41st Chess Olympiad

41st Chess Olympiad

Logo of the 41st Chess Olympiad
Dates run 1–14 August 2014
Competitors 1,570 (881 in open and 689 in women's event)
Teams 177 (Open)
136 (Women)
Nations 172 (Open)
131 (Women)
Venue Mackhallen
Location Tromsø, Norway
Champions
Team
Open 1st place, gold medalist(s)  China
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Hungary
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  India
Women 1st place, gold medalist(s)  Russia
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  China
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Ukraine
Individual
Open

China Yu Yangyi

Women Georgia (country) Nana Dzagnidze
Previous ←Istanbul 2012
Next Baku 2016→

The 41st Chess Olympiad (Norwegian: Den 41. Sjakkolympiade), organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an open[1] and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, was an international team chess event that took place in Tromsø, Norway, between 1–14 August 2014.[2] The organiser was Chess Olympiad Tromsø 2014 AS on behalf of FIDE.

A total number of 1,570 players participated at the Olympiad, with 881 in the men and 689 in the women's section.[3][4] The number of participating teams was 177 from 172 countries in the open section and 136 from 131 countries in the women's section. The main competitive events were held at Mackhallen. The Chief Arbiter of the event was Greece's International Arbiter Panagiotis Nikolopoulos.[5] The reigning World Champion, Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, was one of the eight official ambassadors. He also played as a member of one of the Norwegian teams.[6][7]

China 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. Chinese Yu Yangyi, playing on board three, and Georgian Nana Dzagnidze, playing on board one, were the most successful players in the open and women's section, respectively.[8] The event was also the last competitive tournament for Judit Polgár, the strongest female chess player in history,[9] who announced her retirement from competitive chess in the rest day of the Olympiad.[10][11][12] Playing as a reserve player for Hungary in the open section, she won a silver medal with her team and recorded four wins, one loss and one draw for a total score 4½/6.

  1. ^ Although commonly referred to as the men's division, this section is open to all male and female players.
  2. ^ "41st Chess Olympiad to be staged in – Tromsø! | Chess News". ChessBase. 2 October 2010. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
  3. ^ Tromso Chess Olympiad Men LIVE!, Chessdom.com, 29 July 2014.
  4. ^ Tromso Chess Olympiad Women LIVE!, Chessdom.com, 29 July 2014.
  5. ^ Tromso Chess Olympiad: Officials and Match Arbiters Archived 2014-08-08 at the Wayback Machine, FIDE, 23 May 2014.
  6. ^ "Tromsø 2014: Ambassadors". official website. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
  7. ^ "Magnus Carlsen heads Norwegian Olympiad teams". chess24.com. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
  8. ^ Tromso Final, ChessBase, 14 August 2014.
  9. ^ Sources citing Polgár as by far the strongest female chess player of all time:
    • "Anand wins chess "Battle of the Sexes"". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Associated Press. 2003-08-18. p. 6A. note: The Associated Press story on Aug.17/18, 2003 on the Polgár–Anand match explicitly refers to Polgár with the words "by far the strongest woman chess player ever"
    • "Polgar, Judit". Encyclodedia Britannica Online. Retrieved May 8, 2011. note: explicitly uses "by far": "By far the strongest female player of all timer".
    • "Super-GM tournament in Sofia starts". Chessbase.com. 12 May 2005. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
    • "Judit Polgár: 'I can work myself into the top ten again'". ChessBase. 2007-11-11. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
    • McClain, Dylan Loeb (2006-12-24). "Chess; The Secret of Playing Blindfold: Memory May Be the Least of It". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
    • "Women Grandmasters in Chess". MichaelBluejay. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
    • Pein, Malcolm (2009-09-22). "A crown for Kosteniuk". London. Retrieved 2010-04-18. Malcolm Pein, British IM and Executive Editor of CHESS magazine, when speaking of A. Kosteniuk's victory over Hou Yifan for the Women's World Championship, said "Currently Judit Polgár is in another league from any other female player."
    • "Elite Players Of Chess To Compete". The New York Times. 2005-05-17. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
    • Humber, James M.; Almeder, Robert F. Human cloning. Humana Press inc. p. 87. ISBN 0-89603-565-4.
    • Weber, Bruce (1996-12-22). "Next Move? Chess enthusiasts puzzle over game's gender imbalance". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. p. 17A.
    • Wolff, Patrick (2002). Complete Idiot's guide to chess. Penguin Group (USA) Inc. p. 277. ISBN 0-02-864182-5.
    • Kavalek, Lubomir (2005-01-17). "Chess". The Washington Post. p. C12. Kavalek, GM in the top 100 players for 26 years, called Polgár, "the all-time best female player"
    • Pandolfini, Bruce (2007). Treasure Chess: Trivia, Quotes, Puzzles, and Lore from the World's Oldest Game. Random House. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-375-72204-2. Panolfini, chess author and coach, writes "Judit Polgár is simply the strongest female chess player in history."
    • The January 1996 FIDE ratings list was a landmark as Polgár's 2675 rating made her the No. 10 ranked player in the world, the only woman ever to enter the world's Top Ten. Berry, Jonathan (1996-01-06). "Kramnick, 20 Tops the rating list". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. p. A12.
    • "All Time Rankings:FIDE Top 10 1970–1997". The University of Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 2009-11-26. Retrieved 2010-05-15.
  10. ^ Queen who exposed the arrogance of kings, The Times, 13 August 2014.
  11. ^ Judit Polgar to retire from professional chess, The Week in Chess, 13 August 2014.
  12. ^ Judit Polgar to retire from competitive chess, ChessBase, 13 August 2014.