34th Chess Olympiad explained

The 34th Chess Olympiad (Turkish: 34. Satranç Olimpiyatı), 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 their 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
rating !! Points !! Buchholz
1	Khalifman, Morozevich, Svidler, Rublevsky, Sakaev, Grischuk	2685	38
2		2604	37
3		2638	35½	457.5
4		2661	35½	455.5
5		2652	34½
6		2602	34
7		2672	33	441.5
8		2538	33	440.5
9		2651	33	439.5
10		2562	33	432.5

	Country	Average rating	Points	Buchholz	MP
11		2564	33	429.5
12		2550	33	421.0
13		2483	33	417.0
14		2628	32½	459.0
15		2590	32½	437.5
16		2544	32½	427.0
17		2606	32	456.5
18		2582	32	441.5
19		2510	32	439.0	19
20		2541	32	439.0	16
21		2580	32	436.0
22		2546	32	432.5
23		2582	32	432.0
24		2542	32	427.5
25		2530	32	421.0
26		2627	31½	449.0
27		2524	31½	445.0
28		2552	31½	442.5
29		2482	31½	430.0
30		2455	31½	418.5
31		2490	31½	414.0
32		2577	31½	398.5
33		2615	31	459.5
34		2493	31	429.0
35		2489	31	422.5
36		2483	31	410.0
37		2505	31	406.0
38		2573	30½	440.0
39		2607	30½	432.5
40		2467	30½	403.0
41		2564	30	434.5
42		2548	30	432.5
43		2579	30	427.5
44		2503	30	416.5
45		2451	30	411.5
46		2456	30	410.5
47		2354	30	410.0
48		2415	30	407.5
49		2489	29½	426.5
50		2426	29½	405.5
51		2426	29½	397.5
52		2374	29½	396.5
53		2503	29½	386.5
54		2394	29½	377.5
55		2469	29	430.0
56		2476	29	425.0
57		2411	29	404.0
58		2407	29	373.5
59		2449	28½	410.5
60		2404	28½	395.5	14
61		2408	28½	395.5	13
62		2337	28½	393.5
63		2386	28½	393.0
64		2307	28½	387.0
65		2376	28½	366.5
66	"B"	2265	28	393.0
67		2321	28	385.5
68		2386	28	379.5
69		2353	28	379.0
70		2221	28	373.5
71		2219	28	372.5
72		2368	27½	407.5
73		2376	27½	389.5
74		2279	27½	377.5
75		2320	27½	374.5
76		2528	27	397.5
77		2411	27	397.0
78		2325	27	391.0
79		2301	27	381.5	12
80		2276	27	381.5	9
81		2313	27	379.0
82		2228	27	374.0
83		2343	26½	393.0
84		2060	26½	375.5
85		2365	26	396.5
86		2321	26	388.5
87		2352	26	386.0
88		2215	26	379.0
89		2202	26	367.5
90		2232	25½	387.0
91		2250	25½	378.5
92		2185	25½	370.5
93		2210	25½	360.5
94		2081	25½	356.5
95		2218	25½	351.5
96		2364	25	388.5
97		2253	25	374.5
98		2257	25	370.0
99		2299	25	369.0
100		2121	25	336.5
101		2057	25	331.5
102		2234	24½	367.0
103		2126	24½	353.5
104		2051	24½	342.0
105		2123	24	363.0
106		2093	24	349.0
107		2159	24	346.0
108		2087	24	333.0
109		2152	24	305.5
110		2212	23½	354.5
111		2210	23½	342.5
112		2190	23½	330.0
113		2108	23½	326.5
114		2079	23½	319.5	13
115		2000	23½	319.5	11
116		2058	23½	310.5
117		2145	23½	301.5
118		2214	23
119		2051	22½
120		2006	20½
121		2000	20	298.5
122		2056	20	297.5
123		2051	19½
124		2092	18½
125		2020	13½
126		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 event

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.

	Players	Average rating	Points	Buchholz
1	Xie Jun, Zhu Chen, Xu Yuhua, Wang Lei	2537	32
2		2480	31
3		2480	28½
4		2442	27
5		2430	26
6		2329	25½
7		2369	25	342.0
8		2364	25	333.5
9		2349	25	325.5
10		2303	24½	342.5

	Country	Average rating	Points	Buchholz	MP
11		2350	24½	333.0
12		2385	24	328.5
13		2272	24	328.0
14		2386	24	323.5
15		2261	24	316.0
16		2328	23½	324.5
17		2302	23½	317.0
18		2249	23½	303.0
19		2299	23	325.0
20		2325	23	300.5
21		2251	22½	334.5
22		2271	22½	334.0
23		2367	22½	329.0
24		2325	22½	326.5
25		2251	22½	320.0
26		2295	22½	312.5
27		2188	22½	306.0
28		2305	22½	305.0
29		2239	22½	302.5
30		2237	22	321.0
31		2171	22	307.0
32		2254	22	304.5
33		2162	22	301.5
34		2148	22	300.0
35		2065	22	296.0
36		2237	21½	313.5
37		2050	21½	305.0
38		2188	21½	303.0
39		2269	21½	296.5
40		2070	21½	294.5
41		2170	21	309.5
42		2108	21	305.5
43		2233	21	304.0
44		2162	21	300.0
45		2207	21	297.0	14
46		2309	21	297.0	12
47		2122	21	295.0
48		2039	21	281.0
49		2101	20½	301.5
50		2123	20½	295.5
51		2146	20½	287.5
52		2122	20½	285.5
53		2008	20½	285.0
54		2053	20½	280.5
55		2080	20½	272.0
56		2062	20	297.5
57		2151	20	294.0
58		2084	20	291.0
59		2070	20	274.0
60		2061	20	268.0
61		2035	20	239.0
62		2069	19½	296.0
63		2032	19½	286.5
64		2000	19½	274.5
65		2000	19½	262.5
66		2000	19½	259.0
67	"B"	2000	19½	256.5
68		2159	19	279.5
69		2077	19	266.0
70		2070	19	257.0
71		2050	18½	270.0
72		2061	18½	268.5
73		2015	18½	262.0
74		2000	18½	243.5
75		2000	18½	242.0
76		2000	18½	233.5
77		2000	18	257.0
78		2042	18	246.5
79		2000	18	238.5
80		2000	18	232.5
81		2000	18	224.5
82		2000	14½	225.0
83		2000	14½	224.5
84		2000	10½
85		2000	7½
86		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.

	Open division	Women's division	Average
1	1	3	2
2	3	4	3½
3	6	2	4

Notes

34th Chess Olympiad: Istanbul 2000 OlimpBase

Notes and References

Although commonly referred to as the men's division, this section is open to all players.