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31st Chess Olympiad

Official logo of the Olympiad

The 31st Chess Olympiad, 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
# Country Players Average
rating		 Points Buchholz
1 Russia Kasparov, Kramnik, Bareev, Dreev, Tiviakov, Svidler 2714 37½
2 Bosnia and Herzegovina P. Nikolić, Sokolov, Kurajica, Dizdarević, N. Nikolić, Milovanović 2585 35
3 Russia "B" Morozevich, Zviagintsev, Ulibin, Rublevsky, Sakaev, Yemelin 2570 34½ 457.5
# Country Average
rating		 Points Buchholz MP
4 England 2630 34½
5 Bulgaria 2570 34 453.0
6 Netherlands 2610 34 450.5
7 United States 2598 34 432.5
8 Hungary 2619 33½ 449.5
9 Ukraine 2624 33½ 448.5
10 Georgia 2564 33½ 446.5
11 China 2530 33½ 443.5
12 Belarus 2565 33½ 434.0
13 Armenia 2601 33 442.5
14 Israel 2611 33 438.0
15 Yugoslavia 2546 32½ 453.0
16 Germany 2611 32½ 452.0
17 Estonia 2536 32½ 449.5
18 Spain 2525 32½ 440.0
19 Latvia 2595 32 437.0
20 Cuba 2508 32 433.0 18
21 Philippines 2465 32 433.0 16
22 Iceland 2553 32 432.0
23 Uzbekistan 2569 32 427.5
24 Lithuania 2528 31½ 448.5
25 Romania 2495 31½ 438.5
26 Croatia 2555 31½ 435.0
27 Poland 2496 31½ 427.5
28 Denmark 2501 31 440.0
29 Czech Republic 2521 31 431.5
30 Slovakia 2504 31 422.0
31 Switzerland 2509 31 421.5
32 Indonesia 2464 31 420.5
33 Argentina 2519 30½ 436.5
34 France 2529 30½ 432.5
35 Kyrgyzstan 2428 30½ 421.0
36 Azerbaijan 2188 30½ 420.0
37 Slovenia 2455 30½ 416.0
38 Peru 2495 30½ 410.5
39 Mexico 2415 30½ 403.5
40 Turkmenistan 2418 30 425.0
41 Moldova 2499 30 424.0
42 Australia 2476 30 423.5
43 Greece 2501 30 421.5
44 Kazakhstan 2486 30 420.5
45 Macedonia 2440 30 418.0
46 Belgium 2345 30 405.0
47 Norway 2464 29½ 430.5
48 Vietnam 2394 29½ 418.5
49 Turkey 2395 29½ 408.5 15
50 Portugal 2449 29½ 408.5 14
51 Finland 2375 29½ 407.0
52 Faroe Islands 2260 29½ 367.5
53 Italy 2448 29 411.5
54 Scotland 2428 29 409.5
55 India 2475 29 398.0
56 Ireland 2303 29 394.5
57 Tunisia 2381 29 393.0
58 South Africa 2265 29 392.0
59 Austria 2431 29 388.0
60 Albania 2343 29 384.0
61 Chile 2400 28½ 405.5
62 Brazil 2510 28½ 402.0
63 Luxembourg 2333 28½ 396.5
64 United Arab Emirates 2148 28½ 367.5
65 Canada 2440 28 413.0
66 Bangladesh 2420 28 410.0
67 Morocco 2270 28 399.0 14
68 Tajikistan 2320 28 399.0 12
69 Egypt 2385 28 395.5
70 Algeria 2268 28 377.5
71 Mongolia 2341 27½ 397.5
72 Ecuador 2180 27½ 386.5
73 Dominican Republic 2193 27½ 372.5
74 New Zealand 2314 27½ 371.0
75 Nigeria 2184 27½ 370.5
76 Wales 2178 27½ 367.5
77 Singapore 2359 27 392.5
78 Uruguay 2391 27 388.5
79 Colombia 2349 27 368.5
80 IBCA 2255 26½
81 Costa Rica 2289 26 377.5
82 Iran 2210 26 375.5
83 Zimbabwe 2135 26 359.5
84 Hong Kong 2171 26 354.0
85 Andorra 2134 26 348.5
86 Iraq 2300 25½ 390.0
87 Japan 2261 25½ 382.5
88 Thailand 2128 25½ 380.0
89 Yemen 2000 25½ 373.5
90 Paraguay 2286 25½ 372.0
91 Liechtenstein 2204 25½ 360.5
92 Nicaragua 2183 25½ 355.0
93 Angola 2206 25½ 356.5
94 Guatemala 2053 25½ 316.5
95 Lebanon 2190 25 375.0
96 Malaysia 2051 25 368.5
97 El Salvador 2058 25 357.5
98 Venezuela 2041 24½ 378.0
99 Bermuda 2040 24½ 364.5
100 Jordan 2213 24½ 363.0
101 Barbados 2123 24½ 343.5
102 Honduras 2000 24½ 329.5
103 Netherlands Antilles 2026 24½ 322.5
104 Puerto Rico 2250 24 373.0
105 Qatar 2190 24 364.5
106 Sudan 2146 24 349.0
107 Malta 2094 24 345.0
108 Haiti 2054 24 324.5
109 Zambia 2051 23½ 368.0
110 Cyprus 2105 23½ 355.0
111 Botswana 2199 23½ 347.5
112 Fiji 2043 23½ 327.5
113 Mauritius 2051 23½ 322.0
114 Macau 2000 23½ 315.0
115 British Virgin Islands 2118 23 321.5
116 San Marino 2053 23 319.5
117 Palestine 2000 23 314.5
118 Monaco 2000 22½
119 Bahrain 2000 22
120 Panama 2000 21½
121 Namibia 2000 19
122 Guernsey and Jersey 2000 15½
123 Seychelles 2000 14
124 United States Virgin Islands 2000 11

Individual medals

Women's results

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.

# Country Players Average
rating		 Points Buchholz
1 Georgia Chiburdanidze, Ioseliani, Arakhamia-Grant, Gurieli 2463 32
2 Hungary Zsuzsa Polgár, Zsófia Polgár, Mádl, Csonkics 2472 31
3 China Xie Jun, Peng Zhaoqin, Qin Kanying, Zhu Chen 2420 27 351.0
# Country Average
rating		 Points Buchholz
4 Romania 2357 27 346.0
5 Ukraine 2340 25
6 Estonia 2255 24½ 336.5
7 Germany 2352 24½ 326.0
8 England 2270 24½ 320.5
9 Israel 2260 24 346.0
10 Russia 2382 24 342.0
11 Kazakhstan 2267 24 338.0
12 Russia "B" 2238 24 337.5
13 Bulgaria 2317 24 328.0
14 Vietnam 2120 24 324.5
15 Belarus 2263 24 322.5
16 Greece 2280 24 314.0
17 Yugoslavia 2378 23½ 332.5
18 Azerbaijan 2352 23½ 329.5
19 Croatia 2258 23½ 324.5
20 Poland 2298 23½ 309.0
21 Czech Republic 2227 23½ 304.0
22 United States 2317 23 329.5
23 Lithuania 2212 23 304.5
24 Armenia 2203 22½ 323.5
25 Cuba 2203 22½ 322.0
26 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2188 22½ 320.5
27 Latvia 2317 22½ 320.0
28 France 2180 22½ 317.5
29 Indonesia 2167 22½ 314.5
30 Slovenia 2167 22½ 310.5
31 Uzbekistan 2150 22½ 305.0
32 Mongolia 2143 22½ 300.5
33 Denmark 2143 22½ 289.0
34 India 2178 22 309.0
35 Netherlands 2213 22 302.0
36 Argentina 2152 22 301.0
37 Switzerland 2188 22 300.0
38 Moldova 2263 21½ 343.0
39 Spain 2240 21½ 316.5
40 Kyrgyzstan 2177 21½ 301.0
41 Norway 2072 21½ 287.0
42 Slovakia 2167 21 305.0
43 Sweden 2158 21 295.0
44 Brazil 2095 21 290.0
45 Macedonia 2113 20½ 294.0
46 Finland 2058 20½ 289.5
47 Italy 2015 20½ 276.0
48 Ireland 2032 20½ 274.5
49 Malaysia 2012 20½ 272.0
50 Turkmenistan 2038 20 293.0
51 Scotland 2035 20 292.5
52 Canada 2090 20 287.0
53 IBCA 2115 20 285.5
54 Austria 2095 20 283.0
55 Colombia 2037 20 263.0
56 Australia 2118 19½ 296.0
57 Venezuela 2027 19½ 288.0
58 Turkey 2040 19½ 275.0
59 Philippines 2003 19½ 265.5
60 Chile 2022 19½ 248.0
61 Dominican Republic 2000 19½ 219.0
62 Bangladesh 2110 19 294.5
63 Mexico 2000 19 273.5
64 Algeria 2000 19 244.0
65 Wales 2003 19 226.5
66 Nigeria 2000 19 222.0
67 Ecuador 2000 18½ 283.5
68 Portugal 2002 18½ 281.0
69 Albania 2000 18½ 273.5
70 Belgium 2000 18½ 259.5
71 Iran 2000 18½ 229.0
72 Puerto Rico 2002 18 240.0
73 Singapore 2003 18 223.5
74 New Zealand 2012 18 213.0
75 Costa Rica 2000 17½
76 Zimbabwe 2003 17
77 Seychelles 2000 14½
78 Botswana 2000 10½
79 Malta 2000 10 213.5
80 Netherlands Antilles 2000 10 212.0
81 United States Virgin Islands 2003 7½

Individual medals

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