32nd Chess Olympiad explained

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
rating !! Points !! Buchholz
1	Kasparov, Kramnik, Dreev, Svidler, Bareev, Rublevsky	2714	38½
2		2633	35
3		2595	34	448.0
4		2655	34	447.5
5		2593	33½	452.0
6		2605	33½	451.5
7		2584	33½	439.5
8		2590	33	446.0
9		2619	33	443.0
10		2619	33	440.0

	Country	Average rating	Points	Buchholz	MP
11		2544	33	434.0
12		2549	33	426.5
13		2518	32½	448.5
14		2564	32½	436.5
15		2529	32½	430.0
=16		2564	32	443.5	17
=16		2600	32	443.5	17
18		2643	32	440.5
19		2510	32	434.5
20		2515	32	424.5
21		2536	31½	438.5
22		2540	31½	423.0
23		2509	31½	419.5
24		2563	31½	412.5
25		2541	31	438.0
26		2470	31	431.5
27		2478	31	412.0
28		2465	31	411.5
29		2454	31	397.5
30		2511	30½	436.0
31		2528	30½	434.5
32		2555	30½	432.5
33		2570	30½	426.5
34		2508	30½	422.0
35		2478	30½	421.5
36		2545	30½	420.0
37		2546	30½	419.5
38		2519	30½	404.0
39		2445	30½	390.0
40		2535	30	409.0
41		2476	30	407.5
42	"C"	2400	30	404.0
43		2450	30	402.0
44		2414	29½	426.5
45		2514	29½	411.5
46		2419	29½	401.5
47		2283	29	398.5
48		2408	29	393.5
49		2549	28½	438.5
50	"B"	2456	28½	413.0
51		2446	28½	408.5
52		2451	28½	408.0
53		2479	28½	395.5
54		2391	28½	391.0
55		2395	28½	389.5
56		2436	28½	381.0
57		2468	28	404.5
58		2448	28	400.0
59		2449	28	397.0
60		2080	28	364.5
61		2423	27½	411.5
62		2338	27½	395.0
63		2355	27½	388.0
64		2274	27½	387.0
65		2254	27½	361.0
66		2384	27	393.5
67		2278	27	379.5
68		2433	26½	405.0
69		2318	26½	396.5
70		2369	26½	393.0
71		2258	26½	386.0
72		2238	26½	382.5
73		2236	27½	380.0
74		2285	27½	379.5
75		2301	27½	376.5
76		2241	27½	375.5
77		2261	26	375.5
78		2220	26	369.5
79		2240	26	368.5
80		2291	26	367.0
81		2256	26	361.5
82		2311	25½	377.0
83		2231	25½	371.0
84		2183	25½	363.5
85		2145	25½	363.0
86		2239	25½	356.0
87		2100	25½	351.5
88		2328	25	379.0
89		2179	25	368.0
90		2219	25	358.5
91		2204	25	346.5
92		2058	24½	378.5
93		2165	24½	372.5
94		2210	24½	357.5
95		2113	24½	354.5
96		2140	24½	348.5
97		2094	24½	346.0
98		2086	24½	344.0
99		2086	24	341.5
100		2144	24	338.5
101		2030	23½	325.0
102		2053	23½	304.5
103		2000	23
104		2094	22½	335.0
105		2140	22½	319.0
106		2000	22	323.5
107		2031	22	317.5
108		2000	21½	328.0
109		2000	21½	305.5
110		2024	20
111		2000	18½
112		2000	17
113		2033	16
114		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.

	Players	Average rating	Points	Buchholz
1	Chiburdanidze, Ioseliani, Arakhamia-Grant, Gurieli	2498	30
2		2425	28½	347.0
3		2443	28½	345.5
4		2343	26½
5		2387	26
6		2355	25½
7		2310	25
8		2305	24½	340.5
9		2330	24½	339.5
10		2303	24	346.0

	Country	Average rating	Points	Buchholz	MP
11		2178	24	309.5
12		2258	24	305.5
13		2395	23½	335.5
=14		2322	23½	332.5	15
=14		2348	23½	332.5	15
16		2335	23½	331.5
17		2222	23½	321.5
18		2252	23½	321.0
=19		2253	23½	316.5	16
=19		2233	23½	316.5	16
21		2258	23½	312.5
22		2198	23½	291.5
23		2250	23	328.0
24		2197	23	321.0
25		2152	23	316.0
26		2211	23	314.0
27		2115	23	275.5
28		2195	22½	311.5
29	"B"	2138	22½	310.5
30		2210	22½	301.5
31		2242	22	312.0
32		2252	22	304.0
33		2110	22	303.5
34		2245	21½
35		2312	21½	314.0
36		2245	21½	299.5
37		2108	21½	299.0
38		2145	21½	298.0
39		2123	21½	286.5
40		2112	21½	285.5
41		2048	21½	283.0
42		2112	20½	309.0
43		2105	20½	291.5
44		2015	20½	282.0
45		2083	20½	280.5
46		2080	20½	278.0
47		2065	20	290.5
48		2048	20	287.0
49		2010	20	282.0
50		2043	20	280.5
51		2162	20	278.5
52		2093	20	274.5
53		2140	19½	297.0
54		2022	19½	282.0
55		2133	19	282.0
56		2017	19	262.5
57		2000	19	245.5
58		2002	19	240.0
59		2060	18½	277.0
60		2033	18½	266.5
61		2000	18½	229.0
62		2000	18½	217.5
63		2067	18	285.0
64		2050	18	259.0
65		2007	18	232.5
66		2000	18	223.0
67		2002	17½	264.5
68		2017	17½	240.5
69		2002	16½
70		2000	15	229.5
71		2000	15	228.5
72		2013	14½
73		2000	8
74		2000	2