39th Chess Olympiad - Open Event

Open Event

The open division was contested by 148 teams representing 141 nations. Russia, as hosts, fielded no less than five 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. Senegal were signed up, but never appeared for their first round match and were disqualified.

Ukraine, led by Vasyl Ivanchuk and former FIDE Champion Ruslan Ponomariov, took their second title after 2004. Once again, the Russian hosts were the pre-tournament favourites but, for the fourth Olympiad in a row, failed to live up to expactations, although they came close this time. Captained by former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, the Russians trailed the Ukrainians by one point before the last round. When Ukraine and eventual bronze medallists Israel, led by Boris Gelfand, drew their final match, Russia had the opportunity to snatch the gold. They only drew as well, however, so in the end had to settle for silver.

Although the Russian "A" team disappointed its fans on its home turf, the "B" squad, with five Olympic debutants, exceeded expectations by finishing sixth. Captain Ian Nepomniachtchi won an individual bronze medal on the top board.

Defending champions Armenia had to settle for seventh place and Team USA for ninth. India was once again without reigning World Champion Viswanathan Anand and finished 18th, while his opponent in the recent championship match, Veselin Topalov, led Bulgaria to 31st place. Another former great power of chess, England, also disappointed in 24th place. The number one player in the world, Magnus Carlsen, only scored 4½ points in 8 games, and his Norwegian team ended up in 51st place.

Due to financial disagreements with the national federation, the top German players did not show up. Seriously weakened, Team Germany came recorded an all-time low in 64th place, just below the team of physically impaired players. Incidentally, the IPCA team were led by Thomas Luther, a former 4-time Olympian for the German team.

Open event
# Country Players Average
rating		 MP dSB
1 Ukraine Ivanchuk, Ponomariov, Eljanov, Efimenko, Moiseenko 2737 19
2 Russia Kramnik, Grischuk, Svidler, Karjakin, Malakhov 2755 18
3 Israel Gelfand, Sutovsky, Smirin, Rodshtein, Mikhalevski 2676 17 367.5
4 Hungary Leko, Almási, Polgár, Berkes, Balogh 2698 17 355.5
5 China Wang Yue, Wang Hao, Bu Xiangzhi, Zhou Jianchao, Li Chao 2703 16 362.0
6 Russia "B" Nepomniachtchi, Alekseev, Vitiugov, Tomashevsky, Timofeev 2702 16 355.0
7 Armenia Aronian, Akopian, Sargissian, Pashikian, Grigoryan 2698 16 345.0
8 Spain Shirov, Vallejo Pons, Lopez Salgado,
Magem Badals, Alsina Leal		 2658 16 332.0
9 United States Nakamura, Kamsky, Onischuk, Shulman, Hess 2691 16 315.5
10 France Vachier-Lagrave, Fressinet, Tkachiev, Édouard, Feller 2681 16 311.5
# Country Average
rating		 MP dSB GP
11 Poland 2662 15 346.5
12 Azerbaijan 2694 15 333.0
13 Russia "C" 2665 15 320.5
14 Belarus 2659 15 307.5
15 Netherlands 2665 15 305.0
16 Slovakia 2596 15 302.5
17 Brazil 2590 15 290.5
18 India 2645 15 287.0
19 Denmark 2519 15 257.5
20 Czech Republic 2656 14 338.5
21 Italy 2583 14 316.5
22 Greece 2590 14 302.5
23 Cuba 2652 14 299.0
24 England 2673 14 292.0
25 Argentina 2587 14 281.0
26 Estonia 2511 14 277.0
27 Kazakhstan 2535 14 274.0
28 Moldova 2580 14 265.0
29 Iran 2550 14 259.5
30 Georgia 2637 13 316.0
31 Bulgaria 2693 13 287.5
32 Croatia 2585 13 284.5
33 Serbia 2609 13 278.0
34 Sweden 2572 13 277.0
35 Lithuania 2545 13 268.0
36 Slovenia 2485 13 264.5
37 Canada 2492 13 264.0
38 Austria 2516 13 263.0
39 Russia "D" 2492 13 258.0
40 Iceland 2489 13 257.5
41 Egypt 2537 13 252.0
42 Montenegro 2481 13 251.5
43 Qatar 2483 13 236.0
44 Peru 2516 13 231.0
45 Turkey 2501 13 230.0
46 Uruguay 2384 13 227.0
47 Zambia 2002 13 202.5
48 ICSC 2394 13 197.0
49 Uzbekistan 2572 12 285.0
50 Philippines 2552 12 276.0
51 Norway 2594 12 274.5
52 Vietnam 2587 12 272.0
53 Chile 2500 12 261.0
54 Colombia 2475 12 255.0
55 Australia 2502 12 253.0
56 Macedonia 2524 12 246.5
57 Albania 2419 12 231.5
58 Singapore 2393 12 231.0
59 Finland 2456 12 218.0
60 Belgium 2394 12 215.0
61 United Arab Emirates 2286 12 211.5
62 Pakistan 1970 12 194.5
63 IPCA 2403 12 192.5
64 Germany 2534 11 268.0
65 Switzerland 2513 11 258.5
66 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2574 11 254.5
67 Indonesia 2423 11 248.5
68 Kyrgyzstan 2350 11 231.5
69 Latvia 2472 11 224.0
70 Russia "E" 2449 11 220.0
71 Mongolia 2422 11 216.5
72 Mexico 2557 11 214.0
73 Bangladesh 2335 11 200.0
74 South Africa 2338 11 194.5
75 Portugal 2459 11 194.0
76 Turkmenistan 2418 11 193.0
77 Jordan 2343 11 188.0
78 Libya 2195 11 187.5
79 Paraguay 2330 11 186.0
80 Faroe Islands 2332 11 185.5
81 Venezuela 2429 11 184.5
82 Costa Rica 2342 11 179.0
83 Scotland 2429 11 175.5
84 Yemen 2327 11 165.0
85 Ecuador 2424 10 219.0
86 Tajikistan 2436 10 218.0
87 Andorra 2285 10 206.5
88 Ireland 2365 10 202.0
89 Algeria 2273 10 195.5
90 Dominican Republic 2314 10 191.5
91 New Zealand 2272 10 176.0
92 Malaysia 2325 10 172.0
93 Thailand 2256 10 168.5 21
94 Panama 2165 10 168.5 20½
95 Barbados 2251 10 168.0
96 Japan 2221 10 166.5
97 Luxembourg 2279 10 162.5 20½
98 Cyprus 2152 10 162.5 19
99 Guatemala 2214 10 160.5
100 Malta 2180 10 157.0
101 Nigeria 1464 10 153.0
102 IBCA 2346 10 145.5
103 Iraq 2363 9 183.0
104 Sri Lanka 2088 9 169.0
105 Jamaica 2243 9 160.0
106 Uganda 1938 9 158.5
107 Nepal 2096 9 152.5
108 Puerto Rico 2224 9 151.0
109 Lebanon 2227 9 149.0
110 Monaco 2252 9 143.0
111 Honduras 1950 9 141.5
112 Palestine 1894 9 133.0
113 South Korea 2069 9 132.0
114 Bolivia 2206 9 116.5
115 Trinidad and Tobago 2164 9 107.0
116 Botswana 2217 8 141.0
117 Brunei 2115 8 139.0
118 Mauritius 2128 8 138.0
119 Chinese Taipei 1849 8 137.5
120 Kenya 1669 8 135.0
121 Aruba 2007 8 130.5
122 Wales 2260 8 127.5
123 Jersey 2111 8 127.0
124 Angola 2230 8 125.0
125 Mali 1200 8 121.5
126 Namibia 1891 8 112.0
127 Malawi 1435 8 104.0
128 Ethiopia 1691 8 100.0
129 Hong Kong 1967 8 83.0
130 Guernsey 1927 8 69.5
131 Mauritania 1200 7 112.5
132 Suriname 2120 7 110.0
133 Macau 1992 7 108.5
134 Mozambique 1853 7 103.0
135 Madagascar 1438 7 102.0
136 Netherlands Antilles 2049 7 80.5
137 Cameroon 1200 7 78.5
138 São Tomé and Príncipe 1496 7 70.5
139 Haiti 1619 6 98.0
140 Ghana 1530 6 81.0 15½
141 Bermuda 1940 6 81.0 14½
142 Sierra Leone 1200 6 74.0
143 Papua New Guinea 2058 6 70.0
144 San Marino 2038 6 50.5
145 Burundi 1200 4 45.5
146 Rwanda 1321 3 57.0
147 United States Virgin Islands 1200 3 32.5
148 Seychelles 1604 2

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