Chess Olympiad 2026: What is the Swiss Format in chess? Rules, points system and pairings explained

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE: The 46th edition of the Chess Olympiad will begin on September 15 in Samarkand. | Photo Credit: PETER KOVALEV

The 46th edition of the FIDE Chess Olympiad will commence on September 15 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan and will run till September 27.

India is the defending champion in both the Open and Women’s sections of the event after their double win in Budapest in 2024.

A total of 208 teams in the Open section and 191 teams in the Women’s section will play 11 rounds in a Swiss format.

What is Swiss Format?

Swiss format is a prominent way of conducting a chess tournament, in which players/teams aren’t eliminated over the course of the competition.

It is used in events where round robin will not be feasible due to the large number of participants.

In the opening round, teams/players with a higher rating are manually paired with lower-rated ones.

After this, pairings are based on performance in the initial round: Win more and you are paired with stronger opponents; lose and you will be paired with teams/players closer to your score, with an effort to avoid colour repetition.

Eventually, the participant with the most points wins the tournament.

Swiss scoring system

Loss: +0 points

Draw: +0.5 point

Win: +1 point

A Swiss Format is used in competitions with large number of entrants which makes a full round-robin tournament practically impossible.