Federations may change their submitted roster until 1200 UTC, 7 days before they are scheduled to play in the Online Olympiad for the first time, after which their squad composition will be fixed. This means the deadlines are as follows: Division 4 - Friday, 13th August 1200 UTC; Division 3 - Friday, 20th August 1200 UTC; Division 2 - Thursday, 26th August 1200 UTC; Top Division - Wednesday, 1st September 1200 UTC.

Chess.com will be again the hosting platform for this event that, on its inaugural edition, became one of the highlights of 2020. Once again, the event will consist of two stages: the “Divisions stage”, and the Play-offs stage with the top eight teams qualified from Stage 1 battling in knockout format. The games will be broadcast live with multilingual expert commentary on the on the FIDE’s official Youtube channel and by Chess.com.

The second edition of the Online Olympiad will receive the support and sponsorship of the Shenzhen authorities, which include the Shenzhen Longgang District Culture and Sports Bureau, the Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, Shenzhen Chess Academy, Shenzhen Pengcheng Chess Club. Simaland, the Russian wholesale online store and proud sponsor of the Candidates tournament 2020-21, will also be a partner for the Online Olympiad 2021.