About Chess Olympiad

• The Chess Olympiad is a biennial global team competition organized by FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs), the global governing body for chess. 
• It brings together teams from countries around the world to compete for the title of the best chess nation. 
• The first official Chess Olympiad was held in 1927 in London.
• A separate women’s tournament was introduced in 1957, and since 1976, both open (where players of any gender can participate) and women’s events have run concurrently.
• The winning team in the open section receives the ‘Hamilton-Russell Cup’. The winning team in the women’s section receives the ‘Vera Menchik Cup’. The winning team in the combined classification receives the ‘Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy’, which is named after the legendary Georgian chess player.
• It was in 2014 that India won its first Olympiad medal (bronze in the open section). The Chennai Olympiad in 2022 also marked history as India hosted the event for the first time and won bronze medals in both sections of the open and women.

Why in News?

• Indian chess contingent scripted history by winning their maiden Gold in both open and women’s category at 45th Chess Olympiad. 
• India also won the Nona Gaprindashvili trophy, for the team that has the best overall performance across the open and women’s divisions.
• The recent edition of the Chess Olympiad took place in Budapest, Hungary, featuring participation from 196 teams in the open section and 184 in the women’s section.