
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
ratingPoints Buchholz 1
RussiaKhalifman, Morozevich, Svidler, Rublevsky, Sakaev, Grischuk 2685 38 2
GermanyYusupov, Hübner, Dautov, Lutz, Bischoff, Luther 2604 37 3
UkraineIvanchuk, Ponomariov, Baklan, Eingorn, Romanishin, Malakhatko 2638 35½ 457.5 4
HungaryLeko, Almási, Polgár, Portisch, Sax, Ruck 2661 35½ 455.5 5
IsraelGelfand, Smirin, Avrukh, Psakhis, Sutovsky, Huzman 2652 34½ 6
GeorgiaAzmaiparashvili, Giorgadze, Sturua, Kacheishvili, Gelashvili, Jobava 2602 34 7
EnglandAdams, Short, Hodgson, Speelman, Miles, Emms 2672 33 441.5 8
IndiaKrishnan Sasikiran, Abhijit Kunte, Pentala Harikrishna, Dibyendu Barua, Devaki Prasad, Surya Ganguly 2538 33 440.5 9
ChinaYe Jiangchuan, Xu Jun, Peng Xiaomin, Wu Wenjin, Liang Chong, Ni Hua 2651 33 439.5 10
SwitzerlandKorchnoi, Milov, Gallagher, Pelletier, Jenni, Hug 2562 33 432.5 # Country Average
ratingPoints Buchholz MP 11
Uzbekistan2564 33 429.5 12
Slovenia2550 33 421.0 13
North Macedonia2483 33 417.0 14
Bulgaria2628 32½ 459.0 15
Poland2590 32½ 437.5 16
France2544 32½ 427.0 17
Armenia2606 32 456.5 18
Bosnia and Herzegovina2582 32 441.5 19
Philippines2510 32 439.0 19 20
Greece2541 32 439.0 16 21
Denmark2580 32 436.0 22
Cuba2546 32 432.5 23
Spain2582 32 432.0 24
Yugoslavia2542 32 427.5 25
Estonia2530 32 421.0 26
United States2627 31½ 449.0 27
Romania2524 31½ 445.0 28
Slovakia2552 31½ 442.5 29
Canada2482 31½ 430.0 30
Scotland2455 31½ 418.5 31
Lithuania2490 31½ 414.0 32
Belarus2577 31½ 398.5 33
Netherlands2615 31 459.5 34
Latvia2493 31 429.0 35
Moldova2489 31 422.5 36
Australia2483 31 410.0 37
Vietnam2505 31 406.0 38
Brazil2573 30½ 440.0 39
Czech Republic2607 30½ 432.5 40
Singapore2467 30½ 403.0 41
Kazakhstan2564 30 434.5 42
Sweden2548 30 432.5 43
Croatia2579 30 427.5 44
Indonesia2503 30 416.5 45
Finland2451 30 411.5 46
Azerbaijan2456 30 410.5 47
Portugal2354 30 410.0 48
Mongolia2415 30 407.5 49
Kyrgyzstan2489 29½ 426.5 50
Egypt2426 29½ 405.5 51
Ireland2426 29½ 397.5 52
Norway2374 29½ 396.5 53
Argentina2503 29½ 386.5 54
Belgium2394 29½ 377.5 55
Iceland2469 29 430.0 56
Italy2476 29 425.0 57
Chile2411 29 404.0 58
Bangladesh2407 29 373.5 59
Turkmenistan2449 28½ 410.5 60
Austria2404 28½ 395.5 14 61
Iran2408 28½ 395.5 13 62
Turkey2337 28½ 393.5 63
Morocco2386 28½ 393.0 64
Malaysia2307 28½ 387.0 65
Peru2376 28½ 366.5 66
Turkey "B"2265 28 393.0 67
Faroe Islands2321 28 385.5 68
Ecuador2386 28 379.5 69
Andorra2353 28 379.0 70
South Africa2221 28 373.5 71
Tunisia2219 28 372.5 72
Venezuela2368 27½ 407.5 73
United Arab Emirates2376 27½ 389.5 74
Luxembourg2279 27½ 377.5 75
Paraguay2320 27½ 374.5 76
Myanmar2528 27 397.5 77
Mexico2411 27 397.0 78 IBCA 2325 27 391.0 79
Pakistan2301 27 381.5 12 80
Wales2276 27 381.5 9 81
Costa Rica2313 27 379.0 82
Qatar2228 27 374.0 83
Colombia2343 26½ 393.0 84
Angola2060 26½ 375.5 85
Iraq2365 26 396.5 86
Syria2321 26 388.5 87
New Zealand2352 26 386.0 88
Japan2215 26 379.0 89
Puerto Rico2202 26 367.5 90
Zambia2232 25½ 387.0 91
Uruguay2250 25½ 378.5 92
El Salvador2185 25½ 370.5 93
Zimbabwe2210 25½ 360.5 94
Sri Lanka2081 25½ 356.5 95
Uganda2218 25½ 351.5 96
Albania2364 25 388.5 97
Cyprus2253 25 374.5 98
Bolivia2257 25 370.0 99
Yemen2299 25 369.0 100
Liechtenstein2121 25 336.5 101
Barbados2057 25 331.5 102
Jamaica2234 24½ 367.0 103
Kenya2126 24½ 353.5 104
Suriname2051 24½ 342.0 105
Honduras2123 24 363.0 106
Botswana2093 24 349.0 107
Netherlands Antilles2159 24 346.0 108
Palestine2087 24 333.0 109
Namibia2152 24 305.5 110
Malta2212 23½ 354.5 111
Monaco2210 23½ 342.5 112
Macau2190 23½ 330.0 113
Hong Kong2108 23½ 326.5 114
Ethiopia2079 23½ 319.5 13 115
Mauritius2000 23½ 319.5 11 116
Panama2058 23½ 310.5 117
Jersey2145 23½ 301.5 118
Trinidad and Tobago2214 23 119
San Marino2051 22½ 120
Bermuda2006 20½ 121
Brunei2000 20 298.5 122
Seychelles2056 20 297.5 123
Papua New Guinea2051 19½ 124
Guernsey2092 18½ 125
United States Virgin Islands2020 13½ 126
Rwanda2000 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.
# Country Players Average
ratingPoints Buchholz 1
ChinaXie Jun, Zhu Chen, Xu Yuhua, Wang Lei 2537 32 2
GeorgiaChiburdanidze, Ioseliani, Khurtsidze, Gurieli 2480 31 3
RussiaGalliamova, Kovalevskaya, Matveeva, Stepovaya-Dianchenko 2480 28½ 4
UkraineZhukova, Zatonskih, Vasilevich, Sedina 2442 27 5
YugoslaviaMarić, Bojković, Prudnikova, Chelushkina 2430 26 6
NetherlandsZhaoqin Peng, Sziva, Bosboom-Lanchava, Jap Tjoen San 2329 25½ 7
HungaryMádl, Lakos, Grábics, Gara 2369 25 342.0 8
GermanyKachiani-Gersinska, Paehtz, Koglin, Trabert 2364 25 333.5 9
EnglandHunt, Lalic, Houska, Richards 2349 25 325.5 10
ArmeniaDanielian, Mkrtchian, Hlgatian, Aginian 2303 24½ 342.5 # Country Average
ratingPoints Buchholz MP 11
Romania2350 24½ 333.0 12
Moldova2385 24 328.5 13
India2272 24 328.0 14
Poland2386 24 323.5 15
United States2261 24 316.0 16
Bulgaria2328 23½ 324.5 17
Cuba2302 23½ 317.0 18
Latvia2249 23½ 303.0 19
Kazakhstan2299 23 325.0 20
Israel2325 23 300.5 21
Azerbaijan2251 22½ 334.5 22
Czech Republic2271 22½ 334.0 23
Vietnam2367 22½ 329.0 24
Belarus2325 22½ 326.5 25
Spain2251 22½ 320.0 26
Greece2295 22½ 312.5 27
Australia2188 22½ 306.0 28
Slovakia2305 22½ 305.0 29
Estonia2239 22½ 302.5 30
Lithuania2237 22 321.0 31
Uzbekistan2171 22 307.0 32
Croatia2254 22 304.5 33
Mongolia2162 22 301.5 34
Finland2148 22 300.0 35
Portugal2065 22 296.0 36
Bosnia and Herzegovina2237 21½ 313.5 37
Bangladesh2050 21½ 305.0 38
Sweden2188 21½ 303.0 39
France2269 21½ 296.5 40
Philippines2070 21½ 294.5 41
Austria2170 21 309.5 42
Denmark2108 21 305.5 43
Turkmenistan2233 21 304.0 44
Switzerland2162 21 300.0 45
Slovenia2207 21 297.0 14 46
Ecuador2309 21 297.0 12 47
North Macedonia2122 21 295.0 48
Italy2039 21 281.0 49
Venezuela2101 20½ 301.5 50
Kyrgyzstan2123 20½ 295.5 51
Argentina2146 20½ 287.5 52 IBCA 2122 20½ 285.5 53
Iran2008 20½ 285.0 54
Wales2053 20½ 280.5 55
Indonesia2080 20½ 272.0 56
Norway2062 20 297.5 57
Brazil2151 20 294.0 58
Scotland2084 20 291.0 59
Canada2070 20 274.0 60
Malaysia2061 20 268.0 61
Ireland2035 20 239.0 62
Mexico2069 19½ 296.0 63
Turkey2032 19½ 286.5 64
United Arab Emirates2000 19½ 274.5 65
Costa Rica2000 19½ 262.5 66
Japan2000 19½ 259.0 67
Turkey "B"2000 19½ 256.5 68
Colombia2159 19 279.5 69
Albania2077 19 266.0 70
Guatemala2070 19 257.0 71
South Africa2050 18½ 270.0 72
Iraq2061 18½ 268.5 73
El Salvador2015 18½ 262.0 74
New Zealand2000 18½ 243.5 75
Morocco2000 18½ 242.0 76
Puerto Rico2000 18½ 233.5 77
Syria2000 18 257.0 78
Iceland2042 18 246.5 79
Singapore2000 18 238.5 80
Sri Lanka2000 18 232.5 81
Botswana2000 18 224.5 82
Angola2000 14½ 225.0 83
Zambia2000 14½ 224.5 84
Macau2000 10½ 85
Yemen2000 7½ 86
United States Virgin Islands2021 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 all players.
- 34th Chess Olympiad: Istanbul 2000 OlimpBase