The 36th Chess Olympiad gathered 1,204 players across 129 open and 87 women's teams, making it one of the largest chess team competitions held to that date.
Key Facts
- Open teams
- 129 teams
- Women's teams
- 87 teams
- Total registered players
- 1204 players
- Rounds of competition
- 14 rounds
- Dates
- October 14–31, 2004
- Chief arbiter
- Ignatius Leong (Singapore)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
FIDE organizes the Chess Olympiad biennially to bring together national teams from around the world in team competition. Spain's island of Mallorca, specifically the municipality of Calvià, was selected as the host for the 2004 edition, continuing the tradition of rotating the event among member nations.
The 36th Chess Olympiad was held in Calvià, Mallorca, Spain, from October 14 to October 31, 2004. Organized by FIDE and refereed by international arbiter Ignatius Leong, the event featured 129 teams in the open section and 87 in the women's section, competing over 14 rounds using the Swiss system, with open teams playing four boards and women's teams three boards per round.
The tournament concluded with results determined by the Buchholz, Sonneborn–Berger, and Median-Buchholz tie-break systems. Its large scale, with over 1,200 registered players, reflected the global reach of competitive chess and reinforced the Olympiad's status as the premier international team chess event under FIDE's governance.