Chess Olympiads

by Bill Wall

From July 12-20, 1924, the first world

team chess competition (called the
Chess Olympic Games or Tournament
of Nations) took place at the Hotel
Majestic in Paris, France, to coincide
with the 8th Summer Olympic Games.
It is not counted as an official Chess
Olympiad, because it was not organized
by the World Chess Federation (FIDE)
and because the scoring was not the
same as for later events. There were 55
players (one player later withdrew) Bill Wall
from 18 countries. Each team had a
maximum of four players. Ireland,
Canada, and Yugoslavia (Kingdom of
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes) only had
one player. Although officially chess
was not part of the Olympic Games, the No fool can play chess, and
rules of the Olympiads applied with a only fools do. —German
ban on professional players. The two proverb
players representing Russia were
refugees living in Paris. Marcel
Duchamp (1887-1968), played board 1
for France. Max Euwe (1901-1981)
played board 1 for Holland and took 5th
place. The World Chess Federation
(FIDE) was founded by the players at
this event on the closing day, July 20,
1924. Czechoslovakia (Hromadka,
Schulz, Vanek, Skalicka) took 1st place
in the team competition, followed by
Hungary and Switzerland. The
individual Gold went to Herman
Mattison (1894-1932) of Latvia and
was given the title “Amateur World
Champion.” He scored 5.5 out of 6. 2nd
place went to Fricis Apsenieks (1894-
1941) of Latvia, followed by Edgard
Colle (1897-1932) of Belgium. World
champion Alexander Alekhine (1892-
1946) was the tournament director. The
attempt to include chess in the Olympic
games failed because of problems with
distinguishing between amateur and
professional players. The Great Britain
team included Harris K. Handasyde
(1877-1935) of Scotland, Charles
Wreford-Brown (1866-1951), and Edith
Holloway (1868-1956), the first woman
to participate in a Chess Olympiad,
although it was an unofficial Chess
Olympiad. (source: British Chess
Magazine, Aug 1924, p. 316)

From June 26 to July 15, 1926, another

world team competition, the 2nd
unofficial Chess Olympiad, took place
in Budapest, Hungary, but only 4 teams
and 19 players played in this round
robin event. Six teams applied but
Austria and Czechoslovakia withdrew
before the start of the event. Hungary
(E. Steiner, Vajda, Sterk, Negyesy,
Bakonyi, and Zinner) won the team
event, followed by the Kingdom of
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Third place
went to Romania, followed by
Germany. An individual event, called
the First FIDE Masters tournament, was
won by Ernst Gruenfeld (1893-1962) of
Austria on tiebreaks over Marion
Monticelli (1902-1995) of Italy. Edith
Holloway (1868-1956) of England won
the women’s tournament, and Emil
Zinner won the open tournament. This
event was still considered an unofficial
chess Olympiad and is known as the
“Little Olympiad.” (source: Budapest
1926 Chess Summit -
https://www.olimpbase.org/1926x/1926
in.html)

From July 18-20, 1927, the very first

official Chess Olympiad was held at the
Westminster Central Hall in London,
England, which was organized by the
World Chess Federation (FIDE).
Germany and Austria were not invited.
16 teams participated with 70 players.
The women did not participate until
1957. Each team had 4 players and a
reserve, to be used as a replacement for
any of the first 4 players. Hungary
(Maroczy, Nagy, Vajda, Havasi, E.
Steiner) took first place and the
Hamilton-Russell trophy. The
Hamilton-Russell Cup was offered by
Frederick Hamilton-Russell as a prize
to the top open team. The official title
of “Chess Olympiad” did not happen
until 1952. The Chess Olympiad was
also called the International Team
Tournament, Tournament of Nations,
and the World Team Championship.
The first Women’s World Chess
Championship was held at the same
time in London as the chess Olympiad,
won by Vera Menchik. During the
Chess Olympiad, the 4th Congress of
FIDE met and passed a resolution that
only amateur chess players can
participate in Chess Olympiads. The
individual gold medal was shared
between Sir George Thomas (1881-
1972) of England and Holger Norman-
Hansen (1899-1984) of Denmark. Both
scored 12 out of 15, or 80%. (source:
1st Chess Olympiad: London 1927 -
https://www.olimpbase.org/1927/1927i
n.html)

From July 21 to August 6, 1928, the

second official Chess Olympiad has
held at the Binnenhof (the seat of the
Dutch Parliament) in The Hague,
Netherlands. Before the start of the
event, FIDE decided that only amateurs
could take part. This was part of the
1927 resolution that FIDE passed. For
this reason, the British did not send any
chess player to The Hague, as it
considered its chess players as
professional players. The British and
Yugoslavia suspected that the USA
team included chess professionals, so
the USA withdrew in protest. Finland
also declined to send a team. Just
before the start of the Olympiad, FIDE
canceled the ban on professionals, but it
was too late for most of the 17 teams to
send their best players. The USA team
was able to participate in the end. 86
players participated and 544 games
were played. The competitors could
play at any chessboard number. Isaac
Kashdan (1905-1985), age 23, won the
gold medal with the score of 13 out of
15 (86.7%). The second Amateur World
Championship for individuals, with 16
players, also took place during the
Olympiad. Each country was allowed
one representative. The event was won
by Max Euwe. This chess Olympiad
was held in conjunction with the
Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. This
is considered the weakest of all chess
Olympiads. The Hamilton-Russell Cup
was not offered to the winning team of
this event because it was a truly open
team event. During the Chess
Olympiad, the 5th FIDE Congress was
held. Hungary (Nagy, A. Steiner, Vajda,
Havasi) won the gold medal team event
with 44 out of 64 points. The silver
medal went to the USA team (Kashdan,
H. Steiner, Factor, Tholfsen, and
Hanauer). The bronze medal went to
the Polish team (Makarczyk, Frydman,
Regedzinski, Chwojnik, and Blass).
(source: 2nd Chess Olympiad: The
Hague 1928 -
https://www.olimpbase.org/1928/1928i
n.html)

From July 13-27, 1930, the 3rd official

Chess Olympiad was held at the
Provinzialloge von Niedersachen in
Hamburg, Germany. 18 teams and 88
players participated. 605 games were
played. Alexander Alekhine was the
first player to score 100% out of 9
games as he played for France on Board
1. The youngest player was Erich
Eliskases, age 17, representing Austria.
Poland (Rubinstein, Tartakower,
Przepiorka, Makarczyk, and Frydman)
won the gold medal team event, scoring
48.5. The silver medal went to
Hungary. The bronze medal went to
Germany. Akiba Rubinstein (1880-
1961) won the individual gold medal,
scoring 15 out of 17 (88.2%). The USA
team (Marshall, Kashdan, H. Steiner,
Phillips, and J. Anderson) took 6th
place. Vera Menchik won the women’s
championship. (source: 3rd Chess
Olympiad: Hamburg 1930 -
https://www.olimpbase.org/1930/1930i
n.html)

From July 11-26, 1931, the 4th official

Chess Olympiad was held at the U
Novaky café hall in Prague,
Czechoslovakia. It was the only Chess
Olympiad where every single player
lost at least one game. No one was able
to win more than 10 games out of a
possible 18 games played. This team
event of 19 teams did not have a single
new county participating for the first
time. Every team in this event had
played in a previous Olympiad. This
event enforced the rule that the playing
order submitted with the entry must be
adhered to throughout the competition.
The USA team (Kashdan, Marshall,
Dake, Horowitz, and H. Steiner) won
the gold medal (48 out of 72 points)
and the Hamilton-Russell Cup for the
first time. Poland took the silver medal
and Czechoslovakia took the bronze
medal. For the first time, medals were
awarded to the top three individuals on
each board. Alexander Alekhine won
the gold on Board 1 with 13.5 out of 18
(75%). Gosta Stoltz won the gold on
Board 2. Vladimir Petrov won the gold
on Board 3. Albert Becker won the gold
on Board 4. Karel Stalicka won the
gold for top Reserve. (source: 4th Chess
Olympiad: Prague 1931 -
https://www.olimpbase.org/1931/1931i
n.html)

A Chess Olympiad for 1932 was to be

played in Spain, but that was cancelled
due to financial problems. No other
country wanted to take the financial
undertaking.

From July 12-23, 1933, the 5th Chess

Olympiad (International Team
Tournament) was held at Leas Cliff
Hall in Folkestone, England. It was
originally scheduled for June. Isaac
Kashdan represented the USA. He
brought along his wife. Umar Khan
offered Isaac Kashdan’s wife 150
English pounds if she would join his
harem. Only 16 teams participated (19
teams applied), the least of any
Olympiad. Originally, this Olympiad
was scheduled to be played in Chicago,
but these plans were cancelled due to
financial problems. Germany was
excluded for being anti-Semitic. 420
games were played. Alekhine won the
gold medal on board 1 with 9.5 out of
12. The USA team (Kashdan, Marshall,
Fine [age 18], Dake, Simonson [age
18]) won again with 39 out of 56 points
and kept the Hamilton-Russell Cup.
Czechoslovakia won the silver medal.
Sweden won the bronze medal on
tiebreaks over Poland and Hungary. The
English team still went under the name
of Great Britain as in the previous
years, even though it only consisted of
English players and Scotland
participated with their own team.
Alexander Alekhine was accused of
cheating by giving advice to the French
team. Alekhine won the gold on Board
1 with 9.5 out of 12 (79.2%). Frank
Marshall won the gold on Board 2. Erik
Lundin won the gold on Board 3. Karel
Opocensky won the gold on Board 4.
Andor Lilienthal won the gold for top
Reserve. Robert Combe of Scotland
lost to Volfgangs Hasenfuss of Latvia in
4 moves, the shortest chess Olympiad
game ever. Combe - Hasenfuss,
Folkestone Olympiad 1933 1.d4 c5 2.c4
cxd4 3.Nf3 e5 4.Nxe5?? Qa5+ 0-1
Vera Menchik won the women’s event,
scoring 14-0. (sources: 5th Chess
Olympiad: Folkestone 1933 -
https://www.olimpbase.org/1933/1933i
n.html; Chess Review, Apr 1933, p. 2;
May 1933, p. 2; June 1933, p. 2; Sep
1933, p. 3)

From August 15-31, 1935, the 6th

Chess Olympiad was held in Warsaw as
a reward for Poland’s performance in
previous Olympiads. Three new
countries, Estonia, Ireland, and
Palestine, participated for the first
time. Germany was excluded for being
anti-Semitic. A total of 20 teams
participated in this event. The USA
team was put on the wrong train to
Warsaw when they arrived in Gdynia,
Poland and spend 5 hours going the
wrong direction. On a number of days,
two rounds were played in one day. The
youngest player was Laszlo Szabo, age
18, representing Hungary. The USA
team (Fine, Marshall, Kupchik, Dake,
Horowitz, and managed by Richard
Wahrburg) won again the gold medal
with 54 out of 76 points. Sweden won
the silver medal and Poland won the
bronze medal. Salo Flohr won the gold
on Board 1 with 13 out of 17 (76.5%).
Andor Lilienthal won the gold on
Board 2. Erich Eliskases won the gold
on Board 3. Arthur Dake won the gold
on Board 4. Al Horowitz won the gold
for top Reserve. (source: Chess Review,
Jul 1935, p. 149; Oct 1935, p. 226)

From August 17, 1936 to September 1,

1936, an Olympic Team Tournament
was held at the Nymphenburg Palace in
Munich in 1936 to coincide with the
1936 Summer Olympic Games in
Berlin. However, Germany was not a
member of FIDE at the time (they had
withdrawn from FIDE in 1933), so it
was an unofficial Olympiad, the 3rd
unofficial Chess Olympiad. The event
was organized by the German Chess
Federation (Grossdeutscher
Schachbund). Since parts of the
German Chess Federation’s statutes
were anti-Semitic, FIDE could have no
involvement in the Munich Olympiad.
However, Germany did drop its ban on
Jews from participating. There were 21
teams and 208 participants in this
event. Each team consisted of 8 boards
and two reserves instead of the normal
4 boards. Since it was not a tournament
sponsored by FIDE, it was decided to
double the number of players on each
team with the object of giving an
advantage to countries with broader
chess culture. 1,680 games were
played, a record that stood for 24 years
(until Leipzig in 1960). Hungary (led
by 19-year-old Laszlo Szabo) won
every match to win the event and the
gold medal with 110.5 out of 160.
Poland took the silver medal and
Germany took the bronze medal. The
USA did not participate. Paul Keres
won the gold on Board 1 with 15.5 out
of 20 (77.5%). Vasja Pirc won the silver
medal and Gideon Stahlberg won the
bronze medal. (sources: British Chess
Magazine, Nov 1936, p. 546; Chess
Review, Nov 1936, pp. 250-253)

From July 31 to August 14, 1937, the

7th Chess Olympiad was held in
Stockholm, Sweden, organized by
Ludvig Collijn (1878-1939). 19
countries participated. Germany was
again excluded for being anti-Semitic.
Six times during the 15 days of the
tournament, two rounds had to be
played in one day. Over 10,000
spectators paid to come in the playing
hall during the first week. The USA
team (Reshevsky, Fine, Kashdan,
Marshall (age 60), and Horowitz) won
the gold medal for the 4th time in a row,
led by Olympic newcomer Sammy
Reshevsky. Hungary took the silver
medal. Poland took the bronze medal
on tiebreak over Argentina. Salo Flohr
won the gold on Board 1 with 12.5 out
of 16 (78.1%). Reuben Fine won the
gold on Board 2. Isaac Kashdan won
the gold on Board 3. Gosta Danielsson
won the gold on Board 4. Al Horowitz
won the gold for top Reserve. Vera
Menchik won the women’s section (26
entries) with a perfect 14-0 score.
(source: Chess Review, Sep 1937, p.
195)

From August 24 to September 19, 1939,

the 8th official Chess Olympiad (The
Tournament of the Nations) was held at
the Politeama Theatre in Buenos Aires.
It was the first time the Chess
Olympiad was held outside Europe.
The USA team, four-time gold medal
winners, did not participate. The USA
players (which would have been
Marshall, Reshevsky, Fine, Kashdan,
and Horowitz) asked for $2,500
compensation but were offered only
$1,500 (withdrawal of funds for
Reshevsky and Fine) by the U.S. Chess
Federation (USCF), so they all refused
to participate. Another factor was a
postponement of the event by a month
and an earlier sailing date than expected
without giving the players sufficient
time to adjust themselves to the new
conditions. Abe Yanofsky (1925-2000),
age 14 and the youngest player in the
event, and made the highest percentage
on second board representing Canada.
He met a spectator called J. Janowski.
It turned out they were brothers and it
was the first time they had met. J.
Janowsky happened to show Abe
Yanofsky a photo of his father when
Abe exclaimed, “That’s my father
too!” Yanofsky scored the best
percentage on board 2. A record 27
teams participated (40 countries had
registered). Due to certain political
events, Austrian players Erich Eliskases
and Albert Becker were playing under
the German flag. The Czechoslovak
team was referred to as 'Bohemia &
Moravia.’ The finals commenced on
September 1, the date of the outbreak of
World War II. The England team
(Alexander, Thomas, Milner-Barry,
Golombek, and Wood), despite having
qualified for Final A (they took 3rd
place in the preliminaries), were the
only team to return home immediately
due to the outbreak of war. Their place
was not filled. Germany (Eliskases,
Michel, Engels, Becker, and Reinhardt)
took the gold, Poland took the silver,
and Estonia took the bronze medal. Jose
Capablanca won the gold on Board 1
with 8.5 (6 wins and 5 draws) out of 11
(77.3%). Heinz Foerder and Miguel
Najdorf won the gold on Board 2.
Ludwig Engels won the gold on Board
3. Bunnar Friedmann won the gold on
Board 4. Isaias Plecei won the gold for
top Reserve. None of the members of
the German team returned to Nazi
Germany. The Hamilton-Russell
Trophy, which was awarded to the
German Chess Federation, was
delivered to the German charge
d’affaires at Buenos Aires. (sources:
Chess Review, Jun 1939, p. 135; Aug
1939, p. 149; Sep 1939; Oct 1939, p.
197)

From August 20 to September 11, 1950,

the 9th Chess Olympiad was held in
Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia (present day
Croatia). .84 players and 16 teams
entered, with Greece being the only
new country to play in an Olympiad.
Madame Chantel Chaude de Silans
(1919-2004) played on the French team
at the Olympiad, the first woman to
play on a men’s team in an official
Chess Olympia. She played first
reserve board, winning 1 game,
drawing 1 game, and losing 4 games.
This was the first Olympiad
commemorated by a special stamp
issue. The USA team (Reshevsky,
Steiner, Horowitz, Shainswit, Kramer,
and Evans [age 18]) went undefeated,
yet did not win a medal, taking
4th place with 11 wins, 4 draws, and no
losses (scoring 13-2). Had the team
championship depended on match
results, the USA team would have won.
In match play, Argentina won 12, drew
1 and lost 2 (scoring 12.5-2.5).
Yugoslavia won 11, drew 3, and lost 1
(scoring 12.5-2.5). Greece took last
place. The Yugoslav team (Gligoric,
Pirc, Trifunovic, Rabar, Vidmar Jr, and
Puc) won the event and the gold medal.
Argentina took the silver and West
Germany took the bronze. The teams
were now made up of 4 boards and 2
reserves. Miguel Najdorf and Wolfgang
Unzicker won the gold on Board 1 with
11 out of 14 (78.6%). Julio Bolbochan
won the gold on Board 2. Petar
Trifunovic won the gold on Board 3.
Braslav Rabar won the gold on Board
4. Herman Pilnik won the gold for 1st
Reserve. Larry Evans won the gold for
2nd Reserve. (sources: Chess Review,
Aug 1950, p. 227; Oct 1950, pp. 296-
298)

From August 9-31, 1952, the 10th

Chess Olympiad was held at the
Helsinki University of Economics in
Helsinki, Finland. The name
“Olympiad” became official in the
Helsinki Chess Olympiad of 1952.
There were 25 teams, of which 9
qualified for the finals. The USSR team
(Keres, Smyslov, Bronstein, Geller,
Boleslavsky, and Kotov) participated
for the first time. They won the gold
medals with a game score of 21-11,
winning 5 matches, drawing 3, and
losing none. Argentina won the silver
medal and Yugoslavia won the bronze
medal. The USA team (Reshevsky,
Evans, R. Byrne, PFC Bisguier,
Koltanowski, and PFC Berliner) took
5th. Luxemburg took last place. Miguel
Najdorf won the gold on Board 1 with
12.5 out of 16 (78.1%). Vassily
Smyslov won the gold on Board 2.
David Bronstein won the gold on Board
3. Cenek Kottnauer won the gold on
Board 4. Hector Rossetto won the gold
for 1st Reserve. Ludwig Rellstab won
the gold for 2nd Reserve. (source:
Chess Review, Sep 1952, p. 259, Oct
1952, pp. 296-298)

From September 4-25, 1954, the 11th

Chess Olympiad was held in
Amsterdam, Holland. This chess
Olympiad was supposed to have been
played in Buenos Aires in celebration
of its 400th birthday. However,
Argentina cancelled the event 6 weeks
before the start of this Olympiad due to
financial difficulties. Amsterdam
decided to host the event at the last
minute. 30 teams had applied, but only
26 took part. The most notable
absentees were the United States, who
couldn't afford the travelling expenses
due to financial difficulties in the
USCF. Luxemburg lost all 19 matches
and took last place again. One player
from Luxemburg, Georges Philippe,
scored 0 out of 11 games. His
teammate, J. Jerolim, scored one draw
and 16 losses in his 17 games that he
played. Another Luxemburg player,
Pierre Kremer, won 1 and lost 16 (with
a record of 1 win and 27 losses in two
Olympiads). The Soviet team
(Botvinnik, Smyslov, Bronstein, Keres,
Geller, Kotov) won the gold medlas,
seven points ahead of the next team,
Argentina, which won the silver.
Yugoslavia took the bronze. Paul Keres
drew his first game, then won the next
13 games in a row. Mikhail Botvinnik
won the gold on Board 1 with 8.5 out of
11 (77.3%). Frank Anderson won the
gold on Board 2. Gedeon Barcza won
the gold on Board 3. Paul Keres won
the gold on Board 4. Efim Geller won
the gold for 1st Reserve. Sylvain
Burstein won the gold for 2nd Reserve.
(source: Chess Review, Oct 1954, p.
290)

From August 31 to September 25, 1956,

the 12th Chess Olympiad was held at
the Soviet Army Central Theater in
Moscow. 34 teams participated, and it
was the first time that over 1,000 chess
games were played in one Olympiad.
The USA did not participate. Colonel
Hugh O'Donnell Alexander (1909-
1974), one of the top British chess
players, was not allowed to play in the
chess Olympiad in Moscow because of
his job with the Government
Communications Headquarters where
he was head of the cryptanalysis
section. The Soviet team (Botvinnik,
Smyslov, Keres, Bronstein, Taimanov,
Geller) suffered their first defeat when
the Hungarian team defeated them.
Luxemburg again took last place. One
of their players, Wantz, win 2, drew 1,
and lost 14 games. Pierre Kremer lost
all four of his games, with a record on
only one win and 31 losses in three
Olympiads. Bent Larsen’s result earned
him the Grandmaster title. The USSR
team took the gold. Yugoslavia took the
silver and Hungary took the bronze.
Bent Larsen won the gold on Board 1
with 14 out of 18 (77.8%). Andreas
Duckstein won the gold on Board 2.
Paul Keres won the gold on Board 3.
David Bronstein won the gold on Board
4. Raul Sanguineti won the gold for 1st
Reserve. Efim Geller won the gold for
2nd Reserve. (source: Chess Review,
Oct 1956, p. 291; Nov 1956, p. 323)

In 1957, the first Women’s Chess

Olympiad was held in Emmen,
Netherlands. That event, plus the next
three Women’s Chess Olympiads, were
held independently of the men’s Chess
Olympiad. One of the participants in
the 1957 Women’s Olympiad was 82-
year-old Helen Chater who played
board 1 for Ireland. She won 2, lost 2,
and drew 11. The trophy for the
winning women's team is known as the
Vera Menchik Cup in honor of the first
Women's World Chess Champion.

From September 30 to October 23,

1958, the 13th Chess Olympiad was
held at the Deutsches Museum in
Munich, West Germany. The event was
originally planned to be played in the
USA. There were 36 teams and over
200 players. South Africa and Tunisia
participated for the first time. These
were the first African teams to play in a
chess Olympiad. International Master
Frank Ross Anderson (1928-1980) was
playing board 1 for Canada. He
became ill after a reaction to an
incorrect prescription and was unable to
play the final round. He missed the
Grandmaster title because of this. Even
if he had played and lost, he would
have made the final norm necessary for
the Grandmaster title. The Soviet team
(Botvinnik, Smyslov, Keres, Bronstein,
Tal, Petrosian) won their fourth gold
medal in a row. Yugoslavia took the
silver and Argentina took the bronze.
The USA team (Reshevsky, Lombardy,
Bisguier, Evans, and Rossolimo) took
4th place. Bobby Fischer was invited to
play, but could not spare the time from
school. Svetozar Gligoric won the
individual gold on Board 1 with 12 out
of 15 (80.0%). Frank Anderson won the
gold on Board 2. Paul Keres won the
gold on Board 3. David Bronstein won
the gold on Board 4. Mikhail Tal won
the gold for 1st Reserve. Tigran
Petrosian and Gyozo Forintos won the
gold for 2nd Reserve. (source: Chess
Review, Nov 1958, pp. 328-329; Dec
1958, pp. 353, 360-361)

From October 26 to November 9, 1960,

the 14th Chess Olympiad was held in
Leipzig, East Germany. There were 40
teams. At the Olympiad, Max Euwe
won 3 games, drew 7 games, and lost 6
games for the worst score by a
Grandmaster in Olympiad history. The
event drew 10,000 spectators a day as
the Olympiad also hosted a “chess in
the Fields of History” exhibition.
Bobby Fischer participated and played
board 1 for the USA. Reshevsky
refused to give up first board and did
not play. The Soviet team (Tal,
Botvinnik, Keres, Korchnoi, Smyslov,
Petrosian) won their fifth consecutive
gold medals. The USA team (Fischer,
Lombardy, R. Byrne, Bisguier,
Rossolimo, and Weinstein) took the
silver and Yugoslavia took the bronze.
Karl Robatsch won the individual gold
on Board 1 with 13.5 out of 16 (84.4%).
Mikhail Botvinnik won the gold on
Board 2. Paul Keres won the gold on
Board 3. Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren
and Tan Hoan Liong won the gold on
Board 4. Vassily Smyslov won the gold
for 1st Reserve. Tigran Petrosian won
the gold for 2nd Reserve. (source:
Chess Review, Dec 1960, p. 354)
From September 15 to October 10,
1962, the 15th Chess Olympiad was
held in Varna, Bulgaria. There were 37
teams. Milton Ioannidis of Cyprus had
the worst score of any player in the
chess Olympics, with 20 losses and no
wins or draws. His teammate, Andreas
Lantsias, drew one game and lost 19.
Another teammate, Fieros, won one
game and lost 19. Their board one
player won one game, drew one game,
and lost 18 games. Cyprus scored the
worst record of any chess Olympiad
team, losing 20 matches. Their four
players won a total of 2 games, drew 2
games, and lost 76 games. The Soviet
team (Botvinnik, Petrosian, Spassky,
Keres, Geller, Tal) won their 6th gold
medal, but lost one match to West
Germany. Yugoslavia took the silver
and Argentina took the bronze. The
USA team (Fischer, Benko, Evans, R.
Byrne, D. Byrne, and Mednis) took 4th.
Fridrik Olafsson won the individual
gold on Board 1 with 14 out of 18
(77.8%). Tigran Petrosian won the gold
on Board 2. Boris Spassky won the
gold on Board 3. Borislav Ivkov and
Raul Sanguineti won the gold on Board
4. Efim Geller won the gold for 1st
Reserve. Mikhail Tal won the gold for
2nd Reserve. (source: Chess Review,
Nov 1962, p. 350-352)

From November 2-25, 1964, the 16th

Chess Olympiad was held in Tel Aviv,
Israel. It was the first time a Chess
Olympiad was held in Asia. There were
50 teams (Malta would have been the
51st country, but withdrew just before
the start of the event). With Australia
playing for the first time, it was the first
time that players from all six continents
(Asia, Africa, North America, South
American, Europe, and Australia) were
able to participate in a chess Olympiad.
In 1964, at Tel Aviv, Milton Ioannidis
played another four games and lost all
four. He has a 0-24 score in Olympiad
chess, perhaps the worst record for any
player. Not a single team went
undefeated. It was another victory for
the Soviet team (Petrosian, Botvinnik,
Smyslov, Keres, Stein, Spassky),
winning their 7th consecutive gold
medals. Yugoslavia took the silver and
West Germany took the bronze. The
USA team (Reshevsky, Benko, Saidy,
Bisguier, R. Byrne, and Addison) took
6th place. Wolfgang Uhlmann won the
individual gold on Board 1 with 15 out
of 18 (83.3%). Tudev Ujtumen won the
gold on Board 2. Vassily Smyslov won
the gold on Board 3. Paul Keres,
Helmut Pfleger, and David Friedgood
won the gold on Board 4. Leonid Stein
won the gold for 1st Reserve. Milan
Matulovic and Gunther Mohring won
the gold for 2nd Reserve. (source:
Chess Review, Dec 1964, p. 355; Jan
1965, p. 27-31)

From October 23 to November 20,

1966, the 17th Chess Olympiad was
held in Havana, Cuba. There were 52
teams. Just before the beginning of the
Olympiad, Tal was hit in the head with
a bottle in a bar and was beaten up
because he was flirting with some
husband's wife. Tal was taken to the
hospital and missed the first 5 rounds.
One woman, Berna Carrasco of Chile,
played in this event that had 300 men.
She was the only player not to score a
single half point. The Soviet team
(Petrosian, Spassky, Tal, Stein,
Korchnoi, and Polugaevsky) won their
8th consecutive gold medals. The USA
team (Fischer, R. Byrne, Benko, Evans,
Addison, and Rossolimo) took the
silver medal. Hungary took the bronze
on tiebreaks over Yugoslavia. Tigran
Petrosian won the individual gold on
Board 1 with 11.5 out of 13 (88.5%).
Oscar Panno won the gold on Board 2.
Mikhail Tal won the gold on Board 3.
Christian Langeweg won the gold on
Board 4. Viktor Korchnoi won the gold
for 1st Reserve. Laszlo Barczay won
the gold for 2nd Reserve. (source:
Chess Life, Oct 1966, p. 242; Chess
Review, Dec 1966, p. 355)

From October 17 to November 7, 1968,

the 18th Chess Olympiad was held in
Lugano, Switzerland. There were 53
teams. Dris Benabud of Morocco only
played one game (which he lost) at the
Lugano Olympiad and 2ndreserve
board, the fewest games of any
participant in a chess Olympiad. The
Virgin Islands (combined team of
British and U.S. Virgin Islands) made
their first appearance, despite not being
a member of FIDE. Bobby Fischer
showed up in Lugano to play for the
USA team, but withdrew because of the
poor lighting in the tournament hall.
He asked to play his games in a private
room, but the organizers refused, so
Fischer withdrew. He stuck around and
attended as a spectator. The Soviet team
(Petrosian, Spassky, Korchnoi, Geller,
Polugaevsky, Smyslov) won their 9th
gold medals without a single game loss.
Yugoslavia took the silver and Bulgaria
took the bronze. The USA team
(Reshevsky, Evans, Benko, R. Byrne,
Lombardy, and D. Bryne) took 4th
place. Tigran Petrosian won the
individual gold on Board 1 with 10.5
out of 12 (87.5%). Georgi Tringov won
the gold on Board 2. Viktor Korchnoi
won the gold on Board 3. Shimon
Kagan won the gold on Board 4.
Glicerio Badilles won the gold for 1st
Reserve. Vassily Smyslov won the gold
for 2nd Reserve. (source: Chess Life,
Jan 1969, p. 9)

From September 5-27, 1970, the 19th

Chess Olympiad was held at Siegerland
Hall in Siegen, West Germany. For the
first time, teams had to be rejected
because the event reached its capacity
of 60 teams to fit the playing schedule.
64 teams registered. The teams from
France, Ecuador, and Venezuela had to
return home without playing any chess.
Panama pulled out, which allowed
Argentina to play. 360 players took
part, including 35 grandmasters.
Andrew Sherman played for the Virgin
Islands at the age of 11, the youngest
player in the chess Olympiads. In
round two of the preliminaries, Viktor
Korchnoi overslept and lost his game
by default against Spain (Diez del
Corral), his only loss. The round
started at 3 pm and he was unable to
make it to his game by 4 pm. During
the event, Jonathan Penrose collapsed
from nervous tension. Oscar Panno
drew 15 games, the most in an
Olympiad. In the Indonesia versus
Switzerland preliminary match, a player
moved his queen next to the opponent's
king with check. Capturing the queen
with the king was forced and so the
cheating player made the move for his
opponent, declaring stalemate and
shaking hands all in one movement. His
dazed opponent ended up signing the
scoresheet before realizing that it was
not a stalemate at all. Albania forfeited
their game against South Africa as a
protest against racial segregation and so
lost 4–0. On the day Bobby Fischer
played Boris Spassky, there were about
3,000 spectators that saw Spassky
beating Fischer. Tigran Petrosian
remained unbeaten in Olympiad play,
with 58 wins and 32 draws. Oscar
Panno drew a record 15 games. The
USSR team (Spassky, Petrosain,
Korchnoi, Polugaevsky, Smyslov, and
Geller) won their 10th consecutive gold
medals. Hungary took the silver and
Yugoslavia took the bronze. The USA
team (Fischer, Reshevsky, Evans,
Benko, Lombardy, and Mednis) took
4th place. Boris Spassky won the
individual gold on Board 1 with 9.5 out
of 12 (79.2%). Borislav Ivkov won the
gold on Board 2. William Hartston won
the gold on Board 3. Aleksandar
Matanovic won the gold on Board 4.
William Lombardy won the gold for 1st
Reserve. Samuel Estimo won the gold
for 2nd Reserve. (source: Chess Life,
Nov 1970, p. 609; Dec 1970, p. 666;
Jan 1971, p. 25)

From September 18 to October 13,

1972, the 20th Chess Olympiad was
held in Skopje, Yugoslavia (present-day
Macedonia). There were 63 teams.
Albania refused to play Israel due to
political reasons and was forfeited.
1972 was the first time that the men’s
and women’s events were held
simultaneously, held in Skopje.
Grandmaster Nicolas Rossolimo played
for France at the Skopje Olympiad. He
played on the French team in 1950. He
then played on the USA team in 1958,
1960, and 1966. He then played for
France again in Skopje. International
Master Vladimir Savon was the first
non-Grandmaster to play for the Soviet
team. During the event, Tigran
Petrosian lost a game on time to Robert
Huebner, his first loss on time in his
whole career. This Olympiad was the
first time that the men’s and women’s
events were held simultaneously.
Georgi Tringov forgot to put his score
sheet in the adjourned envelope and lost
his adjourned game against Korchnoi.
After the Olympiad was over, it was
learned that Tringov had
absentmindedly placed his score sheet
in his pocket. Tringov discovered his
mistake several days after his forfeit but
was too ashamed to admit his mistake
to the organizers of the Olympiad. Jens
Enevoldsen represented Denmark at his
11th and final Olympiad, 39 years after
his first appearance at Folkestone 1933.
Both records at the time. The Soviet
team (Petrosian, Korchnoi, Smyslov,
Tal, Karpov, and Savon) won their 11
consecutive gold medals. Hungary took
the silver and Yugoslavia took the
bronze. The USA team (Kavalek, R.
Byrne, Benko, Bisguier, Martz, and
Kane) took 9th place. Robert Huebner
won the individual gold on Board 1
with 15 out of 18 (83.3%). Viktor
Korchnoi won the gold on Board 2.
Ljubomir Ljubojevic won the gold on
Board 3. Mikhail Tal won the gold on
Board 4. Anatoly Karpov won the gold
for 1st Reserve. Aldo Haik won the
gold for 2nd Reserve. (Chess Life, Feb
1973, p. 76)

From June 6-30, 1974, the 21st Chess

Olympiad was held in Nice, France.
There were 74 teams. Only two players
from the Nicaraguan arrived in Nice,
and after the team were forced to forfeit
their first match against Chile,
Nicaragua withdrew from the
tournament. Reussner of the U.S. Virgin
Islands lost 19 games in one Olympiad,
a record. He drew three games and did
not win a game. South Africa and
Rhodesia were expelled from FIDE
during the Olympiad. South Africa
dropped out, but Rhodesia still played
in the rest of the Olympiad, winning the
Final E group. Iraq and Algeria refused
to play Rhodesia and forfeited their
games to Rhodesia. The Tunisian team
refused to play Israel, so the score 3-1
was given to the Israeli team. The
Soviet team (Karpov, Korchnoi,
Spassky, Petrosian, Tal, and Kuzmin)
won their 12 consecutive gold medals.
Yugoslavia took the silver and the USA
team (Kavalek, R. Byrne, Browne,
Reshevsky, Lombardy, and Tarjan) took
the bronze on tiebreaks over Bulgaria.
Anatoly Karpov won the individual
gold on Board 1 with 12 out of 14
(85.7%). Andreas Duckstein won the
gold on Board 2. Boris Spassky won
the gold on Board 3. Tigran Petrosian
won the gold on Board 4. Mikhail Tal
won the gold for 1st Reserve. James
Tarjan and Franciscus Kuijpers won the
gold for 2nd Reserve. (sources: Chess
Life, Sep 1974, p. 577; Oct 1974, p.
661)

From October 26 to November 10,

1976, the 22nd Chess Olympiad was
held in Haifa, Israel. There were 48
teams. Computers were first used to do
the pairings at the Haifa Olympiad and
the first Olympiad conducted as a Swiss
tournament system (the women's event
had fewer participants and did not use
the Swiss system until 1980). Libya
protested and had an alternate Against
Chess Olympiad of their own. It was
the first time since 1937 that the USA
team won the chess Olympiad. This
Olympiad was the only one not to have
medals for board prizes. For the first
time, the event comprised both an open
and a women's tournament. The Israel
team won the women’s event. That
team consisted of four Soviet émigrés
(Kushnir, Kristol, Podrazhanskaya,
Nudelman). The USSR and other
communist countries did not play and
the USA team (R. Byrne, Kavalek,
Evans, Tarjan, Lombardy, Commons)
took home the gold medals. The
Netherlands won the silver and England
won the bronze. Jan Timman won the
individual gold on Board 1 with 8.5 out
of 11 (77.3%). Gennadi Sosonko won
the gold on Board 2. Marcelo Carrion
won the gold on Board 3. Michael
Stean won the gold on Board 4. Boris
de Greiff won the gold for 1st Reserve.
Kim Commons won the gold for 2nd
Reserve. (sources: Chess Life, Dec
1976, p. 12; Jan 1977, p. 7; Feb 1977,
p. 7)

In 1976 an unofficial chess Olympics

was held in Tripoli, Libya in protest to
the main chess Olympiad in Haifa.
There were 37 countries that played in
this event, called the “Against Israel
Olympics.” Italy was the only country
to send teams to both events. The event
was won by El Salvador, a nation which
had never competed in a FIDE
Olympiad.

From October 25 to November 12,

1978, the 23rd Chess Olympiad was
held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 64
nations played a 14-round Swiss system
tournament. Argentina had 2 teams.
During the Olympiad, A member of a
Middle East team tried to buy one of
the girls working at the site for $1
million. The offer was not taken up.
Grandmaster Hans Ree broke his leg at
the event after someone told him a joke
and he laughed so hard he fell out of
bed and broke a bone. This Olympiad
almost didn’t happen. Argentina almost
went to war with Chile (a dispute over
the Beagle Islands in Antarctica) and
the chief organizer of the event,
Rodolfo Zanlungo, was kidnapped and
was being held under the threat of death
should the Olympiad be held. The
Hungarians (Portisch, Ribli, Sax,
Adorhan, Csom, Vadasz) won the gold
medal, ahead of the Soviets (Spassky,
Petrosian, Polugaevsky, Gulko,
Romanishin, Vaganian) , who took the
silver medal. This was the first time the
Soviet team did not take the gold medal
when participating in an Olympiad.
The USA team (Kavalek, Browne,
Lein, R. Byrne, Tarjan, and Lombardy)
took the bronze medal. Viktor
Korchnoi won the individual gold on
Board 1 with 9 out of 11 (81.8%).
Adam Kuligowski won the gold on
Board 2. Georgi Tringov won the gold
on Board 3. Glenn Bordonada won the
gold on Board 4. James Tarjan won the
gold for 1st Reserve. John Turner won
the gold for 2nd Reserve. (sources:
Chess Life, Nov 1978, p. 589; Dec
1978, p. 648, Feb 1979, p. 65)

From November 20 to December 6,

1980, the 24th Chess Olympiad was
held in Valletta, Malta. 81 nations
played, with Malta having 2 teams.
John Jarecki played for the British
Virgin Islands at the age of 11. He
played on Board 2. Anatoly Karpov
refused to shake hands with Lev Alburt
because Alburt had defected to the USA
in 1978. The Soviet team (Karpov,
Polugaevsky, Tal, Geller, Balashov,
Kasparov) won the event (on tiebreak
over Hungary). Both the Soviet men’s
and women’s team came from behind to
take the gold in this Olympiad.
Hungary took the silver and Yugoslavia
took the bronze. The USA team (Alburt,
Seirawan, Christiansen, Tarjan, De
Firmian, and Shamkovich) took 4th.
William Hook won the individual gold
on Board 1 with 11.5 out of 14 (82.1%).
Yrjo Rantanen won the gold on Board
2. Jose Felix Villarreal won the gold on
Board 3. Istvan Csom won the gold on
Board 4. Yury Balashov and Bjorn
Tiller won the gold for 1st Reserve.
Predrag Nikolic won the gold for 2nd
Reserve. (sources: Chess Life, Feb
1981, p. 8; Mar 1981, p. 20; Apr 1981,
p. 13)

From October 29 to November 16,

1982, the 25th Chess Olympiad was
held in Lucerne, Switzerland. 93 teams
applied, but Gambia and Mauritania did
not arrive. The Swiss had two teams.
There were 732 players and 73
grandmasters. For the first time, the two
British Channel Islands, Guernsey and
Jersey, participated with a joint team.
The Ugandan team showed up in
Lugano, site of the 1968 Olympiad, and
105 miles away. They finally showed
up at Lucerne after the first round. The
Italian Chess Federation refused to have
its best player, Stefano Tatai, to play on
the Italian Olympiad team. Tatai was
44 and seven-time national champion.
But the Italian Chess Federation only
wanted members who were age 30 or
younger to represent Italy. The result
was a very poor showing at the
Olympiad. On the women’s side,
Tatjana Lemachko defected from the
Bulgarian team on the eve of the last
round and moved to Switzerland. The
youngest player in the event was
Najeeb Mohammed Saleh of UAE, age
12. The oldest player was Ron Blow of
Guernsey, age 74. The $1.25 million
budget for the event was raided by a
lottery and private sponsors. The Soviet
team (Karpov, Kasparov, Polugaeavsky,
Beliavsky, Tal, Yusupov) won the gold.
They only drew one match (against the
Netherlands) and won the rest. The
ended up 6.5 points ahead of
Czechoslovakia, which took home the
silver. The USA team (Browne,
Seirawan, Alburt, Kavalek, Tarjan, and
Christiansen) took home the bronze.
Zenon Franco Ocampos won the
individual gold on Board 1 with 11 out
of 13 (84.6%). Rico Mascarinas won
the gold on Board 2. Carlos Matamoros
Franco won the gold on Board 3. Simen
Agdestein won the gold on Board 4.
Daniel Roos won the gold for 1st
Reserve. Stuart Fancy won the gold for
2nd Reserve. (sources: Chess Life, Feb
1983, p. 11; Mar 1983, p. 25)

From November 18 to December 5,

1984, the 26th Chess Olympiad was
held in Thessaloniki, Greece. There
were 87 nations that participated.
Greece fielded 2 teams. Ion Gudju
(born in 1897) of Romania served on
the appeals committee. He was 87
years old and may be the oldest player
to participate in the chess Olympics
(but not as a player). He played in the
first unofficial chess Olympiad in 1924
in Paris. In 1984, the famous Bermuda
Party was held, which continued until
1998. It was the biggest social event of
the Olympiads. For the first time, in
addition to the performance awards on
each board, a special award was given
to the best overall performance rating.
John Nunn of England won three gold
medals: best score on board 2, best
performance rating (2868), and winner
of the problem-solving contest. The
USA team defeated the USSR team for
the first time in Olympiad history. The
youngest player in the event was 12-
year old Isabelle Kintzlere, who played
3rd board on the French women’s team.
Boris Spassky, playing for France, drew
12 of his 14 games – an Olympic
record. The Soviet team (Beliavsky,
Polugaevsky, Vaganian, Tukmanov,
Yusupov, and Sokolov) won their 15th
gold medals. England (Miles, Nunn,
Speelman, Chandler, Mestel, and Short)
won the silver and the USA team
(Dzindzichashvili, Kavalek,
Christiansen, Browne, Alburt, and De
Firmian) won the bronze. Craig Van
Tilbury won the individual gold on
Board 1 with 9.5 out of 11 (86.4%).
John Nunn won the gold on Board 2.
Rafael Vaganian won the gold on Board
3. Pricha Sinprayoon won the gold on
Board 4. (source: Chess Life, Mar
1985, p. 18)

From November 14 to December 2,

1986, the 27th Chess Olympiad was
held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It
may have been the most expensive
chess Olympiad ever. The organizers
offered $1 million for free airline
tickets to teams who were reluctant to
participate. 108 teams for the open
event and 49 teams for the women’s
event showed up, a record at the time
(prior to this, Lucerne had 91 teams in
1982). Israel was not allowed to
participate, but the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) was. Sweden,
Norway, Denmark, the U.S. Virgin
Islands, and the Netherlands refused to
play in protest to the Israeli ban. Strong
individual players like Viktor Korchnoi,
Robert Huebner, and Eric Lobron also
stayed away. 10-year old Heidi Cueller
represented Guatemala and may be the
youngest player to participate in the
chess Olympics. The Guatemalan
men’s team was represented by four
brothers names Juarez. The USA team
defeated the USSR team, becoming the
only team to defeat the Soviet team
twice in a row in Olympiad
competition. Judit Polgar won a gold
medal in the Women’s Olympiad at the
age of 11. The Seirawan-Xu game
lasted 190 moves and was a draw
(stalemate). This is the longest game in
the chess Olympiads. During the
Olympiad, Woman Grandmaster Elena
Akhmilovskaya, playing on the Soviet
women’s team (she had a score of 8.5
out of 9 on board 2), defected and
eloped with International Master John
Donaldson, who was captain of the
USA men’s team. The two were
married at the U.S. Consulate in
Greece. The Hungarian women’s team
(Susan, Judit, and Sofia Polgar with
Ildiko Madl) displaced the Soviet team
for the gold. It was the first time that
the Soviet women’s team did not win
the women’s event. The Soviet team
(Kasparov, Karpov, Sokolov, Yusupov,
Vaganian, Tseshkovsky) won the gold.
The England team (Miles, Nunn, Short,
Chandler, Speelman, Flear), ½ point
behind, took the silver. The USA team
(Seirawan, Christiansen, Kavalek,
Federoritz, De Firmian, Dlugy) won the
bronze. Garry Kasparov won the
individual gold on Board 1 with 8.5 out
of 11 (77.3%). Imed Abdelnabbi won
the gold on Board 2. Nigel Short won
the gold on Board 3. Artur Yusupov
won the gold on Board 4. (sources:
Chess Life, Feb 1987, p. 12; Mar 1987,
p. 8)

From November 12-30, 1988, the 28th

Chess Olympiad was held in
Thessaloniki, Greece. There were 107
teams from 106 different nations
playing in the event. East Germany
appeared after a 16-year absence, who
celebrated their return by beating their
West German rivals 3-1. The Soviet
team (Kasparov, Karpov, Yusupov,
Beliavsky, Ehlvest, and Ivanchuk) again
won the gold medals. England took
home the silver and the Netherlands
took home the bronze. Garry Kasparov
won the individual gold on Board 1
with 8.5 out of 10 (85.0%). Anatoly
Karpov won the gold on Board 2.
Carlos Antonio Reyes Najera won the
gold on Board 3. Suchart Chaivichit
won the gold on Board 4. (source:
Chess Life, Feb 1989, p. 24)

From November 16 to December 4,

1990, the 29th Chess Olympiad was
held in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia (present-
day Serbia). 108 teams from 106
different nations participated.
Yugoslavia had 3 teams. This was the
last appearance of the Soviet Union,
Yugoslavia, and East Germany. The
Hong Kong men’s team was
represented by four players from four
different countries. The Novi Sad
Olympiad had 123 grandmasters, 177
international masters, and 85 FIDE
masters. Teams from Latvia, Estonia,
and Lithuania arrived in Novi Sad
without an invitation and the organizers
refused to let them participate. This
meant that big names like Jaan Ehlvest,
Lembit Oll, Alexei Shirov, and former
world champion Mikhail Tal could not
appear at the Olympiad. The Soviet
team (Ivanchuk, Gelfand, Beliavsky,
Yusupov, Yudasin, Bareev) won their
18th gold medals. The USA team
(Seirawan, Gulko, Christiansen,
Benjamin, Fedorowitz, De Firmian)
took the silver on tiebreaks over
England. England (Short, Speelman,
Nunn, Adams, Chandler, Hodgson) took
the bronze. Zenon Franco Ocampos and
Raul Garcia Paolicchi won the
individual gold on Board 1 with 10.5
out of 14 (75.0%). Dibyendu Barua
won the gold on Board 2. Egon
Brestian won the gold on Board 3.
Roberto Martin del Campo won the
gold on Board 4. (source: Chess Life,
Mar 1991, p. 21)

From June 7-25, 1992, the 30th Chess

Olympiad was held at the Philippine
International Convention Center in
Manila, Philippines. 102 teams from
100 different nations participated. 12 of
the 15 former Soviet republics had their
own team for the first time. All finished
in the top half (including Gold, Silver,
and Bronze). An all-German team was
present for the first time since 1939. Of
the five Yugoslav republics, three
(Croatia, Bosnia, and Slovenia) had
their own teams. This was the last
appearance of Czechoslovakia and the
re-appearance of South Africa. The
Russian team (Kasparov, Khalifman,
Dolmatov, Dreev, Kramnik,
Vyzmanavin) took the gold medals as
they won by 4 points. Uzbekistan took
the silver and Armenia took the bronze.
(sources: Chess Life, Sep 1992, p. 21;
Oct 1992, p. 42)

From November 30 to December 17,

1994, the 31st Chess Olympiad was
held in Moscow, Russia. The chess
Olympiad was held in Moscow only
after the scheduled site in Thessaloniki,
Greece cancelled out 55 days before the
start of the event. There were 124
teams representing 122 nations. Russia
had 2 teams and a braille team was
represented. During the event,
Grandmasters Alexander Shabalov and
Alex Yermolinsky (both representing
the USA) were robbed when they went
for a walk. The captain of the
Macedonia chess team was robbed of
$7,000 inside a bank that was across the
street from the playing center. A team
that represented the International
Braille Chess Association (IBCA)
participated. Russia A and Russia B
won the gold and bronze medal. It was
the first and only time that the same
nation won more than one medal.
Several chess players were robbed
during the Olympiad. Ivanchuk played
all 14 games without a loss. Hungary
had a woman, Judit Polgar, as board 1,
a first for the Olympiad. Yugoslavia
was represented by Servia-Montenegro.
The nations participating for the first
time were Macedonia, the Czech
Republic, and Slovakia. The Russian
“A” team (Kasparov, Kramnik, Bareev,
Dreev, Tiviakov, Svidler) took the gold.
Bosnia-Herzegovina took the silver.
The Russian “B” team took the bronze.
(source: Chess Life, Apr 1995, p. 35)

From September 15 to October 2, 1996,

the 32nd Chess Olympiad was held in
Yerevan, Armenia. There were 114
teams representing 111 nations.
Armenia had 3 teams. All the men on
the Israeli chess Olympiad team were
all born in the Soviet Union. Kirshan
Ilumzhinov gave every member of the
Olympiad a bottle of vodka, a jar of
caviar, and a watch. He was later
elected FIDE president. The
Afghanistan team didn’t show up until
the 8th round and still played. The
Russian team (Kasparov, Kramnik,
Dreev, Svidler, Bareev, Rublevsky)
took the gold medals. Ukraine took the
silver medal. The USA team (Gulko,
Yermolinsky, De Firmain, Kaidanov,
Benjamin, Christiansen) took the
bronze on tiebreaks over England.
(source: Chess Life, Feb 1997, p. 52)

From September 26 to October 13,

1998, the 33rd Chess Olympiad was
held in Elista, Kalmykia, Russia. There
were 110 teams in the open event and
72 teams in the women’s event. Russia
field 4 teams. Three nations were
signed up but chose to stay away:
Denmark, Norway, and Slovakia. The
organizers had a web page for the
Olympiad, but it was hacked with a
message that said “hacked to
Kasparov.” The Russian “A” team
(Svidler, Rublevsky, Bareev,
Morozevich, Zvjaginsev, Sakaev) won
the gold medals. The USA team
(Yermolinsky, Shabalov, Seirwawan,
Gulko, De Firmian, Kaidanov) took the
silver medal. Ukraine took home the
bronze on tiebreaks over Israel.

From October 28 to November 12,

2000, the 34th Chess Olympiad was
held in Istanbul, Turkey. There were
126 teams in the open event and 86 in
the women’s event. Turkey fielded 2
teams and there was a team
representing the IBCA. From 1956 to
2000, Lajos Portisch has played in 20
chess Olympiads, more than anyone
else. During the Olympiad, Suat Atalik
(1964- ) insisted on playing for Bosnia
rather than Turkey, his home country.
As a result, the organizers of the
Olympiad banned him from the
competition. Russia (Khalifman,
Morozevich, Svidler, Rublevsky,
Sakaev, Grischuk) won the gold,
Germany won the silver, and Ukraine
won the bronze on tiebreak over
Hungary.

From October 25 to November 11,

2002, the 35th Chess Olympiad was
held in Bled, Slovenia. There were 135
teams from 130 nations in the open
event and 90 in the women’s event.
Slovenia fielded three teams, whilst the
International Braille Chess Association
(IBCA), the International Physically
Disabled Chess Association (IPCA),
and the International Committee of
Silent Chess (ICSC) each provided one
squad. The Bled Olympiad was the first
to test for drugs through a urine sample.
As a sporting federation recognized by
the International Olympic Committee
(IOC), FIDE had to adhere to its rules,
which included doping tests. All 802
chess players passed. Grandmaster Jan
Timman of Holland refused to play in
protest to the plans of drug testing.
Artur Yusupov and Robert Huebner also
protested and refused to play. At least
50 chess players signed an open letter
stating that it was impossible to dope in
chess. Research carried out by the
Dutch Chess Federation failed to find a
single performance-enhancing
substance for chess. World Champion
Garry Kasparov participated with the
highest Elo rating in the Olympiads.
He was rated 2838 at the time and had a
performance rating of 2933. A chess
ballet opened this Chess Olympiad.
The Australian men’s and women’s
teams were sponsored by a
pharmaceutical company called Ansell.
Part of the deal was to help the
company promote their brand of
condoms called “checkmate.” Two
members of the same family played on
different teams. International Master
Levente Vajda played for Romania
while his sister, Woman Grandmaster
Szidonia Vajda, played for Hungary.
Russia (Kasparov, Grischuk,
Khalifman, Morozevich, Svidler,
Rublevsky) won the gold, Hungary won
the silver, and Armenia won the bronze.
Robert Gwaze of Zimbabwe became
the second person (after Alekhine in
1930) to score 100%. He scored 9 out
of 9 games.

From October 14-31, 2004, the 36th

Chess Olympiad was held in Calvia on
the Spanish island of Majorca. There
were 129 teams from 125 nations in the
open event and 87 in the women's
event. In total, 1204 players were
registered. Prior to the closing
ceremony, FIDE vice-president Zurab
Azmaiparashvili was roughed up and
arrested as he attempted to ascend the
stage to give out the Nona
Gaprindashvili Trophy. In 2004, Bill
Hook played for the Virgin Islands at
the age of 79. The USA team, none
born in the USA, was made up of 6 ex-
Soviet players: Onischuk, Shabalov,
Goldin, Kaidanov, Novikov, and Gulko.
They were called the Russian “B” team.
In 2004, a player from Papau New
Guinea and a player from Bermuda
refused to submit to a urine sample to
test for drugs. Their teams were
punished by points taken away. New
Guinea went from 117th place to 126th
place. During the Chess Olympiad,
there were chess films screened on the
beaches of Calvia every weeknight
during the Olympiad, and chess-
oriented art was displayed at an
International Chess Fair, with prizes for
top works awarded by a jury. Ukraine
(Ivanchuk, Ponovariov, Volokitin,
Moiseenko, Eljanov, Karjakin) took the
gold medals. Russia took the silver on
tiebreaks over Armenia, which took the
bronze. The USA team took 4th place.

From May 20 to June 4, 2006, the 37th

Chess Olympiad was held in Turin,
Italy. There were 148 teams from 143
nations in the open event and 103 in the
women's event. In total, 1,307 players
were registered. Bill Hook played at the
chess Olympiad at Turin at the age of
81, making him the oldest chess player
of any Olympiad. Armenia won its first
gold medal at this Olympiad. The
Russian team finished in 6th place, the
worst Olympic result for a Soviet or
Russian team since they first played in
a Chess Olympiad in 1952. Armenia
(Aronian, Akopian, Asrian, Lputian,
Sargissian, Minasian) took the gold and
China took the silver. The USA team
(Kamsky, Onischuk, Namkamura,
Ibragimov, Kaidaov, Akobian) took the
bronze on tiebreaks over Israel. None of
the USA team members were born in
the USA.

From November 12-25, 2008, the 38th

Chess Olympiad was held in Dresden,
Germany. There were 146 teams from
141 nations in the open event and 111
in the women's event. In total, 1277
players were registered. In 2008, an old
rule was instituted – no draws by
agreement were permitted before 30
moves have been completed. However,
some games ended as early as 16 moves
due to draw by repetition. Any player
not present at the board at the start of a
round automatically forfeited the game.
Another rule was that a team could only
have one reserve team instead of two
reserves. Armenia (Aronian, Akopian,
Sargissian, Petrosian, Minasian) won
the gold and Israel won the silver. The
USA team (Kamsky, Nakamura,
Onischuk, Shulmna, Akobian) took the
bronze on tiebreaks over Ukraine.

From September 19 to October 4, 2010,

the 39th Chess Olympiad was held in
Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. There were
148 teams from 141 nations in the open
event and 115 in the women's event. In
total, 1306 players were registered. The
main events in the open and the
women’s competitions were held in
indoor tennis courts. the rule that no
draws were permitted before 30 moves
was abolished. In the first round,
Yemen refused to play Israel due to
political reasons, allowing Israel to
score 4-0. Three French players were
caught in a scheme to use a computer
program to decide moves. Their plan
involved one player, IM Cyril Marzolo,
following the tournament at home and
using a computer program to decide the
best moves. He would send the moves
by text message to the captain of the
French team, GM Arnaud Hauchard,
who would then stand or sit at various
tables as a signal to the player GM
Sébastien Feller to make a certain
move. Feller and Marzolo were given
five-year suspensions for this, while
Hauchard was given a lifetime
suspension. The French team finished
in an all-time low of 64th place. FIDE
Master Jan Rooze, 63, of Belgium was
playing in the event. He last played in a
Chess Olympiad in 1976. The 34-year
gap between two consecutive
appearances is a record. Ukraine
(Ivanchuk, Ponomariov, Eljanov,
Efmenko, Moiseenko) won the gold
medal and Russia won the silver. Israel
won the bronze on tiebreaks over
Hungary. The USA team (Nakamura,
Kamsky, Onischuk, Shulman, Hess)
took 9th place.

From August 27 to September 10, 2012,

the 40th Chess Olympiad was held at
the Istanbul Expo Center in Istanbul,
Turkey. More than 1,700 players
participated, including 157 teams from
152 nations in the open and 127 teams
in the women's section. GM Eugene
Torre played in his 20th Chess
Olympiad. He tied with GM Lajos
Portisch (who played from 1946 to
2000) for the most Olympiad
appearances. Torre played in 18 straight
Chess Olympiads, breaking the old
record of 18 held by Heikki Westerinen.
In 2012, of the 157 Board 1 players,
only three players had no losses –
Wesley So (he played 11 games), Le
Quang Liem (he played 10 games), and
Boris Gelfand (he played 8 games).
Armenia (Aronian, Movsesian,
Akopian, Sargissian, Petrosian) won the
gold medal on tiebreaks over Russia,
which won the silver. Ukraine won the
bronze. The USA team (Nakamura,
Kamsky, Onischuk, Akovian, Robson)
took 5th place.
From August 1-15, 2014, the 41st
World Chess Olympiad was held in
Tromso, Norway. Five Bhutanese men
represented Bhutan for the first time in
a Chess Olympiad. With over 150
participating countries, the Chess
Olympiad was the third largest sporting
event. There were 1,570 participants in
the event, with 881 in the Open section
and 689 in the Women's section. The
number of participating teams was 177
from 172 countries in the open section
and 136 from 131 countries in the
women's section. China (Wang Yue,
Ding Liren, Yu Yangyi, Ni Hua, Wei Yi)
won the open section of the tournament
for the first time, while Russia claimed
victory in the women's section for the
third consecutive time as well as third
time overall. The event was the last
competitive tournament for Judit
Polgar. The final day of competition
was marred by the deaths of the Swiss-
born Seychelles player Kurt Meier, who
suffered a heart attack during his game,
and Alisher Anarkulov, an Uzbek
representing the International Chess
Committee of the Deaf, who was found
dead in his hotel room shortly
afterwards. China won the gold medal.
Hungary won the silver medal on
tiebreaks over India, Russia, and
Azerbaijan. India won the bronze on
tiebreaks.

From September 1-14, 2016, the 42nd

Chess Olympiad was held at the Baku
Crystal Ball in Baku, Azerbaijan. In
September 2016, at the Chess
Olympiad, there were several
complaints by the chess players on the
anti-cheating measures. A petition was
circulated by Jonathan Speelman and
others regarding the mandatory
notification of the arbiter when leaving
the playing area (the petition
concentrated on toilet visits). Reasons
given for this protesting against this
"noxious" rule included: the FIDE rule
that the toilet is part of the playing area;
an indication it was "humiliating" for
players to discuss bodily functions with
arbiters (and embarrassing for the
arbiters); a note that the Match Arbiter
was not always available, rendering it
difficult to always comply with the rule;
an argument that frequent toilet trips
did not indicate cheating, and a request
that players not be penalized merely for
this; and an argument that the opponent
might gain information from seeing a
player notify the arbiter by moving as
soon as they left for the bathroom visit.
The response by Chief Arbiter Faiq
Hasanov noted only that the third
complaint was legitimate, and that
"common sense" should apply. There
were 1,587 participants, including 894
in the Open and 693 in the Women’s
event. The number of teams was 180
from 175 countries in the Open section
and 142 from 138 countries in the
Women's section. Eritrea, Kosovo, and
South Sudan competed in the
tournament for the first time. Ukrainian
player Andrei Volokitin, who played as
a reserve player, was the best individual
player in the Open event with 8?1?2 out
of 9 points, with a performance rating
of 2992. The USA team (Caruana,
Nakamura, So, Shankland, Robson)
won the gold, the first time in 40 years
and for the 6th time overall. They were
followed by Ukraine and Russia.

The 43rd Chess Olympiad will be held

in Batumi Georgia.
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Olympiad 2016, 2016
Averbakh & Turov, Chess Olympiads,
1974
Averbakh, Blackstock, Gufeld, etc, The
Game of the Round, Dubai 1986, 1987
British Chess Magazine, Hamburg 1930
Chess Olympiad, 1973
Chess Asia, Olympic Chess, Novi Sad
1990, 1991
Corfield, Pawns in a Greater Game:
The Buenos Aires Chess Olympiad,
2015
Cozens, The Lost Olympiad:
Stockholm 1937, 1985
Czerniak, XVI Chess Olympiad, Tel-
Avv
DDR, 14th Olympiad: Leipzig 1960,
1960
Filip & Pachman, 17th Chess
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Florian, Siegen Olympiad 1970, 1972
Foldeak, Chess Olympiads, 1966
Ftacnik, 29th Chess Olympiad: Novi
Sad 1990, 1990
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1930, 2016
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1933
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Keene & Levy, Haifa Chess Olympiad
1976, 1977
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Litmanowicz, VI Wszechswiatowa
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1996
Luppi, Chess Olympiads, 1927-1974
Lynb, 40th Chess Olympiad, Istanbul
2012, 2012
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OlimpBase -
https://www.olimpbase.org/
Puszczewicz, The First Chess
Olympiad, London 1927, 2012
Puszczewicz, II Chess Olympiad – the
Hague 1928, 2012
Richter, Schach-Olympia Munchen
1936, 1936 & 1937
Rogers, Australia at the Yerevan Chess
Olympiad
ScorpionChess, Chess Olympiad:
Norway 2014, 2014
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1974, 1976
Wilkinson, Magnificence in Bled – The
35th Chess Olympiad, 2004
Whyld, London 1927, the First Chess
Olympiad

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