[Update] Everything You Need to Know About the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, Norway

Friday August 1st Today kicks off the Chess Olympiad 2014. What exactly is the Chess Olympiad? Teams from 174 countries compete for world chess dominance. It happens every two years, and it’s the fourth-largest sporting event in the world. It’s a big deal for chess nerds. Here’s everything you need to know to get on board.

You Can Watch Online

There will be 11 days of competition, and we’ll be embedding as much coverage of the event as we’re able to right here on the site for you convenient enjoyment starting Friday with the opening ceremony. Round 1 of games starts Saturday, August 2nd.

Update: We will have a second post up soon about exactly how to watch the Olympiad. So far we know that Chessdom will have live boards of all the games in both the Open and Women’s competitions. Susan Polgar has been posting videos on the official YouTube page of the Olympiad, which is where we assume any live streams will be posted.

We’ll also have a curated Twitter list of important chess figures like Polgar, Magnus Carlsen, the official Olympiad account and more.

Tromsø Is Located in the Central European Time Zone

That means they’re six hours ahead of where we are in New York. The opening ceremony starts at 7:30PM CEST, so 1:30PM EDT. You can easily compare the time zone to where you are with WorldTimeBuddy.com or similar services to keep up to date on when things are happening on your local time.

Games start at 3:00PM CEST on Saturday, August 2nd. For the full schedule of events, you can head to the Olympiad page on Chess24.com.

How It Works

The 174 participating countries send teams of four players, plus one alternate to, the Open section. 137 of those countries are also sending teams to the Women’s section. There are 1,800 players in the event. (Countries can send multiple teams.)

Play is governed by the FIDE laws of chess, and the tournament will follow the Swiss system. Teams are being scored collectively with points awarded to each player in their respective games. One point is given for a win. Half a point is given to both players in a draw. Losers don’t get any points.

More here: http://www.themarysue.com/2014-chess-olympiad-primer/