The Asian Team Chess Championship (recently also called the Asian Nations Chess Cup) is an international team chess tournament open to national federations affiliated to FIDE in Asia and Oceania. It is organized by the Asian Chess Federation, and the winner qualifies to participate at the next World Team Chess Championship. [1] The open championship has been held at intervals of anywhere from one to four years since 1974. The Asian Women's Team Chess Championship has been held concurrently with the open championship since 1995. Recent editions have additionally featured side team events held at rapid and blitz time controls.
The current Asian champion is Iran, which won in 2018 on home soil at Hamadan. [2] Of the twenty editions of the open championship, China has won eight times, the Philippines has won six times, India has won three times, and Iran, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan have each won once. [3] The defending champion of the women's tournament is China, which has won eight of the ten women's championships played; Vietnam won the other two. [4]
Each member federation located in FIDE Zones 3.1 to 3.7 is entitled to enter a national team of four players and an optional reserve player into the open or women's tournament. [5] The hosting nation is allowed to field two teams, and may field a third team if it results in an even number of participating teams. [1] Currently, matches in both the open and women's tournament are contested on four boards ; the women's tournament had been contested on three boards from 1995 to 2008. Since 2008, the final standings in the tournament have been determined by the number of match points scored by each team; before 2008, scores were calculated based on board points. Various formats have been used for both the open and women's championships, with a round robin or Swiss-system tournament being the most common.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  China | 8 | 5 | 1 | 14 |
| 2 |  Philippines | 6 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| 3 |  India | 3 | 6 | 4 | 13 |
| 4 |  Kazakhstan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
 Uzbekistan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| 6 |  Iran | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 7 |  Indonesia | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 8 |  Vietnam | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 9 |  Australia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 |  Singapore | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (10 entries) | 20 | 20 | 20 | 60 | |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 8 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 2 | Vietnam | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| 3 | India | 0 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 4 | Uzbekistan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Iran | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | Kazakhstan | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Totals (6 entries) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 | |
Team chess events are currently part of the program of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, and have sometimes been part of the Southeast Asian Games, most recently in 2013. The 2006 and 2010 Asian Games also featured team chess events, as did the Pan Arab Games from 1999 to 2011.
An Asian Cities Chess Championship has been held roughly once every two years since 1979. [6]
An Asian Nations Online Chess Cup was held in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was won by Australia in the open section and India in the women's section. [7]
Zhang Pengxiang is a Chinese chess grandmaster and the 2007 Asian Chess Champion. In 2001, he became China's 12th Grandmaster. Zhang's peak rating was 2657 in April 2007 when he was ranked 47th in the world.
Wang Hao is a Chinese chess grandmaster. In November 2009, Wang became the fourth Chinese player to break through the 2700 Elo rating mark.
Shadi Paridar is an Iranian chess player holding the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM), who won Iranian Women Chess Championship four times. She won the Asian Under-16 Girls' Championship in 2002 in Tehran.
Wang Yu is a Chinese chess player who holds the FIDE titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM).
Ye Rongguang is a retired Chinese chess grandmaster. In 1990, he became the first ever Chinese chess player to gain the title of Grandmaster. He was for more than ten years the coach of women's world chess champion Zhu Chen.
Huang Qian is a Chinese chess player who holds the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She won the Chinese Women's Chess Championship in 2012 and the Asian Women's Chess Championship in 2013. Huang competed in the Women's World Chess Championship in 2001, 2004, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2017.
Liang Chong is a Chinese chess Grandmaster.
Abhijit Kunte is an Indian chess player from Pune who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster.
Marat Dzhumaev is an Uzbekistani chess Grandmaster (2001) and twice national champion.
Chess has been contested at the African Games since the 2003 Games in Abuja, except for the 2015 Games in Brazzaville. The chess events have included individual and team events for men and women.
Lê Thanh Tú is a Vietnamese chess player who holds the title of Woman Grandmaster. She won the Vietnamese Women's Chess Championship in 2008.
Anzel Solomons is a South African chess player. She received the FIDE title of Woman International Master (WIM) in 2003.
Madina Davletbayeva is a Kazakhstani chess player who holds the title of Woman Grandmaster. She is a winner of the Kazakhstani Women's Chess Championship and has represented Kazakhstan at three Chess Olympiads.
Shayesteh Ghaderpour, also known as Shayesteh Ghader Pour, is an Iranian chess player who holds the title of Woman International Master. She is a silver medalist the Iranian Women's Chess Championship and has represented Iran at six Chess Olympiads.
Ghazal Hakimifard is an Iranian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Woman Grandmaster. She is an Iranian Women's Chess Championship winner (2010).
John Paul Gomez is a Filipino chess player. He was awarded the title of International Master (IM) in 2007 and International Grandmaster (GM) in 2009. He is a three-time Filipino national junior champion and has also won the Filipino Chess Championship.
The chess events at the 2003 All-Africa Games were held from 5 to 17 October at the Nicon Hilton Hotel in Abuja. This was the first time chess was contested at the All-Africa Games. The four events were men's and women's team competitions at rapid time controls, and men's and women's individual competitions at blitz time controls. Teams played matches on four boards: each team consisted of a minimum of four players and up to two optional reserve players. In the team competitions, medals were awarded to the teams scoring the highest number of board points, as well as to individual players with the best performances on each board in terms of win percentage.
The chess events at the 2007 All-Africa Games were held from 12 to 21 July at the Cité des Sciences in Algiers. The four events were men's and women's team competitions at rapid time controls, and men's and women's individual competitions at blitz time controls. Teams played matches on four boards: each team consisted of a minimum of four players and up to two optional reserve players. In the team competitions, medals were awarded to the teams scoring the highest number of board points, as well as to individual players with the best performances on each board in terms of win percentage.
The Pan American Team Chess Championship is an international team chess tournament open to national federations affiliated to FIDE in the Americas. It is organized by the Confederation of Chess for America (CCA), and the winner qualifies to participate at the next World Team Chess Championship.
The Asian Junior Chess Championship is an annual chess tournament open to players in Asia and Oceania who are under 20 years of age. The tournament has been held annually since 1977 with occasional interruptions. Since 1985, a separate Asian championship for girls has also been organized. Since at least 1996, the two championships have always been held concurrently.
