Chess Olympiad

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35th Chess Olympiad, Bled 2002

The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.

Contents

[edit] Birth of the Olympiad

The first Olympiad was unofficial. For the 1924 Olympics an attempt was made to include chess in the Olympic Games but this failed because of problems with distinguishing between amateur and professional players.[1] While the 1924 Summer Olympics was taking place in Paris, the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad also took place in Paris. FIDE was formed on Sunday, July 20, 1924, the closing day of the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad.[2]

FIDE organised the first Official Olympiad in 1927 which took place in London.[1] The Olympiads were occasionally held annually and at irregular intervals until World War II; since 1950 they have been held regularly every two years.[1]

Growth of Chess Olympiads
There were 16 participating nations in the 1st Chess Olympiad, 1927.
By the 37th Chess Olympiad, 2006, there were 133 participating nations.

The olympiad was created by a maltese man by the name of Joseph Pisani-Rossi[citation needed]

[edit] Recognised sport

Chess is a recognized sport by the International Olympic Committee[3] with FIDE being the recognized International Sports Federation for chess since June 1999.[3][4][5][6] As a member of the International Olympic Committee, FIDE adheres to its rules, including controversially having doping tests.[7][8][9][10] The prospects of chess becoming an Olympic sporting event at some future date remain unclear. The naming of FIDE's team championship as the "Chess Olympiad" is of historical origin and implies no connection between this event and the Olympic Games.

[edit] Competition

Each FIDE recognized chess association can enter a team into the Olympiad (for the UK one team for each of the four countries plus Guernsey and Jersey can enter a team separately).[1] Each team is made of up to six players, four regular players and two reserves (changed to 4+1 in Dresden 2008 [11]).[1] Initially each team played all other teams but as the event grew over the years this became impossible.[1] At first team seeding took place before the competition.[1] Later certain drawbacks were recognized with seeding and in 1976 a Swiss tournament system was adopted.[1]

The trophy for winning the men's team is the Hamilton-Russell Cup,[1] which was offered by the English magnate Frederick Hamilton-Russell as a prize for the 1st Olympiad (London 1927). The cup is kept by the winning team until the next event, when it will be consigned to the next winner. The trophy for the winning women's team is known as the Vera Menchik Cup the first Women's World Chess Champion.

The 2008 Olympiad was held in Dresden, Germany.[12] The 2010 Olympiad is going to be held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, and the 2012 Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey . There is already a bid for the 2014 Olympiad by Tromso, Norway.[13]

Bobby Fischer's score card from his round 3 game against Miguel Najdorf in the 1970 Chess Olympiad.
Symbol of 6th Chess Olympiad in Warsaw 1935 by J.Steifer


[edit] Men's Olympiads

Year Event Location Gold Silver Bronze
1924 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad (individual)		 France Paris, France Czechoslovakia 31 Hungary 30 Switzerland 29
1926 2nd unofficial Chess Olympiad
The Team Tournament
(part of FIDE summit)		 Hungary Budapest, Hungary Hungary 9 Yugoslavia 8 Romania 5
1927 1st Chess Olympiad United Kingdom London, United Kingdom Hungary 40 Denmark 38.5 England 36.5
1928 2nd Chess Olympiad Netherlands The Hague, Netherlands Hungary 44 USA 39.5 Poland 37
1930 3rd Chess Olympiad Germany Hamburg, Germany Poland 48.5 Hungary 47 Germany 44.5
1931 4th Chess Olympiad Czechoslovakia Prague, Czechoslovakia USA 48 Poland 47 Czechoslovakia 46.5
1933 5th Chess Olympiad United Kingdom Folkestone, United Kingdom USA 39 Czechoslovakia 37.5 Sweden 34
1935 6th Chess Olympiad Poland Warsaw, Poland USA 54 Sweden 52.5 Poland 52
1936 3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad
non-FIDE unofficial Chess Olympiad		 Germany Munich, Germany Hungary 110.5 Poland 108 Germany 106.5
1937 7th Chess Olympiad Sweden Stockholm, Sweden USA 54.5 Hungary 48.5 Poland 47
1939 8th Chess Olympiad Argentina Buenos Aires, Argentina Germany 36 Poland 35.5 Estonia 33.5
1950 9th Chess Olympiad Yugoslavia Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia Yugoslavia 45.5 Argentina 43.5 W. Germany 40.5
1952 10th Chess Olympiad Finland Helsinki, Finland USSR 21 Argentina 19.5 Yugoslavia 19
1954 11th Chess Olympiad Netherlands Amsterdam, Netherlands USSR 34 Argentina 27 Yugoslavia 26.5
1956 12th Chess Olympiad Soviet Union Moscow, Soviet Union USSR 31 Yugoslavia 26.5 Hungary 26.5
1958 13th Chess Olympiad Germany Munich, West Germany USSR 34.5 Yugoslavia 29 Argentina 25.5
1960 14th Chess Olympiad East Germany Leipzig, East Germany USSR 34 USA 29 Yugoslavia 27
1962 15th Chess Olympiad Bulgaria Varna, Bulgaria USSR 31.5 Yugoslavia 28 Argentina 26
1964 16th Chess Olympiad Israel Tel Aviv, Israel USSR 36.5 Yugoslavia 32 W. Germany 30.5
1966 17th Chess Olympiad Cuba La Habana, Cuba USSR 39.5 USA 34.5 Hungary 33.5
1968 18th Chess Olympiad Switzerland Lugano, Switzerland USSR 39.5 Yugoslavia 31 Bulgaria 30
1970 19th Chess Olympiad Germany Siegen, West Germany USSR 27.5 Hungary 26.5 Yugoslavia 26
1972 20th Chess Olympiad Yugoslavia Skopje, Yugoslavia USSR 42 Hungary 40.5 Yugoslavia 38
1974 21st Chess Olympiad France Nice, France USSR 46 Yugoslavia 37.5 USA 36.5
1976 22nd Chess Olympiad * Israel Haifa, Israel USA 37 Netherlands 36.5 England 35.5
1978 23rd Chess Olympiad Argentina Buenos Aires, Argentina Hungary 37 USSR 36 USA 35
1980 24th Chess Olympiad Malta Valletta, Malta USSR 39 Hungary 39 USA 35
1982 25th Chess Olympiad Switzerland Lucerne, Switzerland USSR 42.5 Czechoslovakia 36 USA 35
1984 26th Chess Olympiad Greece Thessaloniki, Greece USSR 41 England 37 USA 35
1986 27th Chess Olympiad United Arab Emirates Dubai, UAE USSR 40 England 39 USA 38
1988 28th Chess Olympiad Greece Thessaloniki, Greece USSR 40.5 England 34.5 Netherlands 34.5
1990 29th Chess Olympiad Yugoslavia Novi Sad, Yugoslavia USSR 39 USA 35.5 England 35.5
1992 30th Chess Olympiad Philippines Manila, Philippines Russia 39 Uzbekistan 35 Armenia 34.5
1994 31st Chess Olympiad Russia Moscow, Russia Russia 37.5 Bosnia/Herzegovina 35 Russia II 34.5
1996 32nd Chess Olympiad Armenia Yerevan, Armenia Russia 38.5 Ukraine 35 USA 34
1998 33rd Chess Olympiad Russia Elista, Russia Russia 35.5 USA 34.5 Ukraine 32.5
2000 34th Chess Olympiad Turkey Istanbul, Turkey Russia 38 Germany 37 Ukraine 35.5
2002 35th Chess Olympiad Slovenia Bled, Slovenia Russia 38.5 Hungary 37.5 Armenia 35
2004 36th Chess Olympiad Spain Calviá, Spain Ukraine 39.5 Russia 36.5 Armenia 36.5
2006 37th Chess Olympiad Italy Turin, Italy Armenia 36 China 34 USA 33
2008 38th Chess Olympiad Germany Dresden, Germany Armenia 19 Israel 18 USA 17
2010 39th Chess Olympiad Russia Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia
2012 40th Chess Olympiad Turkey Istanbul, Turkey

* In 1976 the USSR and other communist countries did not compete for political reasons.

[edit] Best individual results in men's Olympiads


# Player Country Olymp. Games Won Drawn Lost  %   Medals 
1 Mikhail Tal Soviet Union   Soviet Union
8
 101 65 34 2 81.2 5 - 2 - 0
2 Anatoly Karpov Soviet Union   Soviet Union
6
 68 43 23 2 80.1 3 - 2 - 0
3 Tigran Petrosian Soviet Union   Soviet Union
10
 129 78 50 1 79.8 6 - 0 - 0
4 Isaac Kashdan United States   United States
5
 79 52 22 5 79.7 2 - 1 - 2
5 Vassily Smyslov Soviet Union   Soviet Union
9
 113 69 42 2 79.6 4 - 2 - 2
6 David Bronstein Soviet Union   Soviet Union
4
 49 30 18 1 79.6 3 - 1 - 0
7 Garry Kasparov Soviet Union   Soviet Union (1)
8
 82 50 29 3 78.7 7 - 2 - 2
8 Alexander Alekhine    France   France
5
 72 43 27 2 78.5 2 - 2 - 0
9 Milan Matulovic Yugoslavia   Yugoslavia
6
 78 46 28 4 76.9 1 - 2 - 0
10 Paul Keres Soviet Union   Soviet Union (2) 
10
 141 85 44 12 75.9 5 - 1 - 1
11 Efim Geller Soviet Union   Soviet Union
7
 76 46 23 7 75.6 3 - 3 - 0
12 James Tarjan United States   United States
5
 51 32 13 6 75.5 2 - 1 - 0
13 Bobby Fischer United States   United States
4
 65 40 18 7 75.4 0 - 2 - 1
14 Mikhail Botvinnik Soviet Union   Soviet Union
6
 73 39 31 3 74.7 2 - 1 - 2
15 Salo Flohr Czechoslovakia   Czechoslovakia
7
 82 46 28 8 73.2 2 - 1 - 1


Fischer and Tal at the 1960 Olympiad

N O T E S:

  • Only players participating to at least four Olympiads are considered in this table.
  • Medals indicated are only individual ones (not team), in the order gold - silver - bronze.
  • (1)  Kasparov played his first four olympiads for the USSR, the rest for Russia. Four gold medals are for best-rating performance
           (first introduced at Thessaloniki 1984) and three for best score on first board.
  • (2)  Keres played his first three Olympiads for Estonia, the rest for the USSR.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Brace, Edward R. (1977), An Illustrated Dictionary of Chess, Hamlyn Publishing Group, p. 64, ISBN 1-55521-394-4 
  2. ^ FIDE History by Bill Wall. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  3. ^ a b Recognized Sports of the International Olympic Committee International Olympic Committee official website. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  4. ^ International Federation (IF) for chess. International Olympic Committee official website. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  5. ^ FIDE - Uniting the Chess World FIDE Official website. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  6. ^ ARISF Members Association of Recognized IOC International Sports Federation. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  7. ^ Complete FIDE Anti-Doping Documents FIDE official website. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  8. ^ Controversy over FIDE doping check ChessBase.com Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  9. ^ The Insanity of Drug Testing in Chess by Jeremy Silman Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  10. ^ Chess Olympiad in Dresden 2008 chinaorbit.com Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  11. ^ FIDE submits regulation changes for Chess Olympiad Fide.com
  12. ^ Chess Olympiad Dresden 2008 dresden2008.de
  13. ^ Tromso bid for the Olympiad 2014 Chessdom

[edit] External links


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Chess Olympiads

1927 · 1928 · 1930 · 1931 · 1933 · 1935 · 1937 · 1939 · 1950 · 1952 · 1954 · 1956 · 1958 · 1960 · 1962 · 1964 · 1966 · 1968 · 1970 · 1972 · 1974 · 1976 · 1978 · 1980 · 1982 · 1984 · 1986 · 1988 · 1990 · 1992 · 1994 · 1996 · 1998 · 2000 · 2002 · 2004 · 2006 · 2008 · 2010
See also: Blind Chess Olympiad
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_Olympiad"