32nd Chess Olympiad
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The 32nd Chess Olympiad (Armenian: 32-րդ Շախմատային օլիմպիադա, 32-rd Shakhmatayin olimpiadan), organized by FIDE and comprising an open[1] and a women's tournament, took place between September 15 and October 2, 1996, in Yerevan, Armenia. Both tournament sections were officiated by international arbiter Alesha Khachatrian of Armenia.
The Russian team won their third consecutive title, captained by PCA world champion Kasparov. Once again, due to a dispute with the national federation, FIDE champion Anatoly Karpov was not present. Ukraine, led by Ivanchuk, took the silver, and the United States returned to the medal ranks for the first time since the fall of the Iron Curtain, beating England by half a point on tie break—somewhat ironically, half of the US team were born in Eastern Europe.
In addition to the overall medal winners, the teams were divided into seeding groups, with the top finishers in each group receiving special prizes.
Open event
The open division was contested by 114 teams representing 111 nations plus Armenia "B" and "C" as well as the International Braille Chess Association. Mali were signed up but didn't show up and were disqualified. Due to an odd number of participants, the hosts were allowed to field an additional third squad, but when team Yemen arrived after the second round, the number became odd again. However, Afghanistan set a new Olympic record by not showing up until round 8 and once again brought the total number of teams an even one.
The time control for each game permitted each player 2 hours to make the first 40 of his or her moves, then an additional 1-hour to make the next 20 moves. In the event of a draw, the tie-break was decided by 1. The Buchholz system; and 2. Match points.
Open event # Country Players Average
ratingPoints Buchholz 1 Russia
Kasparov, Kramnik, Dreev, Svidler, Bareev, Rublevsky 2714 38½ 2 Ukraine
Ivanchuk, Malaniuk, Romanyshyn, Novikov, Onyschuk, Savchenko 2633 35 3 United States
Gulko, Yermolinsky, De Firmian, Kaidanov, Benjamin, Christiansen 2595 34 448.0 4 England
Short, Adams, Speelman, Sadler, Hodgson, Conquest 2655 34 447.5 5 Armenia
Akopian, Vaganian, Lputian, Minasian, Anastasian, Petrosian 2593 33½ 452.0 6 Spain
Shirov, Illescas, Magem, García, San Segundo, Izeta 2605 33½ 451.5 7 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sokolov, Nikolić, Kurajica, Dizdarević, Kelecević, Sinanović 2584 33½ 439.5 8 Georgia
Azmaiparashvili, Giorgadze, Sturua, Zaichik, Janjgava, Supatashvili 2590 33 446.0 9 Bulgaria
Topalov, K. Georgiev, Spasov, Dimitrov, V. Georgiev, Chatalbashev 2619 33 443.0 10 Germany
Yusupov, Hübner, Dautov, Lobron, Hickl, Lutz 2619 33 440.0
# Country Average
ratingPoints Buchholz MP 11 Sweden
2544 33 434.0 12 Iceland
2549 33 426.5 13 China
2518 32½ 448.5 14 Netherlands
2564 32½ 436.5 15 Argentina
2529 32½ 430.0 =16 Croatia
2564 32 443.5 17 =16 Israel
2600 32 443.5 17 18 Hungary
2643 32 440.5 19 Uzbekistan
2510 32 434.5 20 Latvia
2515 32 424.5 21 Cuba
2536 31½ 438.5 22 Yugoslavia
2540 31½ 423.0 23 Slovenia
2509 31½ 419.5 24 Greece
2563 31½ 412.5 25 France
2541 31 438.0 26 Philippines
2470 31 431.5 27 Vietnam
2478 31 412.0 28 Australia
2465 31 411.5 29 Canada
2454 31 397.5 30 Kazakhstan
2511 30½ 436.0 31 Romania
2528 30½ 434.5 32 Czech Republic
2555 30½ 432.5 33 Belarus
2570 30½ 426.5 34 Slovakia
2508 30½ 422.0 35 North Macedonia
2478 30½ 421.5 36 Poland
2545 30½ 420.0 37 Lithuania
2546 30½ 419.5 38 Denmark
2519 30½ 404.0 39 Turkmenistan
2445 30½ 390.0 40 Norway
2535 30 409.0 41 Peru
2476 30 407.5 42 Armenia "C"
2400 30 404.0 43 Colombia
2450 30 402.0 44 Indonesia
2414 29½ 426.5 45 Moldova
2514 29½ 411.5 46 Finland
2419 29½ 401.5 47 Tajikistan
2283 29 398.5 48 Austria
2408 29 393.5 49 Estonia
2549 28½ 438.5 50 Armenia "B"
2456 28½ 413.0 51 Brazil
2446 28½ 408.5 52 Portugal
2451 28½ 408.0 53 Kyrgyzstan
2479 28½ 395.5 54 Belgium
2391 28½ 391.0 55 Ireland
2395 28½ 389.5 56 Scotland
2436 28½ 381.0 57 Italy
2468 28 404.5 58 Switzerland
2448 28 400.0 59 India
2449 28 397.0 60 Syria
2080 28 364.5 61 Bangladesh
2423 27½ 411.5 62 South Africa
2338 27½ 395.0 63 Luxembourg
2355 27½ 388.0 64 Malaysia
2274 27½ 387.0 65 United Arab Emirates
2254 27½ 361.0 66 Egypt
2384 27 393.5 67 Morocco
2278 27 379.5 68 Chile
2433 26½ 405.0 69 Turkey
2318 26½ 396.5 70 Tunisia
2369 26½ 393.0 71 Venezuela
2258 26½ 386.0 72 Iran
2238 26½ 382.5 73 IBCA 2236 27½ 380.0 74 Wales
2285 27½ 379.5 75 Ecuador
2301 27½ 376.5 76 Japan
2241 27½ 375.5 77 Uruguay
2261 26 375.5 78 Hong Kong
2220 26 369.5 79 Puerto Rico
2240 26 368.5 80 Singapore
2291 26 367.0 81 Faroe Islands
2256 26 361.5 82 New Zealand
2311 25½ 377.0 83 Angola
2231 25½ 371.0 84 Andorra
2183 25½ 363.5 85 Yemen
2145 25½ 363.0 86 Liechtenstein
2239 25½ 356.0 87 Cyprus
2100 25½ 351.5 88 Paraguay
2328 25 379.0 89 Barbados
2179 25 368.0 90 Lebanon
2219 25 358.5 91 Qatar
2204 25 346.5 92 El Salvador
2058 24½ 378.5 93 Thailand
2165 24½ 372.5 94 Zimbabwe
2210 24½ 357.5 95 Nicaragua
2113 24½ 354.5 96 Uganda
2140 24½ 348.5 97 Malta
2094 24½ 346.0 98 Bahrain
2086 24½ 344.0 99 Botswana
2086 24 341.5 100 Netherlands Antilles
2144 24 338.5 101 San Marino
2030 23½ 325.0 102 Macau
2053 23½ 304.5 103 Haiti
2000 23 104 Sri Lanka
2094 22½ 335.0 105 Monaco
2140 22½ 319.0 106 Mauritania
2000 22 323.5 107 Bermuda
2031 22 317.5 108 Mozambique
2000 21½ 328.0 109 Honduras
2000 21½ 305.5 110 Jersey
2024 20 111 Guernsey
2000 18½ 112 Afghanistan
2000 17 113 Seychelles
2033 16 114 United States Virgin Islands
2000 9
Individual medals
- Performance rating:
Garry Kasparov 2873
- Board 1:
Mohamad Al-Modiahki 8 / 10 = 80.0%
- Board 2:
Richard Robinson 8 / 10 = 80.0%
- Board 3:
Saidali Iuldachev 11 / 14 = 78.6%
- Board 4:
Matthew Sadler 10½ / 13 = 80.8%
- 1st reserve:
("B") Karen Asrian 10 / 12 = 83.3%
- 2nd reserve:
Geoffrey Makumbi 7½ / 8 = 93.8%
Best game
The 'Best game' prize went to Zurab Sturua (Georgia) – Rolando Kutirov (Macedonia) from round 3.
Women's event
The women's division was contested by 74 teams representing 72 nations plus Armenia "B" and the International Braille Chess Association. The time control for each game permitted each player 2 hours to make the first 40 of her moves, then an additional 1-hour to make the next 20 moves. In the event of a draw, the tie-break was decided by 1. The Buchholz system; and 2. Match points.
The Georgian team, led by one former world champion (Chiburdanidze), won their third consecutive title. China, led by another former world champion (Xie Jun), took the silver, and Russia the bronze. Newly crowned champion Susan Polgar did not take part in the event for her new country, so a second-rate US team finished as low as 35th.
# Country Players Average
ratingPoints Buchholz 1 Georgia
Chiburdanidze, Ioseliani, Arakhamia-Grant, Gurieli 2498 30 2 China
Xie Jun, Zhu Chen, Wang Lei, Wang Pin 2425 28½ 347.0 3 Russia
Galliamova, Matveeva, Prudnikova, Zaitseva 2443 28½ 345.5 4 Ukraine
Gaponenko, Litinskaya, Sedina, Zhukova 2343 26½ 5 Hungary
Polgár, Mádl, Medvegy, Lakos 2387 26 6 Romania
Foișor, Corina Peptan, Radu-Cosma, Olărașu 2355 25½ 7 Israel
Klinova, Segal, Tsifanskaya, Pitam 2310 25 8 Kazakhstan
Sakhatova, Uskova, Girkiyan-Klink, Sergeeva 2305 24½ 340.5 9 Poland
Brustman, Bobrowska, Dworakowska, Zielińska 2330 24½ 339.5 10 England
Lalic, Hunt, Sheldon, Bellin 2303 24 346.0
# Country Average
ratingPoints Buchholz MP 11 Indonesia
2178 24 309.5 12 Czech Republic
2258 24 305.5 13 Yugoslavia
2395 23½ 335.5 =14 Moldova
2322 23½ 332.5 15 =14 Germany
2348 23½ 332.5 15 16 Bulgaria
2335 23½ 331.5 17 Lithuania
2222 23½ 321.5 18 Greece
2252 23½ 321.0 =19 Cuba
2253 23½ 316.5 16 =19 Armenia
2233 23½ 316.5 16 21 Estonia
2258 23½ 312.5 22 Uzbekistan
2198 23½ 291.5 23 Slovakia
2250 23 328.0 24 Vietnam
2197 23 321.0 25 India
2152 23 316.0 26 France
2211 23 314.0 27 Mongolia
2115 23 275.5 28 Slovenia
2195 22½ 311.5 29 Armenia "B"
2138 22½ 310.5 30 Netherlands
2210 22½ 301.5 31 Croatia
2242 22 312.0 32 Belarus
2252 22 304.0 33 Bosnia and Herzegovina
2110 22 303.5 34 Latvia
2245 21½ 35 United States
2312 21½ 314.0 36 Spain
2245 21½ 299.5 37 Sweden
2108 21½ 299.0 38 Australia
2145 21½ 298.0 39 Canada
2123 21½ 286.5 40 Austria
2112 21½ 285.5 41 Denmark
2048 21½ 283.0 42 Kyrgyzstan
2112 20½ 309.0 43 North Macedonia
2105 20½ 291.5 44 Philippines
2015 20½ 282.0 45 Norway
2083 20½ 280.5 46 Brazil
2080 20½ 278.0 47 Finland
2065 20 290.5 48 Turkmenistan
2048 20 287.0 49 Italy
2010 20 282.0 50 Venezuela
2043 20 280.5 51 Mexico
2162 20 278.5 52 Bangladesh
2093 20 274.5 53 Switzerland
2140 19½ 297.0 54 Scotland
2022 19½ 282.0 55 Portugal
2133 19 282.0 56 Ireland
2017 19 262.5 57 IBCA 2000 19 245.5 58 Puerto Rico
2002 19 240.0 59 Colombia
2060 18½ 277.0 60 Iran
2033 18½ 266.5 61 Syria
2000 18½ 229.0 62 Netherlands Antilles
2000 18½ 217.5 63 Ecuador
2067 18 285.0 64 Malaysia
2050 18 259.0 65 Sri Lanka
2007 18 232.5 66 New Zealand
2000 18 223.0 67 Turkey
2002 17½ 264.5 68 United Arab Emirates
2017 17½ 240.5 69 Zambia
2002 16½ 70 Angola
2000 15 229.5 71 Lebanon
2000 15 228.5 72 Seychelles
2013 14½ 73 Japan
2000 8 74 United States Virgin Islands
2000 2
Individual medals
- Performance rating:
Zhu Chen 2561
- Board 1:
Mähri Ovezova 10½ / 14 = 75.0%
- Board 2:
Zhu Chen 10 / 13 = 76.9%
- Board 3:
Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant 8 / 10 = 80.0%
- Reserve:
Marta Zielińska 6 / 7 = 85.7%
See also
Notes
- ^ Although commonly referred to as the men's division, this section is open to both male and female players.
External links
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- 32nd Chess Olympiad: Yerevan 1996 OlimpBase
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