LaviChess

Is there a chess Olympics?

Not at the Olympic Games, but chess has an Olympiad of its own. The Chess Olympiad is a team event between countries, played every two years, with an open section and a women's section. Most recently it was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in September 2026.

Gideon Ståhlberg

Gideon Ståhlberg

Sweden's first grandmaster, twice in the Candidates.

Gösta Stoltz

Gösta Stoltz

Olympiad gold in 1931, Swedish champion three years running.

The Chess Olympiad

The first official Chess Olympiad was played in London in 1927, and Hungary won. Already in 1924, when Paris hosted the Olympic Games, a big chess event was held in the city alongside them. It counts as the first unofficial Chess Olympiad, and FIDE, the world chess federation, was founded during it.

The women's Olympiad began in 1957, in Emmen in the Netherlands. Since 1976 it has been played at the same place and time as the open section. Since 1950 the Olympiad has been held every two years, with one exception: there was none in 2020, during the pandemic.

The latest

The winners of the last two.

YearWhereOpenWomen
2026Samarkand, UzbekistanUzbekistanChina
2024Budapest, HungaryIndiaIndia

In Samarkand, India took silver and Germany bronze in the open section. Among the women, Kazakhstan took silver and India bronze.

The Soviet Union won the most golds: 18 in the open section and 11 in the women's.

Sweden at the Olympiad

In 1937 the Olympiad was played in Stockholm, from July 31 to August 14, with 19 teams. The United States won. Sweden's own best result came two years earlier: silver in Warsaw in 1935, with Gideon Ståhlberg, Gösta Stoltz, and Erik Lundin on the team.

And the Olympic Games?

The International Olympic Committee has recognized FIDE as an international sports federation since 1999, but chess has never been on the program of the Olympic Games. At the 2000 Games in Sydney, two exhibition matches were played in the Olympic Village. More under Is chess a sport?

Sources

  • FIDE Open Chess Museum: FIDE History (the timeline)
  • FIDE, July 24, 2020: FIDE birthplace and parents
  • OlimpBase: Paris 1924, Budapest 1926, Stockholm 1937, Samarkand 2026 (both sections); Sweden's teams
  • FIDE, September 22, 2024: India triumphs at 45th Chess Olympiad; FIDE, September 27, 2026: Uzbekistan's dream finish
  • FIDE Charter (definitions); Wikipedia: Chess Olympiad; Women's Chess Olympiad; 7th Chess Olympiad; Chess at the Olympic Games
  • BBC, September 27, 2000: on the exhibition matches in Sydney
  • The player pages on this site and their sources (Ståhlberg, Stoltz, Lundin)

The facts on this page come from the sources above and, where possible, were checked across several sources. Where the sources disagree, we say less or say what each one says. A number that is an estimate says whose it is, and a counted number comes with its date.

The photos:

Updated November 14, 2026