38th Chess Olympiad

Logo of the Chess Olympiad 2008

The 38th Chess Olympiad, organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between 12–25 November 2008, in Dresden, Germany and was won by Armenia. The 2010 Olympiad is expected to be held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. 2012 Olympiad will be in Istanbul (Turkey), who won over Budva (Montenegro).

Dresden Olympiad Scene

Rules

Compared to the last edition of the Olympiad, the tournament, while still a Swiss system, was reduced from 13 to 11 rounds, with accelerated pairings. No draws by agreement are permitted before 30 moves have been completed. Yet there were games drawn as soon as in 16th move – formally drawn by repetition which there is no rule against.

In addition, players who are not present at the board at the commencement of a round are forfeited, the latter rule was made to align chess with other sports events. In both the open section and women's section, the team matches are played over four boards. Each team may have five players, one for each board plus an alternate.

One-hundred-forty-six teams (including three of the host nation, Germany) participated in the open section, while 111 teams played in the women's section.

Results

Team results

Olympiad Open

1. Armenia
2. Israel
3. USA

Olympiad Women

1. Georgia
2. Ukraine
3. USA

Individual results

Olympiad Open

Top Performance Ratings:

1. Gabriel Sargissian Armenia
2. Peter Leko Hungary
3. Boris Gelfand Israel

Olympiad Women

Top Performance Ratings:

1. Maia Chiburdanidze Georgia
2. Joanna Majdan Poland
3. Martha Lorena Fierro-Baquero Ecuador

Bibliography

• Harald Fietz, Josip Asik, Anna Burtasova: Olympiad United! Dresden 2008. Verlag Schach Wissen, Berlin 2009. ISBN 978-3-9813348-0-7

External links

• Official website
• Results (Open section)
• Results (Women's section)