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