Although the Ukraine had led all along, an extra half-point for Russia 1 would have been enough to snatch the title, as this would have boosted their tie-break beyond that of Ivanchuk and his compatriots. Ukraine only drew with Israel 2-2, but surprisingly Russia 1 failed to beat Spain (2-2). Hungary gained ground by beating Poland 2.5-1.5, but Israel earned the last place on the podium due to their superior tie-break over Hungary.
China headed the group of six teams on 16 match points, which included the defending champions Armenia who were fortunate to scrape a draw against France in the last round.
Rank | Country | Match pts. | Tie-Break | Game pts. | Board 1 |
1 | Ukraine | 19 | 380.5 | 31 | Ivanchuk |
2 | Russia 1 | 18 | 379.5 | 28 | Kramnik |
3 | Israel | 17 | 367.5 | 29 | Gelfand |
4 | Hungary | 17 | 355.5 | 26.5 | Leko |
5 | China | 16 | 362 | 29 | Wang Yue |
6 | Russia 2 | 16 | 355 | 29.5 | Nepomniachtchi |
7 | Armenia | 16 | 345 | 27 | Aronian |
8 | Spain | 16 | 332 | 28.5 | Shirov |
9 | USA | 16 | 315.5 | 27 | Nakamura |
10 | France | 16 | 311.5 | 25 | Vachier-Lagrave |
11 | Poland | 15 | 346.5 | 29 | Wojtaszek |
12 | Azerbaijan | 15 | 333 | 28 | Mamedyarov |
13 | Russia 3 | 15 | 320.5 | 26 | Jakovenko |
14 | Belarus | 15 | 307.5 | 27.5 | S.Zhigalko |
15 | Netherlands | 15 | 305 | 24.5 | Van Wely |
16 | Slovakia | 15 | 302.5 | 26.5 | Movsesian |
17 | Brazil | 15 | 290.5 | 27 | Leitao |
18 | India | 15 | 287 | 26.5 | Sasikiran |
19 | Denmark | 15 | 257.5 | 26.5 | SB. Hansen |
This is Ukraine's second Olympiad gold as they had previously won in 2004. This makes four in a row that Russia haven't won!
Prizes are also awarded for those achieving the best performances on each board.
To get into consideration for a board prize eight games must have been played and the performance naturally has to be relatively high, as there are 150 players competing in each category.
Board prizes:
Board 1:
Rank | Name | Team | Rating | Score | Performance |
1 | Vassily Ivanchuk | Ukraine | 2754 | 8/10 | 2890! |
2 | Levon Aronian | Armenia | 2783 | 7.5/10 | 2888 |
3 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | Russia 2 | 2706 | 6.5/9 | 2821 |
4 | Ivan Sokolov | Bosnia | 2605 | 6/8 | 2798 |
5 | Vladimir Kramnik | Russia 1 | 2780 | 5.5/9 | 2794 |
6 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | Azerbaijan | 2756 | 6.5/10 | 2778 |
The leading performances on board two were similar to those on board one, noting that Sutovsky obtained a higher one than Ivanchuk, but only over eight games.
Board 2:
Rank | Name | Team | Rating | Score | Performance |
1 | Emil Sutovsky | Israel | 2665 | 6.5/8 | 2895! |
2 | Zoltan Almasi | Hungary | 2707 | 7/10 | 2801 |
3 | Wang Hao | China | 2724 | 7.5/10 | 2783 |
4 | Alexander Grischuk | Russia 1 | 2760 | 6/9 | 2776 |
5 | Gata Kamsky | USA | 2705 | 7/10 | 2756 |
6 | Teimour Radjabov | Azerbaijan | 2748 | 6/9 | 2755 |
The unknown Vitaly Teterev won the board three prize ahead of some much higher rated players.
Board 3:
Rank | Name | Team | Rating | Score | Performance |
1 | Vitaly Teterev | Belarus | 2511 | 7/8 | 2853 |
2 | Pavel Eljanov | Ukraine | 2761 | 7/10 | 2737 |
3 | Sergei Rublevsky | Russia 3 | 2683 | 8/11 | 2727 |
4 | Judit Polgar | Hungary | 2682 | 6/10 | 2703 |
5 | Nikita Vitiugov | Russia 2 | 2709 | 6/9 | 2700 |
6 | Mikheil Mchedlishvili | Georgia | 2628 | 6/9 | 2673 |
Karjakin obtained the fourth highest performance of the whole championships on board four.
Board 4:
Rank | Name | Team | Rating | Score | Performance |
1 | Sergei Karjakin | Russia 1 | 2747 | 8/10 | 2859 |
2 | Zahar Efimenko | Ukraine | 2683 | 8.5/11 | 2783 |
3 | Anish Giri | Netherlands | 2677 | 8/11 | 2730 |
4 | Kamil Miton | Poland | 2629 | 7.5/10 | 2714 |
5 | Ferenc Berkes | Hungary | 2678 | 6.5/10 | 2686 |
6 | Levan Pantsulaia | Georgia | 2599 | 6/9 | 2685 |
The board four and five winners are both still quite young and may find themselves on higher boards next time.
Feller's result could have been even better as in one game he played an immediately losing move instead of a clearly winning one (against Mikhalevski).
Rank | Name | Team | Rating | Score | Performance |
1 | Sebastien Feller | France | 2649 | 6/9 | 2708 |
2 | Mateusz Bartel | Poland | 2599 | 7/9 | 2706 |
3 | Vlastimil Babula | Czech rep. | 2515 | 7/9 | 2668 |
4 | IM Kirill Stupak | Belarus | 2502 | 7/10 | 2660 |
5 | Gawain Jones | England | 2576 | 6/8 | 2647 |
6 | Andre Diamant | Brazil | 2498 | 6.5/8 | 2644 |
Here are a selection of Olympiad-centred videos to watch, courtesy of Europe Echecs. Enjoy them!
In the final round Gunina's win enabled Russia 1 to down Russia 2 by 2.5-1.5.
Rank | Country | Match pts. | Tie-break | Game points. | Board 1 |
1 | Russia 1 | 22 | 439.5 | 34 | Tatiana Kosintseva |
2 | China | 18 | 386.5 | 31.5 | Hou Yifan |
3 | Georgia | 17 | 384 | 29 | Dzagnidze |
4 | Cuba | 16 | 348.5 | 30 | Ordaz Valdes |
5 | USA | 16 | 336.5 | 28.5 | Krush |
6 | Poland | 16 | 336 | 29.5 | Socko |
7 | Azerbaijan | 16 | 320 | 28 | Z.Mamedyarova |
8 | Bulgaria | 16 | 296.5 | 24.5 | Stefanova |
9 | Ukraine | 15 | 366.5 | 28.5 | Lahno |
10 | Russia 2 | 15 | 335.5 | 26.5 | Pogonina |
11 | Armenia | 15 | 327.5 | 28 | Danielian |
12 | Greece | 15 | 316 | 28 | Dembo |
13 | Romania | 15 | 312.5 | 28 | Foisor |
14 | Russia 3 | 15 | 287 | 27 | Kovanova |
Here are the leading performances in the Women's event.
Board 1:
Rank | Name | Team | Rating | Score | Performance |
1 | GM Tatiana Kosintseva | Russia 1 | 2573 | 7/10 | 2628 |
2 | WGM Zeinab Mamedjarova | Azerbaijan | 2234 | 9/11 | 2623 |
3 | GM Hou Yifan | China | 2578 | 8/11 | 2573 |
4 | GM Nana Dzagnidze | Georgia | 2534 | 7/10 | 2563 |
5 | IM Anna Muzychuk | Slovenia | 2535 | 7/10 | 2547 |
6 | IM Elisabeth Paehtz | Germany | 2467 | 6.5/9 | 2524 |
The Kosintseva sisters taking the top two board golds, with Nadezhda easily achieving a GM norm.
Ju Wenjun also passed the 2600 performance mark and obtained a GM-norm.
Board 2:
Rank | Name | Team | Rating | Score | Performance |
1 | IM Nadezhda Kosintseva | Russia 1 | 2565 | 8.5/10 | 2662 |
2 | WGM Ju Wenjun | China | 2516 | 9.5/11 | 2636 |
3 | WIM Pham Le Thao Nguyen | Vietnam | 2304 | 8.5/10 | 2481 |
4 | IM Anna Zatonskih | USA | 2480 | 6.5/10 | 2454 |
5 | IM Lela Javakhishvili | Georgia | 2451 | 5/9 | 2447 |
6 | IM Olga Zimina | Italy | 2334 | 7.5/10 | 2446 |
On board three the Cuban player was part of a team that took a surprising fourth place.
Board 3:
Rank | Name | Country | Rating | Score | Performance |
1 | WGM Yaniet Marrero Lopez | Cuba | 2324 | 7/8 | 2511 |
2 | IM Salome Melia | Georgia | 2439 | 7/10 | 2458 |
3 | WGM Ilze Berzina | Latvia | 2283 | 9/11 | 2450 |
4 | GM Zhao Xue | China | 2469 | 7/10 | 2437 |
5 | WGM Joanna Majdan-Gajewska | Poland | 2333 | 8/10 | 2434 |
6 | GM Alexandra Kosteniuk | Russia 1 | 2524 | 6.5/10 | 2433 |
The Latvian's third place was also a worthy medal winning performance especially as she played all eleven games.
Bodnaruk's 2569 performance wasn't enough to win the gold on board four.
Board 4:
Rank | Name | Country | Rating | Score | Performance |
1 | IM Inna Gaponenko | Ukraine | 2469 | 7.5/8 | 2691! |
2 | IM Anastasia Bodnaruk | Russia 2 | 2399 | 7/8 | 2569 |
3 | WIM Olga Vasiliev | Israel | 2293 | 7/9 | 2379 |
4 | IM Joanna Dworakowska | Poland | 2315 | 7.5/10 | 2367 |
5 | WGM Kamile Baginskaite | USA | 2328 | 6/8 | 2354 |
6 | WIM Lisa Schut | Netherlands | 2288 | 8/10 | 2349 |
Ukraine took the golds on four and five with Gaponenko obtaining an impressive percentage. On the other hand, Mariya Muzychuk took the board five gold without doing anything exceptional.
Board 5:
Rank | Name | Country | Rating | Score | Performance |
1 | IM Mariya Muzychuk | Ukraine | 2464 | 6.5/9 | 2431 |
2 | WGM Alina Kashlinskaya | Russia 2 | 2358 | 5.5/9 | 2327 |
3 | IM Bela Khotenashvili | Georgia | 2464 | 5/8 | 2289 |
4 | WFM Ghazal Hakimifard | Iran | 2173 | 5/8 | 2258 |
5 | WIM Judith Fuchs | Germany | 2237 | 6.5/9 | 2254 |
6 | WGM Nino Maisuradze | France | 2273 | 7/9 | 2236 |
Nobody had a really exceptional result on board five, the three medal winners all performing below their rating!
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