# 32nd Chess Olympiad

The 32nd Chess Olympiad (Armenian: 32-րդ Շախմատային օլիմպիադա, 32-rd Shakhmatayin olimpiadan), organized by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, took place between September 15 and October 2, 1996, in Yerevan, Armenia. Both tournament sections were officiated by international arbiter Alesha Khachatrian of Armenia.
The Russian team won their third consecutive title, captained by PCA world champion Kasparov. Once again, due to a dispute with the national federation, FIDE champion Anatoly Karpov was not present. Ukraine, led by Ivanchuk, took the silver, and the United States returned to the medal ranks for the first time since the fall of the Iron Curtain, beating England by half a point on tie break—somewhat ironically, half of the US team were born in Eastern Europe.
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 114 teams representing 111 nations plus Armenia "B" and "C" as well as the International Braille Chess Association. Mali were signed up but didn't show up and were disqualified. Due to an odd number of participants, the hosts were allowed to field an additional third squad, but when team Yemen arrived after the second round, the number became odd again. However, Afghanistan set a new Olympic record by not showing up until round 8 and once again brought the total number of teams an even one.
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, Dreev, Svidler, Bareev, Rublevsky271438½ 2 UkraineIvanchuk, Malaniuk, Romanyshyn, Novikov, Onyschuk, Savchenko263335 3 United StatesGulko, Yermolinsky, De Firmian, Kaidanov, Benjamin, Christiansen259534448.0 4 EnglandShort, Adams, Speelman, Sadler, Hodgson, Conquest265534447.5 5 ArmeniaAkopian, Vaganian, Lputian, Minasian, Anastasian, Petrosian259333½452.0 6 SpainShirov, Illescas, Magem, García, San Segundo, Izeta260533½451.5 7 Bosnia and HerzegovinaSokolov, Nikolić, Kurajica, Dizdarević, Kelecević, Sinanović258433½439.5 8 GeorgiaAzmaiparashvili, Giorgadze, Sturua, Zaichik, Janjgava, Supatashvili259033446.0 9 BulgariaTopalov, K. Georgiev, Spasov, Dimitrov, V. Georgiev, Chatalbashev261933443.0 10 GermanyYusupov, Hübner, Dautov, Lobron, Hickl, Lutz261933440.0
    #CountryAverage ratingPointsBuchholzMP 11 Sweden254433434.0 12 Iceland254933426.5 13 China251832½448.5 14 Netherlands256432½436.5 15 Argentina252932½430.0 =16 Croatia256432443.517 =16 Israel260032443.517 18 Hungary264332440.5 19 Uzbekistan251032434.5 20 Latvia251532424.5 21 Cuba253631½438.5 22 Yugoslavia254031½423.0 23 Slovenia250931½419.5 24 Greece256331½412.5 25 France254131438.0 26 Philippines247031431.5 27 Vietnam247831412.0 28 Australia246531411.5 29 Canada245431397.5 30 Kazakhstan251130½436.0 31 Romania252830½434.5 32 Czech Republic255530½432.5 33 Belarus257030½426.5 34 Slovakia250830½422.0 35 North Macedonia247830½421.5 36 Poland254530½420.0 37 Lithuania254630½419.5 38 Denmark251930½404.0 39 Turkmenistan244530½390.0 40 Norway253530409.0 41 Peru247630407.5 42 Armenia "C"240030404.0 43 Colombia245030402.0 44 Indonesia241429½426.5 45 Moldova251429½411.5 46 Finland241929½401.5 47 Tajikistan228329398.5 48 Austria240829393.5 49 Estonia254928½438.5 50 Armenia "B"245628½413.0 51 Brazil244628½408.5 52 Portugal245128½408.0 53 Kyrgyzstan247928½395.5 54 Belgium239128½391.0 55 Ireland239528½389.5 56 Scotland243628½381.0 57 Italy246828404.5 58 Switzerland244828400.0 59 India244928397.0 60 Syria208028364.5 61 Bangladesh242327½411.5 62 South Africa233827½395.0 63 Luxembourg235527½388.0 64 Malaysia227427½387.0 65 United Arab Emirates225427½361.0 66 Egypt238427393.5 67 Morocco227827379.5 68 Chile243326½405.0 69 Turkey231826½396.5 70 Tunisia236926½393.0 71 Venezuela225826½386.0 72 Iran223826½382.5 73IBCA223627½380.0 74 Wales228527½379.5 75 Ecuador230127½376.5 76 Japan224127½375.5 77 Uruguay226126375.5 78 Hong Kong222026369.5 79 Puerto Rico224026368.5 80 Singapore229126367.0 81 Faroe Islands225626361.5 82 New Zealand231125½377.0 83 Angola223125½371.0 84 Andorra218325½363.5 85 Yemen214525½363.0 86 Liechtenstein223925½356.0 87 Cyprus210025½351.5 88 Paraguay232825379.0 89 Barbados217925368.0 90 Lebanon221925358.5 91 Qatar220425346.5 92 El Salvador205824½378.5 93 Thailand216524½372.5 94 Zimbabwe221024½357.5 95 Nicaragua211324½354.5 96 Uganda214024½348.5 97 Malta209424½346.0 98 Bahrain208624½344.0 99 Botswana208624341.5 100 Netherlands Antilles214424338.5 101 San Marino203023½325.0 102 Macau205323½304.5 103 Haiti200023 104 Sri Lanka209422½335.0 105 Monaco214022½319.0 106 Mauritania200022323.5 107 Bermuda203122317.5 108 Mozambique200021½328.0 109 Honduras200021½305.5 110 Jersey202420 111 Guernsey200018½ 112 Afghanistan200017 113 Seychelles203316 114 United States Virgin Islands20009

### Individual medals

* Performance rating: Garry Kasparov 2873
* Board 1: Mohamad Al-Modiahki 8 / 10 = 80.0%
* Board 2: Richard Robinson 8 / 10 = 80.0%
* Board 3: Saidali Iuldachev 11 / 14 = 78.6%
* Board 4: Matthew Sadler 10½ / 13 = 80.8%
* 1st reserve: ("B") Karen Asrian 10 / 12 = 83.3%
* 2nd reserve: Geoffrey Makumbi 7½ / 8 = 93.8%

### Best game

The 'Best game' prize went to Zurab Sturua (Georgia) – Rolando Kutirov (Macedonia) from round 3.

## Women's event

The women's division was contested by 74 teams representing 72 nations plus Armenia "B" and the International Braille Chess Association. The time control for each game permitted each player 2 hours to make the first 40 of 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 one former world champion (Chiburdanidze), won their third consecutive title. China, led by another former world champion (Xie Jun), took the silver, and Russia the bronze. Newly crowned champion Susan Polgar did not take part in the event for her new country, so a second-rate US team finished as low as 35th.
    #CountryPlayersAverage ratingPointsBuchholz 1 GeorgiaChiburdanidze, Ioseliani, Arakhamia-Grant, Gurieli249830 2 ChinaXie Jun, Zhu Chen, Wang Lei, Wang Pin242528½347.0 3 RussiaGalliamova, Matveeva, Prudnikova, Zaitseva244328½345.5 4 UkraineGaponenko, Litinskaya, Sedina, Zhukova234326½ 5 HungaryPolgár, Mádl, Medvegy, Lakos238726 6 RomaniaFoișor, Corina Peptan, Radu-Cosma, Olărașu235525½ 7 IsraelKlinova, Segal, Tsifanskaya, Pitam231025 8 KazakhstanSakhatova, Uskova, Girkiyan-Klink, Sergeeva230524½340.5 9 PolandBrustman, Bobrowska, Dworakowska, Zielińska233024½339.5 10 EnglandLalic, Hunt, Sheldon, Bellin230324346.0
    #CountryAverage ratingPointsBuchholzMP 11 Indonesia217824309.5 12 Czech Republic225824305.5 13 Yugoslavia239523½335.5 =14 Moldova232223½332.515 =14 Germany234823½332.515 16 Bulgaria233523½331.5 17 Lithuania222223½321.5 18 Greece225223½321.0 =19 Cuba225323½316.516 =19 Armenia223323½316.516 21 Estonia225823½312.5 22 Uzbekistan219823½291.5 23 Slovakia225023328.0 24 Vietnam219723321.0 25 India215223316.0 26 France221123314.0 27 Mongolia211523275.5 28 Slovenia219522½311.5 29 Armenia "B"213822½310.5 30 Netherlands221022½301.5 31 Croatia224222312.0 32 Belarus225222304.0 33 Bosnia and Herzegovina211022303.5 34 Latvia224521½ 35 United States231221½314.0 36 Spain224521½299.5 37 Sweden210821½299.0 38 Australia214521½298.0 39 Canada212321½286.5 40 Austria211221½285.5 41 Denmark204821½283.0 42 Kyrgyzstan211220½309.0 43 North Macedonia210520½291.5 44 Philippines201520½282.0 45 Norway208320½280.5 46 Brazil208020½278.0 47 Finland206520290.5 48 Turkmenistan204820287.0 49 Italy201020282.0 50 Venezuela204320280.5 51 Mexico216220278.5 52 Bangladesh209320274.5 53 Switzerland214019½297.0 54 Scotland202219½282.0 55 Portugal213319282.0 56 Ireland201719262.5 57IBCA200019245.5 58 Puerto Rico200219240.0 59 Colombia206018½277.0 60 Iran203318½266.5 61 Syria200018½229.0 62 Netherlands Antilles200018½217.5 63 Ecuador206718285.0 64 Malaysia205018259.0 65 Sri Lanka200718232.5 66 New Zealand200018223.0 67 Turkey200217½264.5 68 United Arab Emirates201717½240.5 69 Zambia200216½ 70 Angola200015229.5 71 Lebanon200015228.5 72 Seychelles201314½ 73 Japan20008 74 United States Virgin Islands20002

### Individual medals

* Performance rating: Zhu Chen 2561
* Board 1: Mähri Ovezova 10½ / 14 = 75.0%
* Board 2: Zhu Chen 10 / 13 = 76.9%
* Board 3: Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant 8 / 10 = 80.0%
* Reserve: Marta Zielińska 6 / 7 = 85.7%