37th Chess Olympiad - Open Event

Open Event

The open division was contested by 148 teams representing 143 nations. Italy, as hosts, fielded three teams, whilst the International Braille Chess Association (IBCA), the International Physically Disabled Chess Association (IPCA), and the International Committee of Silent Chess (ICSC) each provided one squad. Somalia and Sierra Leone were signed up, but never arrived.

Led by first board Levon Aronian, the second highest-rated player at the Olympiad, and first reserve Gabriel Sargissian, who scored 10 points in 11 games, Armenia improved on their third place performance at the 36th Olympiad, claiming their first ever gold medals by a full two points over the silver medallists China, whose fourth board Wang Yue went undefeated, winning eight games and drawing four. Armenia ended the tournament without having lost a match, winning 10 and drawing three, including in the final round against Hungary, when four draws were cursorily recorded. Aronian was the only Armenian player to lose a game during the tournament, falling in the fifth round to Vladimir Kramnik of Russia.

Reigning classical World Champion Kramnik, playing internationally for the first time in six months, scored 6½ points in his nine games, recording the best rating performance of any player. His Russian team, though, did not perform as expected; fielding six of the tournament's 17 strongest players on rating, Russia held second place, just behind Armenia, through the seventh round but lost matches to France (1½-2½), the United States (1½-2½), and, in the final round, Israel (1-3), and ultimately finished sixth; the worst Olympic result ever for a Soviet or Russian side.

Although they defeated the United States (2½-1½) in the penultimate round, Israel had to settle for a tie for third place; the Americans claimed the bronze medals on Buchholz tiebreaks. Hungary, seeded 16th, finished fifth, thanks to strong performances from third board Ferenc Berkes and fourth board Csaba Balogh, while India, who entered the tournament seeded second, finished in 30th place, with first board Viswanathan Anand (former and future World Champion) and fourth board Shekhar Ganguly Surya both scoring just 50%. Even without FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov, Bulgaria still managed to clinch a top ten result, finishing in ninth place.

Open event

#	Country	Players	Average rating	Points	Buchholz
1	Armenia	Aronian, Akopian, Asrian, Lputian, Sargissian, Minasian	2682	36
2	China	Bu Xiangzhi, Zhang Zhong, Zhang Pengxiang, Wang Yue, Ni Hua, Zhao Jun	2628	34
3	United States	Kamsky, Onischuk, Nakamura, Ibragimov, Kaidanov, Akobian	2656	33	392.5
4	Israel	Gelfand, Smirin, Sutovsky, Avrukh, Huzman, Mikhalevski	2663	33	380.5
5	Hungary	Almási, Gyimesi, Berkes, Balogh, Ruck, Horváth	2610	32½
6	Russia	Kramnik, Svidler, Grischuk, Morozevich, Bareev, Rublevsky	2730	32	410.5
7	France	Bacrot, Lautier, Sokolov, Fressinet, Vachier-Lagrave, Bauer	2665	32	396.0
8	Ukraine	Ivanchuk, Volokitin, Karjakin, Eljanov, Moiseenko, Efimenko	2680	32	390.5
9	Bulgaria	Georgiev, Cheparinov, Delchev, Spasov, Petkov, Iotov	2633	32	385.0
10	Spain	Shirov, Vallejo Pons, Illescas Córdoba, Arizmendi Martinez, San Segundo Carrillo, Narciso Dublan	2628	32	377.5

#	Country	Average rating	Points	Buchholz	MP
11	Czech Republic	2596	31	399.0
12	Netherlands	2646	31	396.0
13	Uzbekistan	2554	31	389.5
14	Georgia	2610	31	388.0
15	Germany	2621	31	381.0
16	Cuba	2598	30½	386.0
17	Sweden	2549	30½	381.0
18	Moldova	2578	30½	376.5
19	England	2627	30½	366.0
20	Denmark	2577	30	396.0
21	Poland	2593	30	381.0
22	Greece	2582	30	379.0
23	Slovenia	2547	30	378.5
24	Azerbaijan	2643	30	377.5
25	Croatia	2559	30	373.5
26	Romania	2610	30	372.0
27	Switzerland	2555	30	367.5
28	Latvia	2516	30	357.5
29	Australia	2479	30	351.0
30	India	2688	29½	391.5
31	Norway	2577	29½	376.0
32	Brazil	2573	29½	371.5
33	Macedonia	2517	29½	366.0
34	Canada	2482	29½	357.0
35	Italy	2493	29½	354.5
36	Belarus	2598	29	381.0
37	Yugoslavia	2542	29	376.0
38	Turkey	2540	29	372.5
39	Vietnam	2533	29	372.0
40	Indonesia	2489	29	369.5
41	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2521	29	367.5
42	Lithuania	2530	29	360.5
43	Slovakia	2536	28½	373.5
44	Philippines	2538	28½	369.5
45	Iceland	2560	28½	368.0
46	Estonia	2487	28½	355.0
47	Mexico	2449	28½	354.0
48	Italy "B"	2375	28½	353.5
49	Iran	2472	28	375.5
50	Portugal	2481	28	362.5
51	Argentina	2532	28	361.5
52	Scotland	2479	28	358.0
53	Kazakhstan	2348	28	345.5
54	Tajikistan	2165	28	331.0
55	Qatar	2472	27½	354.0
56	Ireland	2455	27½	352.0
57	Colombia	2437	27	362.5
58	Egypt	2448	27	360.0
59	Mongolia	2332	27	358.5
60	Bangladesh	2493	27	352.0
61	Albania	2439	27	351.5	14
62	Finland	2466	27	351.5	12
63	Dominican Republic	2314	27	351.0
64	Venezuela	2342	27	349.0
65	Chile	2438	27	340.5
66	United Arab Emirates	2327	27	324.0
67	Paraguay	2420	26½	354.5
68	Morocco	2348	26½	353.5
69	Algeria	2291	26½	347.0
70	Belgium	2438	26½	342.0
71	Bolivia	2336	26½	327.5
72	Costa Rica	2362	26½	324.0
73	Peru	2404	26	362.5
74	Ecuador	2439	26	349.5
75	Turkmenistan	2444	26	348.0
76	ICSC	2308	26	333.5
77	Austria	2410	26	332.5
78	Singapore	2388	26	330.5
79	Puerto Rico	2237	26	320.5
80	Malaysia	2331	25½	364.5
81	Luxembourg	2424	25½	350.5
82	Faroe Islands	2333	25½	345.0
83	Italy "C"	2366	25½	337.5
84	South Africa	2321	25½	334.5
85	Nicaragua	2315	25½	329.0
86	Iraq	2310	25½	326.0
87	Andorra	2400	25½	316.5
88	Japan	2139	25½	314.5
89	Kyrgyzstan	2332	25	347.0
90	Tunisia	2383	25	341.0
91	Wales	2284	25	333.5
92	New Zealand	2335	24½	342.5
93	Nigeria	2275	24½	341.5
94	Syria	2329	24½	338.5
95	El Salvador	2279	24½	334.0
96	Lebanon	2255	24½	325.0
97	Uruguay	2248	24½	320.5
98	Barbados	2268	24½	319.0
99	Pakistan	2074	24½	206.5
100	Thailand	2274	24	333.0
101	Trinidad and Tobago	2217	24	314.5
102	Nepal	2191	24	312.0
103	Botswana	2212	24	305.0
104	Cyprus	2126	24	297.0
105	Jamaica	2227	23½	329.0
106	Angola	2257	23½	328.0
107	IPCA	2339	23½	322.0
108	Malta	2187	23½	304.0
109	Sudan	1968	23½	299.5
110	Zambia	2052	23½	222.5
111	IBCA	2339	23	322.0
112	Libya	2052	23	304.0
113	Uganda	2172	23	303.5
114	Panama	2199	23	303.0
115	Netherlands Antilles	2079	23	273.5
116	Yemen	2276	22½	325.0
117	Guatemala	2245	22½	320.5
118	Sri Lanka	2181	22½	303.5
119	Brunei	2244	22½	291.0
120	Bahrain	2115	22	307.5
121	Liechtenstein	2152	22	301.5
122	Hong Kong	2175	22	300.5
123	Kenya	2112	22	279.0
124	Jersey	2120	22	274.5
125	Palestine	2188	21½	297.0
126	Haiti	1400	21½	295.5
127	Monaco	2165	21½	291.5
128	Ethiopia	1587	21½	289.5
129	San Marino	2089	21½	288.5
130	Suriname	2187	21½	270.0
131	Mozambique	1576	21	296.5
132	Namibia	2147	21	292.5
133	Honduras	2140	21	289.0
134	Seychelles	1771	21	286.0
135	Macau	2117	21	281.0
136	Chinese Taipei	1572	21	259.5
137	Afghanistan	1707	20½	297.0
138	Mauritania	2194	20½	290.5
139	Guernsey	2017	20	280.0
140	Fiji	1793	20	259.0
141	Malawi	1400	19½	277.5
142	Papua New Guinea	1766	19½	263.0
143	South Korea	1910	19	288.0
144	Bermuda	1967	19	268.5
145	Aruba	2017	18
146	British Virgin Islands	1986	15½
147	Rwanda	1470	12
148	United States Virgin Islands	1753	10½