What medals are awarded at the Chess Olympiad?
A · Advanced · Captains, results and disputes · 2 of 3The Olympiad gives team medals and individual ones. The top three teams in each section receive gold, silver and bronze. Separately, the players on each board number compete among themselves for a board medal, decided by performance rating. A player needs at least eight games to qualify.
How it works
- Team medals: every member of the top three teams, including reserves and the captain.
- Open section trophy: the Hamilton-Russell Cup.
- Women's section trophy: the Vera Menchik Cup.
- Combined classification: the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy, for the federation with the lowest sum of its open and women's places.
- Board medals: players "assigned to the same board number in their respective team lists" compete against each other.
- How they are decided: by tournament performance rating.
- Eight games: the minimum to be eligible.
- Ties for a board medal: the player with more games played, then drawing of lots.
- Category medals: teams are divided into five rating categories before round three, and the best three in each lower category also receive medals.
The glossary has the Elo rating, the board, the scoring, the grandmaster title, the Swiss system and the FIDE body.
Tricky cases
A player scores 6 out of 7 on board three. Can they win the board medal?
No. Seven games is one short of the eight needed.
A reserve who played three games is in the winning team. Do they get a gold medal?
Yes. Every member of the winning team, "players, reserves and captain", receives one.
Is a board medal decided by points scored?
No. It is decided by performance rating, which takes the strength of the opponents into account.
Can one federation win the open event and miss the combined trophy?
Yes. The combined classification adds the open and women's places, so a weak women's result can cost the trophy.
Why the rule exists
Board medals give every player something to play for, whatever their team's place. A strong player from a small federation can win gold on a board. The category medals do the same for whole teams that could never reach the overall podium.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Team medals | Top three in each section | Olympiad 2026 Regulations 4.6.2.1 |
| Category medals | Top three in each of the lower rating categories | Olympiad 2026 Regulations 4.6.2.2; 4.6.2.3 |
| Board medals | By performance rating, at least eight games | Olympiad 2026 Regulations 4.6.3 |
| Other team events | Prizes are set by each event | C |
From the rule book
FIDE, Chess Olympiad 2026: Regulations for the Main Competition, Article 4.6 and Appendix 2.III. FIDE, Play-Off and Tie-Break Regulations (applied from 1 March 2026), Article 10.2. Checked 14 October 2026. Official documents: FIDE Handbook sections C.05, C.07, C.10 and D.02.