31st Chess Olympiad
# 31st Chess Olympiad

The 31st Chess Olympiad (Russian: 31-я Шахматная олимпиада, 31-ya Shakhmatnaya olimpiada), organized by FIDE and comprising an open 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 #CountryPlayersAverage ratingPointsBuchholz 1 RussiaKasparov, Kramnik, Bareev, Dreev, Tiviakov, Svidler271437½ 2 Bosnia and HerzegovinaP. Nikolić, Sokolov, Kurajica, Dizdarević, N. Nikolić, Milovanović258535 3 Russia "B"Morozevich, Zviagintsev, Ulibin, Rublevsky, Sakaev, Yemelin257034½457.5
    #CountryAverage ratingPointsBuchholzMP 4 England263034½ 5 Bulgaria257034453.0 6 Netherlands261034450.5 7 United States259834432.5 8 Hungary261933½449.5 9 Ukraine262433½448.5 10 Georgia256433½446.5 11 China253033½443.5 12 Belarus256533½434.0 13 Armenia260133442.5 14 Israel261133438.0 15 FR Yugoslavia254632½453.0 16 Germany261132½452.0 17 Estonia253632½449.5 18 Spain252532½440.0 19 Latvia259532437.0 20 Cuba250832433.018 21 Philippines246532433.016 22 Iceland255332432.0 23 Uzbekistan256932427.5 24 Lithuania252831½448.5 25 Romania249531½438.5 26 Croatia255531½435.0 27 Poland249631½427.5 28 Denmark250131440.0 29 Czech Republic252131431.5 30 Slovakia250431422.0 31 Switzerland250931421.5 32 Indonesia246431420.5 33 Argentina251930½436.5 34 France252930½432.5 35 Kyrgyzstan242830½421.0 36 Azerbaijan218830½420.0 37 Slovenia245530½416.0 38 Peru249530½410.5 39 Mexico241530½403.5 40 Turkmenistan241830425.0 41 Moldova249930424.0 42 Australia247630423.5 43 Greece250130421.5 44 Kazakhstan248630420.5 45 Macedonia244030418.0 46 Belgium234530405.0 47 Norway246429½430.5 48 Vietnam239429½418.5 49 Turkey239529½408.515 50 Portugal244929½408.514 51 Finland237529½407.0 52 Faroe Islands226029½367.5 53 Italy244829411.5 54 Scotland242829409.5 55 India247529398.0 56 Ireland230329394.5 57 Tunisia238129393.0 58 South Africa226529392.0 59 Austria243129388.0 60 Albania234329384.0 61 Chile240028½405.5 62 Brazil251028½402.0 63 Luxembourg233328½396.5 64 United Arab Emirates214828½367.5 65 Canada244028413.0 66 Bangladesh242028410.0 67 Morocco227028399.014 68 Tajikistan232028399.012 69 Egypt238528395.5 70 Algeria226828377.5 71 Mongolia234127½397.5 72 Ecuador218027½386.5 73 Dominican Republic219327½372.5 74 New Zealand231427½371.0 75 Nigeria218427½370.5 76 Wales217827½367.5 77 Singapore235927392.5 78 Uruguay239127388.5 79 Colombia234927368.5 80IBCA225526½ 81 Costa Rica228926377.5 82 Iran221026375.5 83 Zimbabwe213526359.5 84 Hong Kong217126354.0 85 Andorra213426348.5 86 Iraq230025½390.0 87 Japan226125½382.5 88 Thailand212825½380.0 89 Yemen200025½373.5 90 Paraguay228625½372.0 91 Liechtenstein220425½360.5 92 Nicaragua218325½355.0 93 Angola220625½356.5 94 Guatemala205325½316.5 95 Lebanon219025375.0 96 Malaysia205125368.5 97 El Salvador205825357.5 98 Venezuela204124½378.0 99 Bermuda204024½364.5 100 Jordan221324½363.0 101 Barbados212324½343.5 102 Honduras200024½329.5 103 Netherlands Antilles202624½322.5 104 Puerto Rico225024373.0 105 Qatar219024364.5 106 Sudan214624349.0 107 Malta209424345.0 108 Haiti205424324.5 109 Zambia205123½368.0 110 Cyprus210523½355.0 111 Botswana219923½347.5 112 Fiji204323½327.5 113 Mauritius205123½322.0 114 Macau200023½315.0 115 British Virgin Islands211823321.5 116 San Marino205323319.5 117 Palestine200023314.5 118 Monaco200022½ 119 Bahrain200022 120 Panama200021½ 121 Namibia200019 122 Guernsey and Jersey200015½ 123 Seychelles200014 124 United States Virgin Islands200011

### 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.

    #CountryPlayersAverage ratingPointsBuchholz 1 Georgia Chiburdanidze, Ioseliani, Arakhamia-Grant, Gurieli246332 2 HungaryZsuzsa Polgár, Zsófia Polgár, Mádl, Csonkics247231 3 ChinaXie Jun, Peng Zhaoqin, Qin Kanying, Zhu Chen242027351.0
    #CountryAverage ratingPointsBuchholz 4 Romania235727346.0 5 Ukraine234025 6 Estonia225524½336.5 7 Germany235224½326.0 8 England227024½320.5 9 Israel226024346.0 10 Russia238224342.0 11 Kazakhstan226724338.0 12 Russia "B"223824337.5 13 Bulgaria231724328.0 14 Vietnam212024324.5 15 Belarus226324322.5 16 Greece228024314.0 17 FR Yugoslavia237823½332.5 18 Azerbaijan235223½329.5 19 Croatia225823½324.5 20 Poland229823½309.0 21 Czech Republic222723½304.0 22 United States231723329.5 23 Lithuania221223304.5 24 Armenia220322½323.5 25 Cuba220322½322.0 26 Bosnia and Herzegovina218822½320.5 27 Latvia231722½320.0 28 France218022½317.5 29 Indonesia216722½314.5 30 Slovenia216722½310.5 31 Uzbekistan215022½305.0 32 Mongolia214322½300.5 33 Denmark214322½289.0 34 India217822309.0 35 Netherlands221322302.0 36 Argentina215222301.0 37 Switzerland218822300.0 38 Moldova226321½343.0 39 Spain224021½316.5 40 Kyrgyzstan217721½301.0 41 Norway207221½287.0 42 Slovakia216721305.0 43 Sweden215821295.0 44 Brazil209521290.0 45 Macedonia211320½294.0 46 Finland205820½289.5 47 Italy201520½276.0 48 Ireland203220½274.5 49 Malaysia201220½272.0 50 Turkmenistan203820293.0 51 Scotland203520292.5 52 Canada209020287.0 53IBCA211520285.5 54 Austria209520283.0 55 Colombia203720263.0 56 Australia211819½296.0 57 Venezuela202719½288.0 58 Turkey204019½275.0 59 Philippines200319½265.5 60 Chile202219½248.0 61 Dominican Republic200019½219.0 62 Bangladesh211019294.5 63 Mexico200019273.5 64 Algeria200019244.0 65 Wales200319226.5 66 Nigeria200019222.0 67 Ecuador200018½283.5 68 Portugal200218½281.0 69 Albania200018½273.5 70 Belgium200018½259.5 71 Iran200018½229.0 72 Puerto Rico200218240.0 73 Singapore200318223.5 74 New Zealand201218213.0 75 Costa Rica200017½ 76 Zimbabwe200317 77 Seychelles200014½ 78 Botswana200010½ 79 Malta200010213.5 80 Netherlands Antilles200010212.0 81 United States Virgin Islands20037½

### 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%
