauer | Poland 37 Kazimierz Makarczyk, Paulin Frydman, Teodor Regedziński, Mieczysław Chwojnik, Abram Blass |
| 1930 | 3rd Chess Olympiad | Hamburg, Germany | Poland 48½ Akiba Rubinstein, Savielly Tartakower, Dawid Przepiórka, Kazimierz Makarczyk, Paulin Frydman | Hungary 47 Géza Maróczy, Sándor Takács, Árpád Vajda, Kornél Havasi, Endre Steiner | Germany 44½ Carl Ahues, Friedrich Sämisch, Carl Carls, Kurt Richter, Heinrich Wagner |
| 1931 | 4th Chess Olympiad | Prague, Czechoslovakia | United States 48 Isaac Kashdan, Frank Marshall, Arthur Dake, Israel Horowitz, Herman Steiner | Poland 47 Akiba Rubinstein, Savielly Tartakower, Dawid Przepiórka, Kazimierz Makarczyk, Paulin Frydman | Czechoslovakia 46½ Salo Flohr, Karl Gilg, Josef Rejfíř, Karel Opočenský, Karel Skalička |
| 1933 | 5th Chess Olympiad | Folkestone, United Kingdom | United States 39 Isaac Kashdan, Frank Marshall, Reuben Fine, Arthur Dake, Albert Simonson | Czechoslovakia 37½ Salo Flohr, Karel Treybal, Josef Rejfíř, Karel Opočenský, Karel Skalička | Sweden 34 Gideon Ståhlberg, Gösta Stoltz, Erik Lundin, Karl Berndtsson |
| 1935 | 6th Chess Olympiad | Warsaw, Poland | United States 54 Reuben Fine, Frank Marshall, Abraham Kupchik, Arthur Dake, Israel Horowitz | Sweden 52½ Gideon Ståhlberg, Gösta Stoltz, Erik Lundin, Gösta Danielsson, Ernst Larsson | Poland 52 Savielly Tartakower, Paulin Frydman, Mieczysław Najdorf, Henryk Friedman, Kazimierz Makarczyk |
| 1936 | 3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad non-FIDE unofficial Chess Olympiad | Munich, Germany | Hungary 110½ Géza Maróczy, Lajos Steiner, Endre Steiner, Kornél Havasi, László Szabó, Gedeon Barcza, Árpád Vajda, Ernő Gereben, János Balogh, Imre Korody | Poland 108 Paulin Frydman, Mieczysław Najdorf, Teodor Regedziński, Kazimierz Makarczyk, Henryk Friedman, Leon Kremer, Henryk Pogorieły, Antoni Wojciechowski, Franciszek Sulik, Jerzy Jagielski | Germany 106½ Kurt Richter, Carl Ahues, Ludwig Engels, Carl Carls, Ludwig Rellstab, Friedrich Sämisch, Ludwig Rödl, Herbert Heinicke, Wilhelm Ernst, Paul Michel |
| 1937 | 7th Chess Olympiad | Stockholm, Sweden | United States 54½ Samuel Reshevsky, Reuben Fine, Isaac Kashdan, Frank Marshall, Israel Horowitz | Hungary 48½ Andor Lilienthal, László Szabó, Endre Steiner, Kornél Havasi, Árpád Vajda | Poland 47 Savielly Tartakower, Mieczysław Najdorf, Paulin Frydman, Izaak Appel, Teodor Regedziński |
| 1939 | 8th Chess Olympiad | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Germany 36 Erich Eliskases, Paul Michel, Ludwig Engels, Albert Becker, Heinrich Reinhardt | Poland 35½ Savielly Tartakower, Mieczysław Najdorf, Paulin Frydman, Teodor Regedziński, Franciszek Sulik | Estonia 33½ Paul Keres, Ilmar Raud, Paul Schmidt, Gunnar Friedemann, Johannes Türn |
| 1950 | 9th Chess Olympiad | Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia | Yugoslavia 45½ Svetozar Gligorić, Vasja Pirc, Petar Trifunović, Braslav Rabar, Milan Vidmar Jr., Stojan Puc | Argentina 43½ Miguel Najdorf, Julio Bolbochán, Carlos Guimard, Héctor Rossetto, Hermann Pilnik | West Germany 40½ Wolfgang Unzicker, Lothar Schmid, Gerhard Pfeiffer, Ludwig Rellstab, Hans-Hilmar Staudte |
| 1952 | 10th Chess Olympiad | Helsinki, Finland | Soviet Union 21 Paul Keres, Vasily Smyslov, David Bronstein, Efim Geller, Isaac Boleslavsky, Alexander Kotov | Argentina 19½ Miguel Najdorf, Julio Bolbochán, Erich Eliskases, Hermann Pilnik, Héctor Rossetto | Yugoslavia 19 Svetozar Gligorić, Braslav Rabar, Petar Trifunović, Vasja Pirc, Andrija Fuderer, Borislav Milić |
| 1954 | 11th Chess Olympiad | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Soviet Union 34 Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, David Bronstein, Paul Keres, Efim Geller, Alexander Kotov | Argentina 27 Miguel Najdorf, Julio Bolbochán, Oscar Panno, Carlos Guimard, Héctor Rossetto, Hermann Pilnik | Yugoslavia 26½ Vasja Pirc, Svetozar Gligorić, Petar Trifunović, Braslav Rabar, Andrija Fuderer, Aleksandar Matanović |
| 1956 | 12th Chess Olympiad | Moscow, Soviet Union | Soviet Union 31 Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Paul Keres, David Bronstein, Mark Taimanov, Efim Geller | Yugoslavia 26½ Svetozar Gligorić, Aleksandar Matanović, Borislav Ivkov, Nikola Karaklajić, Borislav Milić, Božidar Đurašević | Hungary 26½ László Szabó, Gedeon Barcza, Pál Benkő, György Szilágyi, Miklós Bély, Lajos Portisch |
| 1958 | 13th Chess Olympiad | Munich, West Germany | Soviet Union 34½ Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Paul Keres, David Bronstein, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian | Yugoslavia 29 Svetozar Gligorić, Aleksandar Matanović, Borislav Ivkov, Petar Trifunović, Božidar Đurašević, Andrija Fuderer | Argentina 25½ Hermann Pilnik, Oscar Panno, Erich Eliskases, Rodolfo Redolfi, Raúl Sanguineti, Jaime Emma |
| 1960 | 14th Chess Olympiad | Leipzig, East Germany | Soviet Union 34 Mikhail Tal, Mikhail Botvinnik, Paul Keres, Viktor Korchnoi, Vasily Smyslov, Tigran Petrosian | United States 29 Bobby Fischer, William Lombardy, Robert Byrne, Arthur Bisguier, Nicolas Rossolimo, Raymond Weinstein | Yugoslavia 27 Svetozar Gligorić, Aleksandar Matanović, Borislav Ivkov, Mario Bertok, Mato Damjanović, Milan Vukčević |
| 1962 | 15th Chess Olympiad | Varna, Bulgaria | Soviet Union 31½ Mikhail Botvinnik, Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Paul Keres, Efim Geller, Mikhail Tal | Yugoslavia 28 Svetozar Gligorić, Petar Trifunović, Aleksandar Matanović, Borislav Ivkov, Bruno Parma, Dragoljub Minić | Argentina 26 Miguel Najdorf, Julio Bolbochán, Oscar Panno, Raúl Sanguineti, Héctor Rossetto, Alberto Foguelman |
| 1964 | 16th Chess Olympiad | Tel Aviv, Israel | Soviet Union 36½ Tigran Petrosian, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Paul Keres, Leonid Stein, Boris Spassky | Yugoslavia 32 Svetozar Gligorić, Borislav Ivkov, Aleksandar Matanović, Bruno Parma, Mijo Udovčić, Milan Matulović | West Germany 30½ Wolfgang Unzicker, Klaus Darga, Lothar Schmid, Helmut Pfleger, Dieter Mohrlok, Wolfram Bialas |
| 1966 | 17th Chess Olympiad | Havana, Cuba | Soviet Union 39½ Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Mikhail Tal, Leonid Stein, Viktor Korchnoi, Lev Polugaevsky | United States 34½ Bobby Fischer, Robert Byrne, Pal Benko, Larry Evans, William Addison, Nicolas Rossolimo | Hungary 33½ Lajos Portisch, László Szabó, István Bilek, Levente Lengyel, Győző Forintos, László Bárczay |
| 1968 | 18th Chess Olympiad | Lugano, Switzerland | Soviet Union 39½ Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Viktor Korchnoi, Efim Geller, Lev Polugaevsky, Vasily Smyslov | Yugoslavia 31 Svetozar Gligorić, Borislav Ivkov, Aleksandar Matanović, Milan Matulović, Bruno Parma, Dragoljub Čirić | Bulgaria 30 Milko Bobotsov, Georgi Tringov, Nikola Padevsky, Atanas Kolarov, Ivan Radulov, Peicho Peev |
| 1970 | 19th Chess Olympiad | Siegen, West Germany | Soviet Union 27½ Boris Spassky, Tigran Petrosian, Viktor Korchnoi, Lev Polugaevsky, Vasily Smyslov, Efim Geller | Hungary 26½ Lajos Portisch, Levente Lengyel, István Bilek, Győző Forintos, István Csom, Zoltán Ribli | Yugoslavia 26 Svetozar Gligorić, Borislav Ivkov, Milan Matulović, Aleksandar Matanović, Bruno Parma, Dragoljub Minić |
| 1972 | 20th Chess Olympiad | Skopje, Yugoslavia | Soviet Union 42 Tigran Petrosian, Viktor Korchnoi, Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Anatoly Karpov, Vladimir Savon | Hungary 40½ Lajos Portisch, István Bilek, Győző Forintos, Zoltán Ribli, István Csom, Gyula Sax | Yugoslavia 38 Svetozar Gligorić, Borislav Ivkov, Ljubomir Ljubojević, Aleksandar Matanović, Milan Matulović, Josip Rukavina |
| 1974 | 21st Chess Olympiad | Nice, France | Soviet Union 46 Anatoly Karpov, Viktor Korchnoi, Boris Spassky, Tigran Petrosian, Mikhail Tal, Gennady Kuzmin | Yugoslavia 37½ Svetozar Gligorić, Ljubomir Ljubojević, Borislav Ivkov, Albin Planinc, Dragoljub Velimirović, Bruno Parma | United States 36½ Lubomir Kavalek, Robert Byrne, Walter Browne, Samuel Reshevsky, William Lombardy, James Tarjan |
| 1976 | 22nd Chess Olympiad * | Haifa, Israel | United States 37 Robert Byrne, Lubomir Kavalek, Larry Evans, James Tarjan, William Lombardy, Kim Commons | Netherlands 36½ Jan Timman, Gennadi Sosonko, Jan Hein Donner, Hans Ree, Gert Ligterink, Franciscus Kuijpers | England 35½ Tony Miles, Raymond Keene, William Hartston, Michael Stean, Jonathan Mestel, John Nunn |
| 1976 | Against Chess Olympiad | Tripoli, Libya | El Salvador 38½ Antonio Grimaldi, René Grimaldi, Salvador Infante, Roberto Camacho, Boris Pineda, Manuel Velásquez | Tunisia 36 Slim Bouaziz, Ridha Belkadi, Ahmed Drira, Sbia | Pakistan 34½ Zahiruddin Farooqui, Rahat Ali, Nazir Ahmad, Shahzad Mirza, Gholam Mohiuddin, Shaikh Mazhar Hussain |
| 1978 | 23rd Chess Olympiad | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Hungary 37 Lajos Portisch, Zoltán Ribli, Gyula Sax, András Adorján, István Csom, László Vadász | Soviet Union 36 Boris Spassky, Tigran Petrosian, Lev Polugaevsky, Boris Gulko, Oleg Romanishin, Rafael Vaganian | United States 35 Lubomir Kavalek, Walter Browne, Anatoly Lein, Robert Byrne, James Tarjan, William Lombardy |
| 1980 | 24th Chess Olympiad | Valletta, Malta | Soviet Union 39 Anatoly Karpov, Lev Polugaevsky, Mikhail Tal, Efim Geller, Yuri Balashov, Garry Kasparov | Hungary 39 Lajos Portisch, Zoltán Ribli, Gyula Sax, István Csom, Iván Faragó, József Pintér | Yugoslavia 35 Ljubomir Ljubojević, Borislav Ivkov, Bruno Parma, Bojan Kurajica, Slavoljub Marjanović, Predrag Nikolić |
| 1982 | 25th Chess Olympiad | Lucerne, Switzerland | Soviet Union 42½ Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Lev Polugaevsky, Alexander Beliavsky, Mikhail Tal, Artur Yusupov | Czechoslovakia 36 Vlastimil Hort, Jan Smejkal, Ľubomír Ftáčnik, Vlastimil Jansa, Ján Plachetka, Jan Ambrož | United States 35½ Walter Browne, Yasser Seirawan, Lev Alburt, Lubomir Kavalek, James Tarjan, Larry Christiansen |
| 1984 | 26th Chess Olympiad | Thessaloniki, Greece | Soviet Union 41 Alexander Beliavsky, Lev Polugaevsky, Rafael Vaganian, Vladimir Tukmakov, Artur Yusupov, Andrei Sokolov | England 37 Tony Miles, John Nunn, Jon Speelman, Murray Chandler, Jonathan Mestel, Nigel Short | United States 35 Roman Dzindzichashvili, Lubomir Kavalek, Larry Christiansen, Walter Browne, Lev Alburt, Nick de Firmian |
| 1986 | 27th Chess Olympiad | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Soviet Union 40 Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, Andrei Sokolov, Artur Yusupov, Rafael Vaganian, Vitaly Tseshkovsky | England 39½ Tony Miles, John Nunn, Nigel Short, Murray Chandler, Jon Speelman, Glenn Flear | United States 38½ Yasser Seirawan, Larry Christiansen, Lubomir Kavalek, John Fedorowicz, Nick de Firmian, Maxim Dlugy |
| 1988 | 28th Chess Olympiad | Thessaloniki, Greece | Soviet Union 40½ Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, Artur Yusupov, Alexander Beliavsky, Jaan Ehlvest, Vassily Ivanchuk | England 34½ Nigel Short, Jon Speelman, John Nunn, Murray Chandler, Jonathan Mestel, William Watson | Netherlands 34½ John van der Wiel, Gennadi Sosonko, Paul van der Sterren, Jeroen Piket, Marinus Kuijf, Rudy Douven |
| 1990 | 29th Chess Olympiad | Novi Sad, Yugoslavia | Soviet Union 39 Vassily Ivanchuk, Boris Gelfand, Alexander Beliavsky, Artur Yusupov, Leonid Yudasin, Evgeny Bareev | United States 35½ Yasser Seirawan, Boris Gulko, Larry Christiansen, Joel Benjamin, John Fedorowicz, Nick de Firmian | England 35½ Nigel Short, Jon Speelman, John Nunn, Michael Adams, Murray Chandler, Julian Hodgson |
| 1992 | 30th Chess Olympiad | Manila, Philippines | Russia 39 Garry Kasparov, Alexander Khalifman, Sergey Dolmatov, Alexey Dreev, Vladimir Kramnik, Alexey Vyzmanavin | Uzbekistan 35 Valery Loginov, Grigory Serper, Alexander Nenashev, Sergey Zagrebelny, Mihail Saltaev, Saidali Iuldachev | Armenia 34½ Rafael Vaganian, Vladimir Akopian, Smbat Lputian, Artashes Minasian, Arshak Petrosian, Ashot Anastasian |
| 1994 | 31st Chess Olympiad | Moscow, Russia | Russia 37½ Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Evgeny Bareev, Alexey Dreev, Sergei Tiviakov, Peter Svidler | Bosnia and Herzegovina 35 Predrag Nikolić, Ivan Sokolov, Bojan Kurajica, Emir Dizdarević, Nebojša Nikolić, Rade Milovanović | Russia "B" 34½ Alexander Morozevich, Vadim Zvjaginsev, Mikhail Ulibin, Sergei Rublevsky, Konstantin Sakaev, Vasily Yemelin |
| 1996 | 32nd Chess Olympiad | Yerevan, Armenia | Russia 38½ Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Alexey Dreev, Peter Svidler, Evgeny Bareev, Sergei Rublevsky | Ukraine 35 Vasyl Ivanchuk, Vladimir Malaniuk, Oleg Romanishin, Igor Novikov, Alexander Onischuk, Stanislav Savchenko | United States 34 Boris Gulko, Alex Yermolinsky, Nick de Firmian, Gregory Kaidanov, Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen |
| 1998 | 33rd Chess Olympiad | Elista, Russia | Russia 35½ Peter Svidler, Sergei Rublevsky, Evgeny Bareev, Alexander Morozevich, Vadim Zvjaginsev, Konstantin Sakaev | United States 34½ Alex Yermolinsky, Alexander Shabalov, Yasser Seirawan, Boris Gulko, Nick de Firmian, Gregory Kaidanov | Ukraine 32½ Vasyl Ivanchuk, Alexander Onischuk, Oleg Romanishin, Vladimir Malaniuk, Stanislav Savchenko, Ruslan Ponomariov |
| 2000 | 34th Chess Olympiad | Istanbul, Turkey | Russia 38 Alexander Khalifman, Alexander Morozevich, Peter Svidler, Sergei Rublevsky, Konstantin Sakaev, Alexander Grischuk | Germany 37 Artur Yusupov, Robert Hübner, Rustem Dautov, Christopher Lutz, Klaus Bischoff, Thomas Luther | Ukraine 35½ Vasyl Ivanchuk, Ruslan Ponomariov, Vladimir Baklan, Vereslav Eingorn, Oleg Romanishin, Vadim Malakhatko |
| 2002 | 35th Chess Olympiad | Bled, Slovenia | Russia 38½ Garry Kasparov, Alexander Grischuk, Alexander Khalifman, Alexander Morozevich, Peter Svidler, Sergei Rublevsky | Hungary 37½ Péter Lékó, Judit Polgár, Zoltán Almási, Zoltán Gyimesi, Róbert Ruck, Péter Ács | Armenia 35 Vladimir Akopian, Smbat Lputian, Karen Asrian, Gabriel Sargissian, Artashes Minasian, Ashot Anastasian |
| 2004 | 36th Chess Olympiad | Calvià, Spain | Ukraine 39½ Vasyl Ivanchuk, Ruslan Ponomariov, Andrei Volokitin, Alexander Moiseenko, Pavel Eljanov, Sergey Karjakin | Russia 36½ Alexander Morozevich, Peter Svidler, Alexander Grischuk, Alexey Dreev, Alexander Khalifman, Vadim Zvjaginsev | Armenia 36½ Vladimir Akopian, Levon Aronian, Rafael Vaganian, Smbat Lputian, Gabriel Sargissian, Artashes Minasian |
| 2006 | 37th Chess Olympiad | Turin, Italy | Armenia 36 Levon Aronian, Vladimir Akopian, Karen Asrian, Smbat Lputian, Gabriel Sargissian, Artashes Minasian | China 34 Bu Xiangzhi, Zhang Zhong, Zhang Pengxiang, Wang Yue, Ni Hua, Zhao Jun | United States 33 Gata Kamsky, Alexander Onischuk, Hikaru Nakamura, Ildar Ibragimov, Gregory Kaidanov, Varuzhan Akobian |
| 2008 | 38th Chess Olympiad | Dresden, Germany | Armenia 19 Levon Aronian, Vladimir Akopian, Gabriel Sargissian, Tigran L. Petrosian, Artashes Minasian | Israel 18 Boris Gelfand, Michael Roiz, Boris Avrukh, Evgeny Postny, Maxim Rodshtein | United States 17 Gata Kamsky, Hikaru Nakamura, Alexander Onischuk, Yury Shulman, Varuzhan Akobian |
| 2010 | 39th Chess Olympiad | Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia | Ukraine 19 Vasyl Ivanchuk, Ruslan Ponomariov, Pavel Eljanov, Zahar Efimenko, Alexander Moiseenko | Russia 18 Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Grischuk, Peter Svidler, Sergey Karjakin, Vladimir Malakhov | Israel 17 Boris Gelfand, Emil Sutovsky, Ilya Smirin, Maxim Rodshtein, Victor Mikhalevski |
| 2012 | 40th Chess Olympiad | Istanbul, Turkey | Armenia 19 Levon Aronian, Sergei Movsesian, Vladimir Akopian, Gabriel Sargissian, Tigran L. Petrosian | Russia 19 Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Grischuk, Sergey Karjakin, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Dmitry Jakovenko | Ukraine 18 Vasyl Ivanchuk, Ruslan Ponomariov, Andrei Volokitin, Pavel Eljanov, Alexander Moiseenko |
| 2014 | 41st Chess Olympiad | Tromsø, Norway | China 19 Wang Yue, Ding Liren, Yu Yangyi, Ni Hua, Wei Yi | Hungary 17 Péter Lékó, Csaba Balogh, Zoltán Almási, Richárd Rapport, Judit Polgár | India 17 Parimarjan Negi, Panayappan Sethuraman, Krishnan Sasikiran, Adhiban Baskaran, Musunuri Rohit Lalit Babu |
| 2016 | 42nd Chess Olympiad | Baku, Azerbaijan | United States 20 Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So, Sam Shankland, Ray Robson | Ukraine 20 Pavel Eljanov, Ruslan Ponomariov, Yuriy Kryvoruchko, Anton Korobov, Andrei Volokitin | Russia 18 Sergey Karjakin, Vladimir Kramnik, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alexander Grischuk |
| 2018 | 43rd Chess Olympiad | Batumi, Georgia | China 18 Ding Liren, Yu Yangyi, Wei Yi, Bu Xiangzhi, Li Chao | United States 18 Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Hikaru Nakamura, Sam Shankland, Ray Robson | Russia 18 Sergey Karjakin, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Dmitry Jakovenko, Vladimir Kramnik, Nikita Vitiugov |
| 2020 | Online Chess Olympiad $^†$ | (Virtual) | India $^‡$ Vidit Gujrathi, Pentala Harikrishna, Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Divya Deshmukh, Viswanathan Anand, Nihal Sarin, Vantika Agrawal, Aravindh Chithambaram, Bhakti Kulkarni, Rameshbabu Vaishali Russia Ian Nepomniachtchi, Vladislav Artemiev, Kateryna Lagno, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Alexey Sarana, Polina Shuvalova, Daniil Dubov, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Andrey Esipenko, Alexander Grischuk, Valentina Gunina, Margarita Potapova | - | Poland Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Radosław Wojtaszek, Monika Soćko, Karina Cyfka, Igor Janik, Alicja Śliwicka, Grzegorz Gajewski, Szymon Gumularz, Mateusz Bartel, Iweta Rajlich, Jolanta Zawadzka United States Wesley So, Sam Shankland, Anna Zatonskih, Tatev Abrahamyan, Jeffery Xiong, Annie Wang, Carissa Yip, Ray Robson |
| 2021 | Online Chess Olympiad $^†$ | China (Virtual) | Russia Daniil Dubov, Vladislav Artemiev, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Andrey Esipenko, Polina Shuvalova, Kateryna Lagno, Leya Garifullina, Valentina Gunina, Alexander Grischuk, Vladimir Fedoseev, Volodar Murzin | United States Jeffery Xiong, Ray Robson, Irina Krush, Nazí Paikidze, Awonder Liang, Thalia Cervantes Landeiro, Dariusz Świercz, Anna Zatonskih | China Ding Liren, Yu Yangyi, Hou Yifan, Ju Wenjun, Wang Shixu B, Ning Kaiyu, Xu Zhihang, Wei Yi, Lei Tingjie, Bu Xiangzhi, Zhu Jiner, Huang Qian India Viswanathan Anand, Pentala Harikrishna, Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, Nihal Sarin, Rameshbabu Vaishali, Vidit Gujrathi, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Adhiban Baskaran, Tania Sachdev, Bhakti Kulkarni, Savitha Shri B |
| 2022 | 44th Chess Olympiad $^§$ | Chennai, India | Uzbekistan 19 Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Nodirbek Yakubboev, Javokhir Sindarov, Jahongir Vakhidov, Shamsiddin Vokhidov | Armenia 19 Gabriel Sargissian, Hrant Melkumyan, Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, Manuel Petrosyan, Robert Hovhannisyan | India 2 18 Gukesh Dommaraju, Nihal Sarin, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Adhiban Baskaran, Raunak Sadhwani |
| 2024 | 45th Chess Olympiad | Budapest, Hungary | India 21 Gukesh Dommaraju, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi, Pentala Harikrishna | United States 17 Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Leinier Domínguez, Levon Aronian, Ray Robson | Uzbekistan 17 Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Nodirbek Yakubboev, Javokhir Sindarov, Shamsiddin Vokhidov, Jahongir Vakhidov |
| 2026 | 46th Chess Olympiad | Tashkent, Uzbekistan | | | |
| 2028 | 47th Chess Olympiad | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | | | |
* In 1976, the Soviet Union, other Communist countries and Arabic countries did not compete for political reasons.
$^†$ FIDE organized the online olympiads in 2020 and 2021 following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
$^‡$ Russia and India were subsequently declared joint winners after several Indian team members experienced connectivity issues due to a global outage of Cloudflare servers in 2020 Online Chess Olympiad.
$^§$ The 2022 event was originally planned to be held in Minsk, Belarus, but it was rescheduled to Moscow, which originally was host of the 2020 Olympiad, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIDE made a statement in February 2022 that the tournament will not take place in Russia and will be shifted to Chennai, India.

## Gaprindashvili Cup

This trophy was created by FIDE in 1997 and named after Nona Gaprindashvili, the former women's World Champion (1962–1978). The trophy is awarded to the team that has the best overall performance across the open and women's divisions.
Russia won this trophy six times, China – three times, India and Ukraine – two times each.
| Year | First | Second | Third |
| 1998 | Russia | China | Georgia |
| 2000 | Russia | Ukraine | Georgia |
| 2002 | Russia | China | Hungary |
| 2004 | Russia | United States | Armenia |
| 2006 | China | Ukraine | Armenia |
| 2008 | Ukraine | Armenia | United States |
| 2010 | Russia | China | Ukraine |
| 2012 | Russia | China | Ukraine |
| 2014 | China | Russia | Ukraine |
| 2016 | Ukraine | United States | China |
| 2018 | China | Russia | Ukraine |
| 2022 | India | United States | India 2 |
| 2024 | India | United States | Armenia |

## Medal tables
### Open event

The table contains the Open teams ranked by the medals won at the Chess Olympiad (not including the online or unofficial events), ranked by the number of first-place medals, ties broken by second-place medals, etc.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Soviet Union | 18 | 1 | 0 | 19 |
| 2 | United States | 6 | 7 | 8 | 21 |
| 3 | Russia | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| 4 | Hungary | 3 | 7 | 2 | 12 |
| 5 | Armenia | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 6 | Ukraine | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 7 | China | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Yugoslavia | 1 | 6 | 6 | 13 |
| 9 | Poland | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 10 | Germany | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 | Uzbekistan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 12 | India | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 13 | England | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 14 | Argentina | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 15 | Czechoslovakia | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 16 | Israel | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Netherlands | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Sweden | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 19 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | Denmark | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | West Germany | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 22 | Bulgaria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 22 | Estonia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (23 entries) | Totals (23 entries) | 45 | 45 | 45 | 135 |

### Open and Women's events

The table contains teams ranked by total number of medals won at the Chess Olympiad (not including the online or unofficial events) in the Open event (since 1927) and Women's event (since 1957), ranked by the number of first-place medals, ties broken by second-place medals, etc.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Soviet Union | 29 | 3 | 0 | 32 |
| 2 | Russia | 9 | 6 | 6 | 21 |
| 3 | China | 8 | 5 | 4 | 17 |
| 4 | United States | 6 | 8 | 10 | 24 |
| 5 | Hungary | 5 | 12 | 4 | 21 |
| 6 | Ukraine | 4 | 5 | 6 | 15 |
| 7 | Georgia | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 8 | Armenia | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 9 | India | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 10 | Yugoslavia | 1 | 7 | 7 | 15 |
| 11 | Poland | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
| 12 | Germany | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 12 | Israel | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 12 | Uzbekistan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Romania | 0 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 16 | England | 0 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 17 | Argentina | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 18 | Czechoslovakia | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 19 | Bulgaria | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 20 | Netherlands | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 20 | Sweden | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 22 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 | Denmark | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 | Kazakhstan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 | East Germany | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 25 | West Germany | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 27 | Estonia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 27 | Spain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (28 entries) | Totals (28 entries) | 75 | 75 | 75 | 225 |

## Most successful players in the open section

Boldface denotes active chess players and highest medal count among all players (including these who not included in these tables) per type.

### Multiple team champions

| Rank | Player | Country | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Tigran Petrosian | Soviet Union | 1958 | 1978 | 9 | 1 | – | 10 |
| 2 | Vasily Smyslov | Soviet Union | 1952 | 1972 | 9 | – | – | 9 |
| 3 | Garry Kasparov | Soviet Union Russia | 1980 | 2002 | 8 | – | – | 8 |
| 3 | Mikhail Tal | Soviet Union | 1958 | 1982 | 8 | – | – | 8 |
| 5 | Paul Keres | Estonia Soviet Union | 1939 | 1964 | 7 | – | 1 | 8 |
| 6 | Efim Geller | Soviet Union | 1952 | 1980 | 7 | – | – | 7 |
| 7 | Lev Polugaevsky | Soviet Union | 1966 | 1984 | 6 | 1 | – | 7 |
| 7 | Boris Spassky | Soviet Union | 1962 | 1978 | 6 | 1 | – | 7 |
| 9 | Mikhail Botvinnik | Soviet Union | 1954 | 1964 | 6 | – | – | 6 |
| 9 | Anatoly Karpov | Soviet Union | 1972 | 1988 | 6 | – | – | 6 |
| 9 | Viktor Korchnoi | Soviet Union | 1960 | 1974 | 6 | – | – | 6 |

### Multiple team medalists

The table shows players who have won at least 7 team medals in total at the Chess Olympiads.
| Rank | Player | Country | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Svetozar Gligorić | Yugoslavia | 1950 | 1974 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 12 |
| 2 | Tigran Petrosian | Soviet Union | 1958 | 1978 | 9 | 1 | – | 10 |
| 3 | Borislav Ivkov | Yugoslavia | 1956 | 1980 | – | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 4 | Vasily Smyslov | Soviet Union | 1952 | 1972 | 9 | – | – | 9 |
| 5 | Aleksandar Matanović | Yugoslavia | 1954 | 1972 | – | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 6 | Garry Kasparov | Soviet Union Russia | 1980 | 2002 | 8 | – | – | 8 |
| 6 | Mikhail Tal | Soviet Union | 1958 | 1982 | 8 | – | – | 8 |
| 8 | Paul Keres | Estonia Soviet Union | 1939 | 1964 | 7 | – | 1 | 8 |
| 9 | Vassily (Vasyl) Ivanchuk | Soviet Union Ukraine | 1988 | 2012 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| 10 | Efim Geller | Soviet Union | 1952 | 1980 | 7 | – | – | 7 |
| 11 | Lev Polugaevsky | Soviet Union | 1966 | 1984 | 6 | 1 | – | 7 |
| 11 | Boris Spassky | Soviet Union | 1962 | 1978 | 6 | 1 | – | 7 |
| 13 | Peter Svidler | Russia | 1994 | 2010 | 5 | 2 | – | 7 |
| 14 | Vladimir Kramnik | Russia | 1992 | 2018 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 15 | Mieczysław (Miguel) Najdorf | Poland Argentina | 1935 | 1962 | – | 4 | 3 | 7 |

## Best individual results in the open section

The best individual results in order of overall percentage are:
| Rank | Player | Country | Ol. | Gms. | + | = | – | % | Individual medals | Number of ind. medals | Team medals | Number of team medals |
| 1 | Mikhail Tal | Soviet Union | 8 | 101 | 65 | 34 | 2 | 81.2 | 5 – 2 – 0 | 7 | 8 – 0 – 0 | 8 |
| 2 | Anatoly Karpov | Soviet Union | 6 | 68 | 43 | 23 | 2 | 80.1 | 3 – 0 – 0 | 3 | 6 – 0 – 0 | 6 |
| 3 | Tigran Petrosian | Soviet Union | 10 | 129 | 78 | 50 | 1 | 79.8 | 6 – 0 – 0 | 6 | 9 – 1 – 0 | 10 |
| 4 | Isaac Kashdan | United States | 5 | 79 | 52 | 22 | 5 | 79.7 | 2 – 1 – 2 | 5 | 3 – 1 – 0 | 4 |
| 5 | Vasily Smyslov | Soviet Union | 9 | 113 | 69 | 42 | 2 | 79.6 | 4 – 2 – 2 | 8 | 9 – 0 – 0 | 9 |
| 6 | David Bronstein | Soviet Union | 4 | 49 | 30 | 18 | 1 | 79.6 | 3 – 1 – 0 | 4 | 4 – 0 – 0 | 4 |
| 7 | Garry Kasparov | Soviet Union (4) Russia (4) | 8 | 82 | 50 | 29 | 3 | 78.7 | 3 – 1 – 2 | 6 | 8 – 0 – 0 | 8 |
| 8 | Alexander Alekhine | France | 5 | 72 | 43 | 27 | 2 | 78.5 | 2 – 2 – 0 | 4 | 0 – 0 – 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Milan Matulović | Yugoslavia | 6 | 78 | 46 | 28 | 4 | 76.9 | 1 – 2 – 0 | 3 | 0 – 2 – 2 | 4 |
| 10 | Paul Keres | Estonia (3) Soviet Union (7) | 10 | 141 | 85 | 44 | 12 | 75.9 | 5 – 1 – 1 | 7 | 7 – 0 – 1 | 8 |
| 11 | Efim Geller | Soviet Union | 7 | 76 | 46 | 23 | 7 | 75.7 | 3 – 3 – 0 | 6 | 7 – 0 – 0 | 7 |
| 12= | Israel Horowitz | United States | 4 | 51 | 29 | 19 | 3 | 75.5 | 2 – 0 – 0 | 2 | 3 – 0 – 0 | 3 |
| 12= | James Tarjan | United States | 5 | 51 | 32 | 13 | 6 | 75.5 | 2 – 0 – 1 | 3 | 1 – 0 – 3 | 4 |
| 14 | Bobby Fischer | United States | 4 | 65 | 40 | 18 | 7 | 75.4 | 0 – 2 – 1 | 3 | 0 – 2 – 0 | 2 |
| 15 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | Russia | 4 | 38 | 20 | 17 | 1 | 75.0 | 0 – 2 – 2 | 4 | 0 – 0 – 2 | 2 |
| 16 | Mikhail Botvinnik | Soviet Union | 6 | 73 | 39 | 31 | 3 | 74.7 | 2 – 1 – 2 | 5 | 6 – 0 – 0 | 6 |
| 17 | Amon Simutowe | Zambia | 4 | 37 | 23 | 9 | 5 | 74.3 | 0 – 1 – 0 | 1 | 0 – 0 – 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Sam Shankland | United States | 4 | 35 | 20 | 12 | 3 | 74.3 | 1 – 0 – 0 | 1 | 1 – 1 – 0 | 2 |
| 19 | Yu Yangyi | China | 4 | 42 | 22 | 18 | 2 | 73.8 | 1 – 1 – 0 | 2 | 2 – 0 – 0 | 2 |
| 20 | Salo Flohr | Czechoslovakia | 5 | 82 | 46 | 28 | 8 | 73.2 | 2 – 1 – 1 | 4 | 0 – 1 – 1 | 2 |

### Notes

* Only players participating in at least four Olympiads are included in this table.
* Medals indicated in the order gold - silver - bronze. The statistics of individual medals includes only medals which are awarding to the top three individual players on each board. The medals for overall performance rating (awarded in 1984–2006) are not included into this statistics, but are listed separately below the table.
* Anatoly Karpov won another individual silver medal for overall performance rating. In total he won 3 gold and 1 silver individual medals.
* Garry Kasparov played his first four Olympiads for the Soviet Union, the rest for Russia. He won another four individual gold medals and one individual silver medal for overall performance rating. In total he won 7 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze individual medals.
* Paul Keres played his first three Olympiads for Estonia, the rest for the Soviet Union.