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

Read more about this topic:  37th Chess Olympiad

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