Second Online Chess Olympiad from Aug 13, says FIDE

Each national federation intending to take part in the Online Olympiad shall confirm its participation by July 31, it said.

The first FIDE Online Olympiad held last year was jointly won by India and Russia.

According to FIDE, the event will follow a format similar to one used last year, with member Federations being represented by their best players and top juniors.

The national teams will compete in rapid chess matches played on six boards.

Chess.com will be again the hosting platform for this event, which, on its inaugural edition, became one of the highlights of 2020.

"With more than 1,500 participants representing 163 national teams, it was a truly global competition, very much in the spirit of the traditional chess Olympiads. It helped our big chess family to unite around a wonderful event at a time of crisis, when it was most needed," FIDE said.

The second edition of the Online Olympiad will receive the support and sponsorship of the Shenzhen authorities, which include the Shenzhen Longgang District Culture and Sports Bureau, the Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, the Shenzhen Chess Academy, and the Shenzhen Pengcheng Chess Club.

Russian wholesale online store Simaland, the sponsor of the Candidates tournament 2020-21, will also be a partner for the Online Olympiad 2021.

Once again, the event will consist of two stages: the "Divisions stage", and the Play-offs stage with the top eight teams qualified from Stage 1 battling in knockout format.

The qualifying events will kick off on August 13. The Top Division, featuring the strongest 25 seeded and 15 qualified teams, will begin on September 8.

The decisive play-off stage is scheduled for September 13-15.

Like last year, each team will consist of six players, including at least two women, at least one player U-20 (born in 2001 or later), and at least one girl U-20 (born in 2001 or later).

The time control will be 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move, starting from move 1.