34th Chess Olympiad

Official logo of the Olympiad

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

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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  Russia Khalifman, Morozevich, Svidler, Rublevsky, Sakaev, Grischuk 2685 38
2  Germany Yusupov, Hübner, Dautov, Lutz, Bischoff, Luther 2604 37
3  Ukraine Ivanchuk, Ponomariov, Baklan, Eingorn, Romanishin, Malakhatko 2638 35½ 457.5
4  Hungary Leko, Almási, Polgár, Portisch, Sax, Ruck 2661 35½ 455.5
5  Israel Gelfand, Smirin, Avrukh, Psakhis, Sutovsky, Huzman 2652 34½
6  Georgia Azmaiparashvili, Giorgadze, Sturua, Kacheishvili, Gelashvili, Jobava 2602 34
7  England Adams, Short, Hodgson, Speelman, Miles, Emms 2672 33 441.5
8  India Krishnan Sasikiran, Abhijit Kunte, Pentala Harikrishna, Dibyendu Barua, Devaki Prasad, Surya Ganguly 2538 33 440.5
9  China Ye Jiangchuan, Xu Jun, Peng Xiaomin, Wu Wenjin, Liang Chong, Ni Hua 2651 33 439.5
10  Switzerland Korchnoi, Milov, Gallagher, Pelletier, Jenni, Hug 2562 33 432.5

Individual medals

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Women's event

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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
rating		 Points Buchholz
1  China Xie Jun, Zhu Chen, Xu Yuhua, Wang Lei 2537 32
2  Georgia Chiburdanidze, Ioseliani, Khurtsidze, Gurieli 2480 31
3  Russia Galliamova, Kovalevskaya, Matveeva, Stepovaya-Dianchenko 2480 28½
4  Ukraine Zhukova, Zatonskih, Vasilevich, Sedina 2442 27
5  Yugoslavia Marić, Bojković, Prudnikova, Chelushkina 2430 26
6  Netherlands Zhaoqin Peng, Sziva, Bosboom-Lanchava, Jap Tjoen San 2329 25½
7  Hungary Mádl, Lakos, Grábics, Gara 2369 25 342.0
8  Germany Kachiani-Gersinska, Paehtz, Koglin, Trabert 2364 25 333.5
9  England Hunt, Lalic, Houska, Richards 2349 25 325.5
10  Armenia Danielian, Mkrtchian, Hlgatian, Aginian 2303 24½ 342.5

Individual medals

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Overall title

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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  Russia 1 3 2
2  Ukraine 3 4 3½
3  Georgia 6 2 4

Notes

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