34th Chess Olympiad
![](../I/m/Chess_Olympiad_2000_Istanbul.gif)
The 34th Chess Olympiad, organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open[1] and women's tournament, took place between October 28 and November 12, 2000, in Istanbul, Turkey. There were 126 teams in the open event and 86 in the women's event.
Both tournament sections were officiated by international arbiter Geurt Gijssen (Netherlands). Teams were paired across the 14 rounds of competition according to the Swiss system. The open division was played over four boards per round, whilst the women's was played over three. In the event of a draw, the tie-break was decided first by the Buchholz system and secondly by match points.
The time control for each game permitted each player 100 minutes to make the first 40 of his or her moves, then an additional 50 minutes to make the next 20 moves, and then 10 minutes to finish the game, with an additional 30 seconds devolving on each player after each move, beginning with the first.
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 126 teams representing 124 nations. Turkey, as hosts, fielded two teams, whilst the International Braille Chess Association provided one squad. Nicaragua, Mauritania, and Djibouti were signed up but never arrived.
Once again, Russia had to do without their strongest players, the "Three Ks". Classical World Champion Garry Kasparov and challenger Vladimir Kramnik were in the midst of their championship match, and ex-champion Anatoly Karpov was still at odds with the national federation. Captained by the new FIDE champion Khalifman, however, Russia were still favourites, and the team did win their fifth consecutive title, although only by a single point. Germany took the silver medals, while Ukraine clinched the bronze, beating Hungary on tie-break. Pre-tournament medal favourites England, whose average rating was a mere 13 points below Russia's, finished a disappointing seventh.
Open event # Country Players Average
ratingPoints Buchholz 1 Russia
Khalifman, Morozevich, Svidler, Rublevsky, Sakaev, Grischuk 2685 38 2 Germany
Yusupov, Hübner, Dautov, Lutz, Bischoff, Luther 2604 37 3 Ukraine
Ivanchuk, Ponomariov, Baklan, Eingorn, Romanishin, Malakhatko 2638 35½ 457.5 4 Hungary
Leko, Almási, Polgár, Portisch, Sax, Ruck 2661 35½ 455.5 5 Israel
Gelfand, Smirin, Avrukh, Psakhis, Sutovsky, Huzman 2652 34½ 6 Georgia
Azmaiparashvili, Giorgadze, Sturua, Kacheishvili, Gelashvili, Jobava 2602 34 7 England
Adams, Short, Hodgson, Speelman, Miles, Emms 2672 33 441.5 8 India
Krishnan Sasikiran, Abhijit Kunte, Pentala Harikrishna, Dibyendu Barua, Devaki Prasad, Surya Ganguly 2538 33 440.5 9 China
Ye Jiangchuan, Xu Jun, Peng Xiaomin, Wu Wenjin, Liang Chong, Ni Hua 2651 33 439.5 10 Switzerland
Korchnoi, Milov, Gallagher, Pelletier, Jenni, Hug 2562 33 432.5 # Country Average
ratingPoints Buchholz MP 11 Uzbekistan
2564 33 429.5 12 Slovenia
2550 33 421.0 13 Macedonia
2483 33 417.0 14 Bulgaria
2628 32½ 459.0 15 Poland
2590 32½ 437.5 16 France
2544 32½ 427.0 17 Armenia
2606 32 456.5 18 Bosnia and Herzegovina
2582 32 441.5 19 Philippines
2510 32 439.0 19 20 Greece
2541 32 439.0 16 21 Denmark
2580 32 436.0 22 Cuba
2546 32 432.5 23 Spain
2582 32 432.0 24 Yugoslavia
2542 32 427.5 25 Estonia
2530 32 421.0 26 United States
2627 31½ 449.0 27 Romania
2524 31½ 445.0 28 Slovakia
2552 31½ 442.5 29 Canada
2482 31½ 430.0 30 Scotland
2455 31½ 418.5 31 Lithuania
2490 31½ 414.0 32 Belarus
2577 31½ 398.5 33 Netherlands
2615 31 459.5 34 Latvia
2493 31 429.0 35 Moldova
2489 31 422.5 36 Australia
2483 31 410.0 37 Vietnam
2505 31 406.0 38 Brazil
2573 30½ 440.0 39 Czech Republic
2607 30½ 432.5 40 Singapore
2467 30½ 403.0 41 Kazakhstan
2564 30 434.5 42 Sweden
2548 30 432.5 43 Croatia
2579 30 427.5 44 Indonesia
2503 30 416.5 45 Finland
2451 30 411.5 46 Azerbaijan
2456 30 410.5 47 Portugal
2354 30 410.0 48 Mongolia
2415 30 407.5 49 Kyrgyzstan
2489 29½ 426.5 50 Egypt
2426 29½ 405.5 51 Ireland
2426 29½ 397.5 52 Norway
2374 29½ 396.5 53 Argentina
2503 29½ 386.5 54 Belgium
2394 29½ 377.5 55 Iceland
2469 29 430.0 56 Italy
2476 29 425.0 57 Chile
2411 29 404.0 58 Bangladesh
2407 29 373.5 59 Turkmenistan
2449 28½ 410.5 60 Austria
2404 28½ 395.5 14 61 Iran
2408 28½ 395.5 13 62 Turkey
2337 28½ 393.5 63 Morocco
2386 28½ 393.0 64 Malaysia
2307 28½ 387.0 65 Peru
2376 28½ 366.5 66 Turkey "B"
2265 28 393.0 67 Faroe Islands
2321 28 385.5 68 Ecuador
2386 28 379.5 69 Andorra
2353 28 379.0 70 South Africa
2221 28 373.5 71 Tunisia
2219 28 372.5 72 Venezuela
2368 27½ 407.5 73 United Arab Emirates
2376 27½ 389.5 74 Luxembourg
2279 27½ 377.5 75 Paraguay
2320 27½ 374.5 76 Myanmar
2528 27 397.5 77 Mexico
2411 27 397.0 78 IBCA 2325 27 391.0 79 Pakistan
2301 27 381.5 12 80 Wales
2276 27 381.5 9 81 Costa Rica
2313 27 379.0 82 Qatar
2228 27 374.0 83 Colombia
2343 26½ 393.0 84 Angola
2060 26½ 375.5 85 Iraq
2365 26 396.5 86 Syria
2321 26 388.5 87 New Zealand
2352 26 386.0 88 Japan
2215 26 379.0 89 Puerto Rico
2202 26 367.5 90 Zambia
2232 25½ 387.0 91 Uruguay
2250 25½ 378.5 92 El Salvador
2185 25½ 370.5 93 Zimbabwe
2210 25½ 360.5 94 Sri Lanka
2081 25½ 356.5 95 Uganda
2218 25½ 351.5 96 Albania
2364 25 388.5 97 Cyprus
2253 25 374.5 98 Bolivia
2257 25 370.0 99 Yemen
2299 25 369.0 100 Liechtenstein
2121 25 336.5 101 Barbados
2057 25 331.5 102 Jamaica
2234 24½ 367.0 103 Kenya
2126 24½ 353.5 104 Suriname
2051 24½ 342.0 105 Honduras
2123 24 363.0 106 Botswana
2093 24 349.0 107 Netherlands Antilles
2159 24 346.0 108 Palestine
2087 24 333.0 109 Namibia
2152 24 305.5 110 Malta
2212 23½ 354.5 111 Monaco
2210 23½ 342.5 112 Macau
2190 23½ 330.0 113 Hong Kong
2108 23½ 326.5 114 Ethiopia
2079 23½ 319.5 13 115 Mauritania
2000 23½ 319.5 11 116 Panama
2058 23½ 310.5 117 Jersey
2145 23½ 301.5 118 Trinidad and Tobago
2214 23 119 San Marino
2051 22½ 120 Bermuda
2006 20½ 121 Brunei
2000 20 298.5 122 Seychelles
2056 20 297.5 123 Papua New Guinea
2051 19½ 124 Guernsey
2092 18½ 125 United States Virgin Islands
2020 13½ 126 Rwanda
2000 7½
Individual medals
- Performance rating:
Alexander Morozevich 2804
- Board 1:
Utut Adianto 7½ / 9 = 83.3%
- Board 2:
Ruslan Ponomariov 8½ / 11 = 77.3%
- Board 3:
Dragoljub Jacimović 7 / 9 = 77.8%
- Board 4:
Ashot Anastasian 9 / 12 = 75.0%
- 1st reserve:
Taleb Moussa 6 / 7 = 85.7%
- 2nd reserve:
Alexei Barsov 5½ / 7 = 78.6%
Women's results
The women's division was contested by 86 teams representing 84 nations. Turkey, as hosts, fielded two teams, whilst the International Braille Chess Association entered one squad.
Defending champions China were huge favourites on rating and retained their title, led by reigning world champion Xie Jun and with two future champions in the team: Zhu Chen and Xu Yuhua. Georgia and Russia took the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
# Country Players Average
ratingPoints Buchholz 1 China
Xie Jun, Zhu Chen, Xu Yuhua, Wang Lei 2537 32 2 Georgia
Chiburdanidze, Ioseliani, Khurtsidze, Gurieli 2480 31 3 Russia
Galliamova, Kovalevskaya, Matveeva, Stepovaya-Dianchenko 2480 28½ 4 Ukraine
Zhukova, Zatonskih, Vasilevich, Sedina 2442 27 5 Yugoslavia
Marić, Bojković, Prudnikova, Chelushkina 2430 26 6 Netherlands
Zhaoqin Peng, Sziva, Bosboom-Lanchava, Jap Tjoen San 2329 25½ 7 Hungary
Mádl, Lakos, Grábics, Gara 2369 25 342.0 8 Germany
Kachiani-Gersinska, Paehtz, Koglin, Trabert 2364 25 333.5 9 England
Hunt, Lalic, Houska, Richards 2349 25 325.5 10 Armenia
Danielian, Mkrtchian, Hlgatian, Aginian 2303 24½ 342.5 # Country Average
ratingPoints Buchholz MP 11 Romania
2350 24½ 333.0 12 Moldova
2385 24 328.5 13 India
2272 24 328.0 14 Poland
2386 24 323.5 15 United States
2261 24 316.0 16 Bulgaria
2328 23½ 324.5 17 Cuba
2302 23½ 317.0 18 Latvia
2249 23½ 303.0 19 Kazakhstan
2299 23 325.0 20 Israel
2325 23 300.5 21 Azerbaijan
2251 22½ 334.5 22 Czech Republic
2271 22½ 334.0 23 Vietnam
2367 22½ 329.0 24 Belarus
2325 22½ 326.5 25 Spain
2251 22½ 320.0 26 Greece
2295 22½ 312.5 27 Australia
2188 22½ 306.0 28 Slovakia
2305 22½ 305.0 29 Estonia
2239 22½ 302.5 30 Lithuania
2237 22 321.0 31 Uzbekistan
2171 22 307.0 32 Croatia
2254 22 304.5 33 Mongolia
2162 22 301.5 34 Finland
2148 22 300.0 35 Portugal
2065 22 296.0 36 Bosnia and Herzegovina
2237 21½ 313.5 37 Bangladesh
2050 21½ 305.0 38 Sweden
2188 21½ 303.0 39 France
2269 21½ 296.5 40 Philippines
2070 21½ 294.5 41 Austria
2170 21 309.5 42 Denmark
2108 21 305.5 43 Turkmenistan
2233 21 304.0 44 Switzerland
2162 21 300.0 45 Slovenia
2207 21 297.0 14 46 Ecuador
2309 21 297.0 12 47 Macedonia
2122 21 295.0 48 Italy
2039 21 281.0 49 Venezuela
2101 20½ 301.5 50 Kyrgyzstan
2123 20½ 295.5 51 Argentina
2146 20½ 287.5 52 IBCA 2122 20½ 285.5 53 Iran
2008 20½ 285.0 54 Wales
2053 20½ 280.5 55 Indonesia
2080 20½ 272.0 56 Norway
2062 20 297.5 57 Brazil
2151 20 294.0 58 Scotland
2084 20 291.0 59 Canada
2070 20 274.0 60 Malaysia
2061 20 268.0 61 Ireland
2035 20 239.0 62 Mexico
2069 19½ 296.0 63 Turkey
2032 19½ 286.5 64 United Arab Emirates
2000 19½ 274.5 65 Costa Rica
2000 19½ 262.5 66 Japan
2000 19½ 259.0 67 Turkey "B"
2000 19½ 256.5 68 Colombia
2159 19 279.5 69 Albania
2077 19 266.0 70 Guatemala
2070 19 257.0 71 South Africa
2050 18½ 270.0 72 Iraq
2061 18½ 268.5 73 El Salvador
2015 18½ 262.0 74 New Zealand
2000 18½ 243.5 75 Morocco
2000 18½ 242.0 76 Puerto Rico
2000 18½ 233.5 77 Syria
2000 18 257.0 78 Iceland
2042 18 246.5 79 Singapore
2000 18 238.5 80 Sri Lanka
2000 18 232.5 81 Botswana
2000 18 224.5 82 Angola
2000 14½ 225.0 83 Zambia
2000 14½ 224.5 84 Macau
2000 10½ 85 Yemen
2000 7½ 86 United States Virgin Islands
2021 2½
Individual medals
- Performance rating:
Zhu Chen 2641
- Board 1:
Viktorija Čmilytė 9½ / 12 = 79.2%
- Board 2:
Zhu Chen 9 / 11 = 81.8%
- Board 3:
Nino Khurtsidze 11 / 13 = 84.6%
- Reserve:
Zahira El-Ghabi 6½ / 7 = 92.9%
Overall title
The Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy is awarded to the nation that has the best average rank in the open and women's divisions. Where two or more teams are tied, they are ordered by best single finish in either division and then by total number of points scored.
The trophy, named after the former women's world champion (1961–78), was created by FIDE in 1997.
# | Team | Open division |
Women's division |
Average |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
1 | 3 | 2 |
2 | ![]() |
3 | 4 | 3½ |
3 | ![]() |
6 | 2 | 4 |
Notes
- ↑ Although commonly referred to as the men's division, this section is open to both male and female players.
- 34th Chess Olympiad: Istanbul 2000 OlimpBase