A total of 61 teams from 45 countries took part in the virtual competition, which began on November 20 and ended on yesterday with Poland being crowned champions.

The Russians went ahead in the final, taking the first round by 2.5 to 1.5 courtesy of two victories, one draw and one defeat.

But the Polish players bounced back on the second day, winning three of four matches to win the final.

Marcin Tazbir set the tone for Poland by defeating Stanislav Babarykin, while Marcin Molenda outplayed Marina Kaydanovich for another Polish win.

Russia 1 retaliated as Alexey Smirnov crushed Lukasz Nowak.

In the crucial other match, Denis Palin obtained an overwhelming position in his game against Anna Stolarczyk to taste victory.

A win would have secured Russia the title, but it was not meant to be.

After missing several winning opportunities, the Russian player pushed too far in a roughly equal position and lost.

"We knew we had already secured the silver medal by reaching the final, so I believe that allowed us to shake off the pressure a little bit and focus on fighting for the gold," Tazbir said. 

"After losing the first match, we knew that we would need to win the second by at least 3-1.

"Achieving such a result against a very strong team like Russia is really difficult, but we managed to do it.

"Luck was on our side to a certain extent, but I believe it was a deserved victory.

"I am really proud of our team and would also like to thank all participants, and especially, our team captain Michał Bartel who was really supportive during the whole event."

In the duel for third place, Ukraine 3 defeated Poland 3 to clinch bronze.

Former European snowboard champion Alyona Alekhina and FIDE executive director Victor Bologan were guests in the virtual studio on the final day of competition.

Alekhina recounted how she went through a difficult period of her life after being paralysed in 2013 and has learnt to live with the injury, while Bologan discussed how FIDE had adjusted to challenging times due to the coronavirus pandemic and spoke about the prospect of chess being included on the Olympic programme.

This competition was originally scheduled to take place in Khanty-Mansiysk from August 5 to 17 at the same time as the Chess Olympiad in Moscow.

The two events were postponed in March due to the global health crisis before a decision was taken to stage them online instead, with Russia and India winning the Olympiad in August.

FIDE has also put together a database of chess players with disabilities.

"I really appreciate that FIDE has managed to organise this event for disabled players even despite the added difficulties caused by the pandemic," added Marcin.

"This Olympiad allowed many people with disabilities to feel and enjoy the atmosphere of a big sporting event."