Chess Olympiad 1996 Yerevan, Armenia

The 32nd Chess Olympiad, organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open^[1] and women's tournament, took place between September 15 and October 2, 1996, in Yerevan, Armenia.

Contents  [hide] 1 Chess competition 1.1 Open tournament 1.1.1 Team results 1.1.1.1 Top ten overall finishers 1.2 Women's tournament 1.2.1 Team results 1.2.1.1 Top ten overall finishers 2 Notes

[edit]Chess competition

Both tournament sections were officiated by international arbiter Alesha Khachatrian (ARM). Teams were paired across the 14 rounds of competition according to the Swiss system; the open division was played over four boards per round, and the women's was played over three. 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.

[edit]Open tournament

The open division was contested by 114 teams representing 111 nations and territories; Armenia, as hosts, fielded three teams, and theInternational Braille Chess Association provided one squad.

[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[2]	Team	Players[3][4]	Seed[5]	Average July1996 FIDErating[6]	Matches won	Matches drawn	Matches lost	Total score[7]
First	Russia	Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Alexey Dreev, Peter Svidler, Evgeny Bareev, Sergei Rublevsky	1	2714	12	2	0	38½
Second	Ukraine	Vasyl Ivanchuk, Vladimir Malaniuk, Oleg Romanishin, Igor Novikov, Alexander Onischuk, Stanislav Savchenko	4	2633	10	4	0	35
Third	United States of America	Boris Gulko, Alex Yermolinsky, Nick De Firmian, Gregory Kaidanov, Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen	9	2595	8	3	3	34
Fourth	England	Nigel Short, Michael Adams, Jonathan Speelman, Matthew Sadler, Julian Hodgson, Stuart Conquest	2	2655	10	3	1	34
Fifth	Armenia 'A'	Vladimir Akopian, Rafael Vaganian, Smbat Lputian,Artashes Minasian, Ashot Anastasian, Arshak Petrosian	10	2593	7	5	2	33½
Sixth	Spain	Alexei Shirov, Miguel Illescas Córdoba, Jordi Magem Badals, David Garcia Ilundain, Pablo San Segundo Carrillo, Felix Izeta Txabarri	7	2605	9	3	2	33½
Seventh	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Ivan Sokolov, Predrag Nikolic, Bojan Kurajica, Emir Dizdarevic, IM [8] Nedeljko Kelecevic, IM Muhamed Sinanovic	12	2584	6	6	2	33½
Eighth	Georgia	Zurab Azmaiparashvili, Giorgi Giorgadze, Zurab Sturua,Gennadi Zaichik, Lasha Janjgava, IM Khvicha Supatashvili	11	2590	7	4	3	33
Ninth	Bulgaria	Veselin Topalov, Kiril Georgiev, Vasil Spasov, Vladimir Dimitrov, IM Vladimir Georgiev, IM Boris Chatalbashev	5	2619	9	2	3	33
Tenth	Germany	Artur Yusupov, Robert Hübner, Rustem Dautov, Eric Lobron, Jorg Hickl, Christopher Lutz	6	2619	9	1	4	33

[edit]Women's tournament

The women's division was contested by 74 teams representing 72 nations and territories; Armenia, as hosts, fielded two teams, and theInternational Braille Chess Association entered one squad.

[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 [9]	Team	Players [10][11]	Seed[12]	Average July1996 FIDE rating[13]	Matches won	Matches drawn	Matches lost	Total score[14]
First	Georgia	GM [15] Maia Chiburdanidze, IM [8] Nana Ioseliani, IMKetevan Arakhamia-Grant, WGM [16] Nino Gurieli	1	2498	10	4	0	30
Second	People's Republic of China	GM Xie Jun, WGM Zhu Chen, WGM Wang Lei, WGMWang Pin	3	2425	10	1	3	28½
Third	Russia	IM Alisa Galliamova, WGM Svetlana Matveeva, WGMSvetlana Prudnikova, WGM Ludmila Zaitseva	2	2443	8	3	3	28½
Fourth	Ukraine	WGM Inna Gaponenko, WGM Marta Litinskaya, WIM [17]Elena Sedina, WIM Natalia Zhukova	8	2343	6	6	2	26½
Fifth	Hungary	IM Zsofia Polgar, IM Ildikó Mádl, Nora Medvegy, WIMNikoletta Lakos	5	2387	8	3	3	26
Sixth	Romania	WGM Cristina Foisor, WGM Corina Peptan, WGM Elena Luminita Radu-Cosma, WIM Gabriela Olarasu	6	2355	8	3	3	25½
Seventh	Israel	WIM Masha Madl, WGM Anna Segal, Ludmila Tsifanskaya, WFM [18] Ela Pitam	13	2310	7	3	4	25
Eighth	Kazakhstan	WGM Elvira Sakhatova, WIM Fliura Uskova, WIMTamara Girkiyan-Klink, Tatyana Sergeeva	14	2305	9	1	4	24½
Ninth	Poland	WGM Agnieszka Brustman, WGM Monika Bobrowska,WIM Joanna Dworakowska, WFM Marta Zielinska	10	2330	8	2	4	24½
Tenth	England	WGM Susan Lalic, WIM Harriet Hunt, WFM Ruth Sheldon, WGM Jana Bellin	15	2303	7	3	4	24

[edit]Notes

1. ^ Although commonly referred to as the men's division, this section is open to both male and female players.
2. ^ 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, 448 to 447½, that United States of Americaclaimed third place over England.
3. ^ 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.
4. ^ All players are Grandmasters except where a note to the contrary is present.
5. ^ 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 2714, while the lowest-seeded team,United States Virgin Islands, fielded no players with international ratings (and was therefore assessed an average rating of 2000).
6. ^ The ratings averaged are those of the top four players expected to compose each team.
7. ^ In as much as the tournament consisted of 14 rounds, with four games played by each team per round, the maximum number of points one team could accumulate was 56.
8. ^ ^a b IM denotes International Master.
9. ^ 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. China, for example, was placed ahead of the Russia because China's opponents finished the tournament having scored 347.0 points, while those of the Russia scored 345½.
10. ^ 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.
11. ^ Titles for all FIDE-titled players are provided.
12. ^ 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, Georgia, entered the tournament with an average FIDE rating of 2498, and the lowest-seeded team, U.S. Virgin Islands, fielded no players with international ratings (and was therefore assessed an average rating of 2000).
13. ^ The ratings averaged are those of the top three players expected to compose each team.
14. ^ In as much as the tournament consisted of 14 rounds, with three games played by each team per round, the maximum number of points one team could accumulate was 42.
15. ^ GM denotes Grandmaster.
16. ^ WGM denotes Woman Grandmaster.
17. ^ WIM denotes Woman International Master.
18. ^ WFM denotes Woman FIDE Master.