The Online Chess Olympiad 2021 recently successfully completed at Shenzhen MSU-BIT University (SMBU) in Shenzhen. After more than 5,000 online games over a one month period, Team Russia took home the Gold Medal after defeating Team USA, while Team China and Team India both won bronze medals.
This second edition of the Online Olympiad was hosted by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), organized by the Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality, Longgang District Government and SMBU, and supported and sponsored by the Shenzhen Chess Academy, the Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Longgang District and the Shenzhen Pengcheng Chess Club.
Starting from the opening ceremony held in Longgang District, Shenzhen on Aug. 13, a total of 1,717 players from 155 teams competed in over 5,000 games. After the four-week qualifying events, the top eight teams qualified from Stage 1 battling in knockout format.
During the play-off stage, Russia defeated the U.S. and won the championship, while China and India both ranked third. What’s worth mentioning is that, as the only city team, the host Shenzhen team, formed by Zeng Chongsheng, Yu Ruiyuan, Zhao Xue, Xu Tong, Xue Haowen and Li Xinyu, showed excellent performance during this Online Olympiad. It ranked fourth in Pool B, which was equal to entering world top 16.
"The Online Chess Olympiad 2021 was successfully held. Here, I would like to express my gratitude to Shenzhen. I hope I can come to Shenzhen again to meet you my friends and promote the development of international chess together with you," said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich on an online video link.
