37th Chess Olympiad
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The 37th Chess Olympiad, comprising an open [1] and women's tournament and the general assembly of the Fédération Internationale des Échecs, took place between May 20 and 6 June 2006, in Turin, Italy.
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[edit] Human chess competition
[edit] Open tournament
The open division was contested by 148 teams representing 143 nations and territories; Italy, as hosts, fielded three teams, whilst the International Blind Chess Association, the International Physically Disabled Chess Association, International Silent Chess Committee each provided one squad; neither Somalia nor Sierra Leone, each of which had registered a team, participated.
Led by first board Grandmaster (GM) Levon Aronian, the second highest-rated player at the Olympiad, and first reserve GM Gabriel Sargissian, who scored 10 points in 11 games, Armenia improved on their third place performance at the 36th Olympiad, claiming the gold medal by two full points over the silver medal-winning People's Republic of China, whose fourth board, GM 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 Russia's GM Vladimir Kramnik. Kramnik, playing internationally for the first time in six months, scored six-and-one-half 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 top 17 players by ranking [1], Russia stood in second place, just one point behind Armenia, through the seventh round but lost matches to France (2½-1½), the United States (2½-1½), and, in the final round, Israel (3-1), and ultimately finished sixth; the finish was the first non-podium finish for the side representing the Soviet Union or Russia since the 9th Chess Olympiad, played in 1950. Although they defeated the United States, 2½-1½, in the penultimate round, Israel settled for a tie for third place; the Americans claimed the bronze medal on Buchholz tiebreaks. Hungary, seeded 16th, finished fifth, getting strong performances from third board GM Ferenc Berkes and fourth board GM Csaba Balogh, while India, who entered the tournament seeded second, finished in 30th place, with first board GM Viswanathan Anand's and fourth board GM Shekhar Ganguly Surya's scoring just 50 per cent.
[edit] Team results
The teams finishing first through third overall receive medals, as do those finishing in the top three amongst teams organized by seed; overall medal winners are not eligible to receive group prizes.
[edit] Top ten overall finishers
[edit] Group prizes
Group A (from amongst teams seeded 1st to 29th)
Team | Overall place of finish [9] | Seed [5] | Average April 2006 FIDE rating [6] | Total score [7] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Israel | 4 | 6 | 2663 | 33.0 |
Hungary | 5 | 16 | 2610 | 32.5 |
Russia | 6 | 1 | 2730 | 32.0 |
Group B (from amongst teams seeded 30th to 59th)
Team | Overall place of finish | Seed [5] | Average April 2006 FIDE rating [6] | Total score [7] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sweden | 17 | 31 | 2549 | 30.5 |
Slovenia | 23 | 32 | 2545 | 30.0 |
Latvia | 28 | 42 | 2516 | 30.0 |
Group C (from amongst teams seeded 60th to 89th)
Team | Overall place of finish | Seed [5] | Average April 2006 FIDE rating [6] | Total score [7] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Italy (team B) | 48 | 70 | 2371 | 28.5 |
Kazakhstan | 53 | 73 | 2348 | 28.0 |
Colombia | 57 | 62 | 2437 | 27.0 |
Group D (from amongst teams seeded 90th to 119th)
Team | Overall place of finish | Seed [5] | Average April 2006 FIDE rating [6] | Total score [7] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tajikistan | 54 | 106 | 2215 | 28.0 |
Algeria | 69 | 91 | 2285 | 26.5 |
International Silent Chess Committee | 76 | 90 | 2308 | 26.0 |
Group E (from amongst teams seeded 120th to 148th)
Team | Overall place of finish | Seed [5] | Average April 2006 FIDE rating [6] | Total score [7] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Japan | 87 | 121 | 2139 | 25.5 |
Pakistan | 98 | 123 | 2123 | 24.5 |
Cyprus | 103 | 122 | 2125 | 24.0 |
[edit] Individual results
Individual medals are awarded to the three players to achieve the best rating performance having played at least eight games. Medals are also awarded to the top three finishers, by percentage of points won from total points possible, from amongst those to have played primarily on each of boards one through four (having played at least eight games) as well as to those reserves who have otherwise played at least seven games across all boards, who are classified as playing on boards five and six. Teams typically feature their better players on the lower-numbered boards, but illness, fatigue, and absence often affect playing rotations. Ties are resolved in favor of the player who played more games; where ties remain, the player with a better rating performance is awarded the superior placing.
[edit] Best rating performance
Player [4] | Team represented | April 2006 FIDE rating | Principal board played | Games played | Points scored | Rating performance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vladimir Kramnik | Russia | 2729 | 1 | 9 | 6.5 | 2847 |
Wang Yue | People's Republic of China | 2598 | 4 | 12 | 10.0 | 2837 |
Étienne Bacrot | France | 2708 | 1 | 8 | 6.0 | 2833 |
Magnus Carlsen | Norway | 2646 | 1 | 8 | 6.0 | 2820 |
Sergey Karjakin | Ukraine | 2661 | 3 | 11 | 8.5 | 2798 |
Bu Xiangzhi | People's Republic of China | 2640 | 1 | 12 | 8.0 | 2790 |
David Navara | Czech Republic | 2658 | 1 | 12 | 8.5 | 2786 |
Vladimir Akopian | Armenia | 2706 | 2 | 12 | 9.0 | 2778 |
Levon Aronian | Armenia | 2756 | 1 | 11 | 7.0 | 2768 |
Joel Lautier | France | 2682 | 2 | 11 | 8.0 | 2759 |
[edit] Board prizes
First board
Player | Team represented | April 2006 FIDE rating | Games played | Points scored | Percentage attained [10] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mohyuddin Gillani Tanveer | Pakistan | 2279 | 8 | 7.0 | 87.5 |
GM [11] Evgenij Ermenkov | Palestine | 2462 | 10 | 8.5 | 85.0 |
GM Hichem Hamdouchi | Morocco | 2559 | 10 | 7.5 | 75.0 |
Second board
Player | Team represented | April 2006 FIDE rating | Games played | Points scored | Percentage attained [10] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
IM [8] Josep Oms Pallise | Andorra | 2496 | 11 | 9.0 | 81.8 |
Brian Dew | Hong Kong | 2147 | 9 | 7.0 | 77.8 |
IM Eduardo Iturrizaga | Venezuela | 2397 | 11 | 8.5 | 77.3 |
Third board
Player | Team represented | April 2006 FIDE rating | Games played | Points scored | Percentage attained [10] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manuel Larrea | Uruguay | 2278 | 8 | 7.0 | 87.5 |
GM [11] Rafael Leitao | Brazil | 2575 | 10 | 8.0 | 80.0 |
GM Miguel Illescas Cordoba | Spain | 2608 | 9 | 7.0 | 77.8 |
Fourth board
Player | Team represented | April 2006 FIDE rating | Games played | Points scored | Percentage attained [10] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
GM [11] Wang Yue | People's Republic of China | 2598 | 12 | 10.0 | 83.3 |
GM Robert Zelcic | Croatia | 2525 | 12 | 9.0 | 75.0 |
GM Boris Avrukh | Israel | 2633 | 10 | 7.5 | 75.0 |
Fifth (first reserve) board
Player | Team represented | April 2006 FIDE rating | Games played | Points scored | Percentage attained [10] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
FM [12] Basheer Al-Qudaimi | Yemen | 2396 | 7 | 7.0 | 100.0 |
Amer Karim | Pakistan | 2260 | 8 | 7.5 | 93.8 |
Ali Laith | Iraq | 2179 | 7 | 6.5 | 92.9 |
Sixth (second reserve) board
Player | Team represented | April 2006 FIDE rating | Games played | Points scored | Percentage attained [10] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Phiri Richmond | Zambia | no rating [13] | 7 | 6.5 | 92.9 |
Hirawan Pg Mohd Omar Ak | Brunei | 2335 | 7 | 6.5 | 92.9 |
Hameedullah Haidary | Afghanistan | no rating [13] | 9 | 7.5 | 83.3 |
[edit] Women's tournament
The women's division was contested by 106 teams representing 102 nations and territories; Italy, as hosts, fielded two teams, whilst the International Blind Chess Association, the International Physically Disabled Chess Association, International Silent Chess Committee each provided one squad; neither Somalia nor Sudan, each of which had registered a team, participated, whilst Afghanistan, Uganda, and Rwanda each withdrew after one round.
Ukraine, who had finished in 18th place at the 36th Olympiad but entered the tournament seeded second, trailed top-seeded Russia by one half-point through the seventh round, despite having taken defeated the Russians in the fifth round, 2-1, but took the tournament lead in the eighth round, defeating Hungary while Russia managed only to halve their match with the United States. Ukraine, behind Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Natalia Zhukova, who scored seven-and-one-half points in her nine games, defeating the top- and second-rated players, Grandmaster (GM) Humpy Koneru of India and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia, and third board International Master (IM) Inna Yanovska-Gaponenko, who won six games, drew two, and lost only one, never trailed during the remainder of the tournament, all but securing the gold medal and Vera Menchik Trophy with twelfth round win over India (2½-½) and eventually finishing one-and-one-half points ahead of silver medallist Russia. Defending champion China, on the strength of first board WGM Zhao Xue, who entered the tournament seeded 22nd yet, having played in each round, went undefeated in the Olympiad, conceding only six draws in 13 games, claimed the bronze medal by three points over the United States, with whom the Chinese team drew in the penultimate round to secure third place; the American team, on Buchholz tiebreaks, narrowly outpointed Hungary and Georgia for fourth place. Three double-digit seeds, the Netherlands (seeded 18th, finished seventh), Slovenia (seeded 17th, finished ninth), and the Czech Republic (seeded 22nd, finished tenth), finished in the top ten, while 12th-seeded Poland managed only a 20th place finish.
[edit] Team results
The teams finishing first through third overall receive medals, as do those finishing in the top three amongst teams organized by seed; overall medal winners are not eligible to receive group prizes.
[edit] Top ten overall finishers
Place of finish [14] | Team | Players [15] [16] | Seed [17] | Average April 2006 FIDE rating [18] | Matches won | Matches drawn | Matches lost | Total score [19] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First | Ukraine | WGM [20] Natalia Zhukova, IM [8] Kateryna Lahno, IM Inna Yanovska-Gaponenko, WGM Anna Ushenina | 2 | 2441 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 29.5 |
Second | Russia | GM [11] Alexandra Kosteniuk, IM Tatiana Kosintseva, IM Nadezhda Kosintseva, IM Ekaterina Kovalevskaya | 1 | 2499 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 28.0 |
Third | People's Republic of China | WGM Zhao Xue, WGM Wang Yu, Shen Yang, WFM [21] Hou Yifan | 6 | 2408 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 27.5 |
Fourth | United States | WGM Anna Zatonskih, IM Irina Krush, WGM Rusudan Goletiani, WGM Camilla Baginskaite | 5 | 2414 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 24.5 |
Fifth | Hungary | IM Hoang Thanh Trang, IM Ildiko Madl, IM Szidonia Vajda, WGM Anita Gara | 4 | 2426 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 24.5 |
Sixth | Georgia | IM Nino Khurtsidze, IM Nana Dzagnidze, IM Lela Javakhishvili, IM Maia Lomineishvili | 3 | 2430 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 24.5 |
Seventh | Netherlands | GM Peng Zhaoqin, IM Tea Bosboom-Lanchava, FM [12] Petra Schuurman, WIM [22] Bianca Muhren | 18 | 2344 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 24.5 |
Eighth | Armenia | IM Lilit Mkrtchian, IM Elina Danielian, WGM Nelli Aginian, WIM Siranush Andriasian | 7 | 2402 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 24.0 |
Ninth | Slovenia | WGM Anna Muzychuk, WGM Ana Srebrnic, WIM Jana Krivec, WFM Ksenija Novak | 17 | 2348 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 24.0 |
Tenth | Czech Republic | IM Jana Jackova, WIM Katerina Cedikova, WIM Olga Sikorova, WIM Petra Blazkova | 22 | 2299 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 24.0 |
[edit] Group prizes
Group A (from amongst teams seeded 1st to 20th)
Team | Overall place of finish [23] | Seed [5] | Average April 2006 FIDE rating [6] | Total score [7] |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States | 4 | 5 | 2414 | 24.5 |
Hungary | 5 | 4 | 2426 | 24.5 |
Georgia | 6 | 3 | 2430 | 24.5 |
Group B (from amongst teams seeded 21st to 42nd)
Team | Overall place of finish | Seed [5] | Average April 2006 FIDE rating [6] | Total score [7] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Czech Republic | 10 | 22 | 2302 | 24.0 |
Vietnam | 15 | 23 | 2302 | 23.0 |
Cuba | 16 | 26 | 2289 | 23.0 |
Group C (from amongst teams seeded 43rd to 64th)
Team | Overall place of finish | Seed [5] | Average April 2006 FIDE rating [6] | Total score [7] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Philippines | 26 | 60 | 2083 | 22.0 |
Turkmenistan | 36 | 43 | 2182 | 21.0 |
Canada | 41 | 51 | 2132 | 21.0 |
Group D (from amongst teams seeded 65th to 86th)
Team | Overall place of finish | Seed [5] | Average April 2006 FIDE rating [6] | Total score [7] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Indonesia | 40 | 68 | 1986 | 21.0 |
Venezuela | 43 | 71 | 1941 | 20.5 |
El Salvador | 49 | 63 | 2007 | 20.0 |
Group E (from amongst teams seeded 87th to 108th)
Team | Overall place of finish | Seed [5] | Average April 2006 FIDE rating [6] | Total score [7] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Algeria | 79 | 87 | 1721 | 17.5 |
New Zealand | 80 | 84 | 1759 | 17.5 |
Nigeria | 82 | 82 | 1723 | 17.0 |
[edit] Individual results
Individual medals are awarded to the three players to achieve the best rating performance having played at least eight games. Medals are also awarded to the top three finishers, by percentage of points won from total points possible, from amongst those to have played primarily on each of boards one through three (having played at least eight games) as well as to those reserves who have otherwise played at least seven games across all boards, who are classified as playing on board four. Teams typically feature their better players on the lower-numbered boards, but illness, fatigue, and absence often affect playing rotations. Ties are resolved in favor of the player who played more games; where ties remain, the player with a better rating performance is awarded the superior placing.
[edit] Best rating performance
Player | Team represented | April 2006 FIDE rating | Principal board played | Games played | Points scored | Rating performance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
WGM [20] Zhao Xue | People's Republic of China | 2423 | 1 | 13 | 10.0 | 2617 |
IM [8] Tatiana Kosintseva | Russia | 2489 | 2 | 12 | 9.5 | 2598 |
WFM [21] Hou Yifan | People's Republic of China | 2298 | 3 | 13 | 11.0 | 2596 |
GM [11] Antoaneta Stefanova | Bulgaria | 2502 | 1 | 12 | 9.0 | 2563 |
IM Hoang Thanh Trang | Hungary | 2487 | 1 | 13 | 9.5 | 2539 |
WGM Natalia Zhukova | Ukraine | 2425 | 1 | 10 | 7.5 | 2537 |
IM Inna Yanovska-Gaponenko | Ukraine | 2430 | 3 | 9 | 7.0 | 2531 |
IM Viktorija Cmilyte | Lithuania | 2470 | 1 | 12 | 9.5 | 2530 |
IM Nadezhda Kosintseva | Russia | 2469 | 3 | 10 | 7.5 | 2521 |
IM Irina Krush | United States | 2437 | 2 | 11 | 8.0 | 2512 |
[edit] Board prizes
First board
Player | Team represented | April 2006 FIDE rating | Games played | Points scored | Percentage attained [10] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
WIM [22] Lubov Zsiltzova-Lisenko | International Blind Chess Association | 2263 | 10 | 9.0 | 90.0 |
WIM Eman Mohammed | Iraq | 2118 | 8 | 7.0 | 87.5 |
WIM Sarai Sanchez | Venezuela | 2176 | 11 | 9.0 | 81.8 |
Second board
Player | Team represented | April 2006 FIDE rating | Games played | Points scored | Percentage attained [10] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fiona Steil-Antoni | Luxembourg | 1968 | 12 | 10.0 | 83.3 |
IM [8] Katerina Lahno | Ukraine | 2468 | 10 | 8.0 | 80.0 |
IM Tatiana Kosintseva | Russia | 2489 | 12 | 9.5 | 79.2 |
Third board
Player | Team represented | April 2006 FIDE rating | Games played | Points scored | Percentage attained [10] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
WFM [21] Mohd Saleh Nora | United Arab Emirates | 1925 | 8 | 7.0 | 87.5 |
IM [8] Inna Yanovska-Gaponenko | Ukraine | 2430 | 9 | 7.0 | 77.8 |
IM Lela Javakhishvili | Georgia | 2410 | 11 | 8.5 | 77.3 |
Fourth (reserve) board
Player | Team represented | April 2006 FIDE rating | Games played | Points scored | Percentage attained [10] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
WIM [22] Tatiana Berlin | Belarus | 2207 | 8 | 7.0 | 87.5 |
WFM [21] Hou Yifan | People's Republic of China | 2298 | 13 | 11.0 | 84.6 |
Rahal Mawadda | Libya | 1601 | 8 | 6.5 | 81.3 |
[edit] Overall title
The Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy is awarded to the entity the average place of finish of which in the open and women's division is the best (where two or more teams are tied, they are ordered by single-best finish in either division and then by total points scored); with an average finish of two-and-one-half, the People's Republic of China won the 2006 trophy.
Top ten finishers
Team | Open division placing | Women's division placing | Average placing |
---|---|---|---|
People's Republic of China | 2 | 3 | 2.5 |
United States | 3 | 4 | 3.5 |
Russia | 6 | 2 | 4.0 |
Ukraine | 8 | 1 | 4.5 |
Armenia | 1 | 8 | 4.5 |
Hungary | 5 | 5 | 5.0 |
Netherlands | 12 | 7 | 9.5 |
Georgia | 14 | 6 | 10.0 |
Czech Republic | 11 | 10 | 10.5 |
Bulgaria | 9 | 13 | 11.0 |
[edit] Participating teams
Squads representing 133 nations, three international organizations, three constituent countries, two autonomous entities, two crown dependencies, two special administrative regions, two insular areas, and one associated state were entered into the Olympiad, comprising 1307 players (some registered players, though, did not play).
Entering teams in the open and women's division were
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Entering teams only in the open division were
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[edit] FIDE Congress
Concomitant to the chess competition was the 77th FIDE Congress, in which delegates from national chess federations met to transact business. Incumbent FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov faced criticisms for alleged mismanagement and corruption, primarily from Western federations, including those of the United States, England, France, and Canada, but, with the support of most Asian and African delegates, notably those representing Russia and Singapore, staved off a challenge from Dutch businessman Bessel Kok to retain his position through 2010, winning 96 votes (to Kok's 54). [2]
The general assembly also awarded the 38th Chess Olympiad, to be held in 2010, to Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, the site of the 2005 World Chess Cup and one of five locales that made bids. The city led after every round of the exhaustive ballot runoff voting, eventually winning, 71-64, over Budva, Montenegro.
[edit] Associated events
Held in conjunction with the Olympiad, though not officially sponsored by FIDE, were two computer chess events: the 14th World Computer Chess Championship, played at classical time controls, and the 14th World Computer Speed Chess Championship. Junior won its fifth championship and third in five years in the slower event, while newcomer Ikarus defeated four-time defending champion Shredder to win the blitz chess event.
[edit] External links
- Olympiad official homepage
- FIDE press release on Olympiad results
- Detailed Olympiad results
- This Week in Chess round-by-round Olympiad summaries
[edit] Notes
- ^ Although commonly referred to as the Men's division, this division is open to both male and female players, like Grandmaster Zhu Chen, the 2001 women's world champion, representing Qatar.
- ^ Where teams share the same total score, they are ordered by Buchholz tiebreak scores, calculated by summing the final scores of each opponent played by a given team. It was on the basis of a superior sum of opponents' scores, 392.5 to 380.5, that the United States claimed third place over Israel.
- ^ Players are ordered by board, from first to last, in the same fashion in which they principally played; the fifth and sixth players of each team may have played on higher boards during the Olympiad but played fewer games than the players who primarily occupied the positions.
- ^ a b All players are Grandmasters except where a note to the contrary is present.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Teams were initially seeded into the Olympiad on the basis of the average Elo rating of the top four players expected to compose each team; for example, the highest-seeded team, Russia, entered the tournament with an average FIDE rating of 2718, whilst the lowest-seeded team, Somalia, fielded no players with international ratings (and was therefore assessed an average rating of 1600).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k The ratings averaged are those of the top four players expected to compose each team.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Inasmuch as the tournament consisted of 13 rounds, with four games played by each team per round, the maximum number of points one team could accumulate was 52.
- ^ a b c d e f IM denotes International Master.
- ^ Rank is after the application of tiebreaks, where applicable.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j A player's percentage attained is the fraction of possible points he/she actually earned; a player winning five games, drawing three, and losing two would, having scored 6.5 points over 10 games, achieve a 65 per cent success rate.
- ^ a b c d e GM denotes Grandmaster.
- ^ a b FM denotes FIDE Master.
- ^ a b Players with no rating have not played the required ten rated, FIDE-approved games before the April rating list was issued.
- ^ Where teams share the same total score, they are ordered by Buchholz tiebreak scores, calculated by summing the final scores of each opponent played by a given team. Georgia, for example, was placed ahead of the Netherlands because Georgia's opponents finished the tournament having scored 305.5 points, whilst those of the Netherlands scored but 276.5.
- ^ Players are ordered by board, from first to last, in the same fashion in which they principally played; the fourth player on each team will have played on a higher board during the Olympiad but will have played fewer games than the players who primarily occupied the positions.
- ^ Titles for all FIDE-titled players are provided.
- ^ Teams were initially seeded into the Olympiad on the basis of the average Elo rating of their expected players; for example, the highest-seeded team, Russia, entered the tournament with an average FIDE rating of 2490, whilst the lowest-seeded team, Yemen, fielded no players with international ratings (and was therefore assessed an average rating of 1600).
- ^ The ratings averaged are those of the top three players expected to compose each team.
- ^ Inasmuch as the tournament consisted of 13 rounds, with three games played by each team per round, the maximum number of points one team could accumulate was 39.
- ^ a b WGM denotes Woman Grandmaster.
- ^ a b c d WFM denotes Woman FIDE Master.
- ^ a b c WIM denotes Woman International Master.
- ^ Rank is after the application of tiebreaks, where applicable.
Preceded by 36th Chess Olympiad |
FIDE Chess Olympiad 37th (2006) |
Succeeded by 38th Chess Olympiad |
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