31st Chess Olympiad explained

The 31st Chess Olympiad (Russian: 31-я Шахматная олимпиада, 31-ya Shakhmatnaya olimpiada), organized by FIDE and comprising an open^[1] and a women's tournament, took place between November 30 and December 17, 1994, in Moscow, Russia. Both tournament sections were officiated by international arbiter Yuri Averbakh of Russia.

The record number of nations once again counted some old faces playing under new flags. Yugoslavia was back, but now represented by the federation of Serbia-Montenegro. Another former Yugoslav republic, Macedonia, also made its debut, as did the Czech Republic and Slovakia who competed individually for the first time. Finally, the International Braille Chess Association entered two truly international teams.

The Russian team retained their title, captained by PCA world champion Kasparov. Due to a dispute with the national federation, FIDE champion Anatoly Karpov was not present. A strong performance from Bosnia-Herzegovina, led by Nikolić, earned them the silver, while the Russian "B" team of juniors, somewhat surprisingly, took the bronze—the first and only time that the same nation has occupied more than one medal rank.

Open event

The open division was contested by 124 teams representing 122 nations plus Russia "B" and the IBCA. 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, Bareev, Dreev, Tiviakov, Svidler	2714	37½
2			2585	35
3	"B"		2570	34½	457.5

	Country	Average rating	Points	Buchholz	MP
4		2630	34½
5		2570	34	453.0
6		2610	34	450.5
7		2598	34	432.5
8		2619	33½	449.5
9		2624	33½	448.5
10		2564	33½	446.5
11		2530	33½	443.5
12		2565	33½	434.0
13		2601	33	442.5
14		2611	33	438.0
15		2546	32½	453.0
16		2611	32½	452.0
17		2536	32½	449.5
18		2525	32½	440.0
19		2595	32	437.0
20		2508	32	433.0	18
21		2465	32	433.0	16
22		2553	32	432.0
23		2569	32	427.5
24		2528	31½	448.5
25		2495	31½	438.5
26		2555	31½	435.0
27		2496	31½	427.5
28		2501	31	440.0
29		2521	31	431.5
30		2504	31	422.0
31		2509	31	421.5
32		2464	31	420.5
33		2519	30½	436.5
34		2529	30½	432.5
35		2428	30½	421.0
36		2188	30½	420.0
37		2455	30½	416.0
38		2495	30½	410.5
39		2415	30½	403.5
40		2418	30	425.0
41		2499	30	424.0
42		2476	30	423.5
43		2501	30	421.5
44		2486	30	420.5
45		2440	30	418.0
46		2345	30	405.0
47		2464	29½	430.5
48		2394	29½	418.5
49		2395	29½	408.5	15
50		2449	29½	408.5	14
51		2375	29½	407.0
52		2260	29½	367.5
53		2448	29	411.5
54		2428	29	409.5
55		2475	29	398.0
56		2303	29	394.5
57		2381	29	393.0
58		2265	29	392.0
59		2431	29	388.0
60		2343	29	384.0
61		2400	28½	405.5
62		2510	28½	402.0
63		2333	28½	396.5
64		2148	28½	367.5
65		2440	28	413.0
66		2420	28	410.0
67		2270	28	399.0	14
68		2320	28	399.0	12
69		2385	28	395.5
70		2268	28	377.5
71		2341	27½	397.5
72		2180	27½	386.5
73		2193	27½	372.5
74		2314	27½	371.0
75		2184	27½	370.5
76		2178	27½	367.5
77		2359	27	392.5
78		2391	27	388.5
79		2349	27	368.5
80		2255	26½
81		2289	26	377.5
82		2210	26	375.5
83		2135	26	359.5
84		2171	26	354.0
85		2134	26	348.5
86		2300	25½	390.0
87		2261	25½	382.5
88		2128	25½	380.0
89		2000	25½	373.5
90		2286	25½	372.0
91		2204	25½	360.5
92		2183	25½	355.0
93		2206	25½	356.5
94		2053	25½	316.5
95		2190	25	375.0
96		2051	25	368.5
97		2058	25	357.5
98		2041	24½	378.0
99		2040	24½	364.5
100		2213	24½	363.0
101		2123	24½	343.5
102		2000	24½	329.5
103		2026	24½	322.5
104		2250	24	373.0
105		2190	24	364.5
106		2146	24	349.0
107		2094	24	345.0
108		2054	24	324.5
109		2051	23½	368.0
110		2105	23½	355.0
111		2199	23½	347.5
112		2043	23½	327.5
113		2051	23½	322.0
114		2000	23½	315.0
115		2118	23	321.5
116		2053	23	319.5
117		2000	23	314.5
118		2000	22½
119		2000	22
120		2000	21½
121		2000	19
122	and	2000	15½
123		2000	14
124		2000	11

Individual medals

• Performance rating: Veselin Topalov 2781
• Board 1: Daniel Hugo Cámpora 7½ / 9 = 83.3%
• Board 2: Carlos Dávila 11 / 14 = 78.6%
• Board 3: Ennio Arlandi 7½ / 9 = 83.3%
• Board 4: Yasser Seirawan 8½ / 10 = 85.0%
• 1st reserve: Leighton Williams 6 / 7 = 85.7%
• 2nd reserve: Brian Kelly 5½ / 7 = 78.6%

Women's event

The women's division was contested by 81 teams representing 79 nations plus Russia "B" and the IBCA. 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.

The Georgian team, led by former world champion Chiburdanidze, retained their title. Hungary returned to the medal ranks due to the return of Zsuzsa and Zsófia Polgár. Meanwhile, little sister Judit played first board for the Hungarian team in the open event - the first woman to do so. China, captained by reigning world champion Xie Jun, took the bronze.

	Country	Players	Average rating	Points	Buchholz
1		Chiburdanidze, Ioseliani, Arakhamia-Grant, Gurieli	2463	32
2			2472	31
3			2420	27	351.0

	Country	Average rating	Points	Buchholz
4		2357	27	346.0
5		2340	25
6		2255	24½	336.5
7		2352	24½	326.0
8		2270	24½	320.5
9		2260	24	346.0
10		2382	24	342.0
11		2267	24	338.0
12	"B"	2238	24	337.5
13		2317	24	328.0
14		2120	24	324.5
15		2263	24	322.5
16		2280	24	314.0
17		2378	23½	332.5
18		2352	23½	329.5
19		2258	23½	324.5
20		2298	23½	309.0
21		2227	23½	304.0
22		2317	23	329.5
23		2212	23	304.5
24		2203	22½	323.5
25		2203	22½	322.0
26		2188	22½	320.5
27		2317	22½	320.0
28		2180	22½	317.5
29		2167	22½	314.5
30		2167	22½	310.5
31		2150	22½	305.0
32		2143	22½	300.5
33		2143	22½	289.0
34		2178	22	309.0
35		2213	22	302.0
36		2152	22	301.0
37		2188	22	300.0
38		2263	21½	343.0
39		2240	21½	316.5
40		2177	21½	301.0
41		2072	21½	287.0
42		2167	21	305.0
43		2158	21	295.0
44		2095	21	290.0
45		2113	20½	294.0
46		2058	20½	289.5
47		2015	20½	276.0
48		2032	20½	274.5
49		2012	20½	272.0
50		2038	20	293.0
51		2035	20	292.5
52		2090	20	287.0
53		2115	20	285.5
54		2095	20	283.0
55		2037	20	263.0
56		2118	19½	296.0
57		2027	19½	288.0
58		2040	19½	275.0
59		2003	19½	265.5
60		2022	19½	248.0
61		2000	19½	219.0
62		2110	19	294.5
63		2000	19	273.5
64		2000	19	244.0
65		2003	19	226.5
66		2000	19	222.0
67		2000	18½	283.5
68		2002	18½	281.0
69		2000	18½	273.5
70		2000	18½	259.5
71		2000	18½	229.0
72		2002	18	240.0
73		2003	18	223.5
74		2012	18	213.0
75		2000	17½
76		2003	17
77		2000	14½
78		2000	10½
79		2000	10	213.5
80		2000	10	212.0
81		2003	7½

Individual medals

• Performance rating: Zsófia Polgár 2625
• Board 1: Lubov Zsiltzova-Lisenko (IBCA) 10½ / 13 = 80.8%
• Board 2: Zsófia Polgár 12½ / 14 = 89.3%
• Board 3: Amelia Hernández 8½ / 9 = 94.4%
• Reserve: Elena Sedina 10½ / 12 = 87.5%

References

• 31st Chess Olympiad: Moscow 1994 OlimpBase

Notes and References

1. Although commonly referred to as the men's division, this section is open to both male and female players.