The European Team Chess Championship is the biennial team tournament for European federations, run by the European Chess Union and held in alternating years with the Olympiad. The 2026 edition is scheduled for November 1 to 12 in Poland; the exact venue is being finalised by the host federation.
Format: 9 rounds Swiss between national teams, with each team fielding four boards plus reserves. Each match is decided by total points across the four boards; ties go to game points then to direct head-to-head. The open and women’s events run in parallel, with separate medal podiums.
Recent winners: in the open section, Russia (multiple), Ukraine (2010), Azerbaijan (2009, 2013), Armenia (2011), England (1999), France (1990, 1992, 1998); in the women’s section, Russia (multiple), Georgia (recent), Ukraine, and Poland. The 2025 edition was held in Batumi, Georgia.
The tournament is one of the strongest team events in chess. National federations typically field their best available players — for European powerhouses like Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Norway, the team championship is the highest-prestige non-Olympiad team event.
Sponsorship is modest (€80,000 prize fund split across two sections) but prestige is high — winning the European Team Championship is widely seen as a strong claim to be the strongest team in the world outside the biennial Olympiad cycle.
For the live broadcast, pairings, and final standings, see the European Chess Union site linked in the right column.