World Team Chess Championship

The World Team Chess Championship is a competition of FIDE, the International Chess Federation, between national teams rather than players seeking only an individual ranking. A meeting between two countries is divided across several boards, with one member of each team facing the corresponding member of the other team.

How the team result is formed

• Games on the different boards are normally played at the same time.
• Individual results are combined to decide whether the team won or drew the encounter.
• The regulations define match points, which reward the result of the complete team encounter, points scored in the individual games, and tie-break procedures.

Lineups are regulated as well. A team names its main players and may have reserves, but it must follow the required board order and substitution rules. A lineup decision can therefore affect the entire match even though each board is still an individual chess game.

This is not the individual World Championship and not an ordinary club league. It is also distinct from the Chess Olympiad. Both feature national teams, but they are separate competitions with their own qualification methods, formats, and records.