The Belarusian Chess Federation and FIDE Chess Academy in Belarus supported by FIDE joined efforts to organize the International Online Friendship Chess Team Tournament. The 7-round Swiss Team event with the time control of 10 minutes + 5 seconds was held on Tornelo online platform from 21st to 22nd of November 2020.
28 teams representing 26 federations took part in the tournament. Each squad consisted of 6 players (two players aged under 12, two players aged under 10, and two players aged under 8) plus a captain/representative.
Ukraine, Latvia-Riga Chess School, and China entered the competition as the rating-favorites and two of them delivered on promises taking two top spots. The Ukrainian youngsters made just one draw winning six matches. By a twist of tournament fortune, the champion did not clash with the runner-up, team China that also won six matches but suffered one defeat. Team Greece took bronze.
The finals standings are based on the match outcomes and an anti-cheating report by Tornelo.
The winners were awarded free online lectures by Boris Gelfand, Ruslan Ponomariov and Antoaneta Stefanova.
Final standings:
1. Ukraine – 13 out of 14
2. China – 12
3. Greece – 10
4. Armenia – 10
5. Belgium – 10
6. Belarus-Gomel – 9
7. Belarus-Minsk – 9
8. Lithuania – 9
9. Belarus-FIDE Chess Academy – 8
10. Slovakia – 8
