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Invitation to the 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden
22.05.2008 – Attention all chess federations and national teams. Attention FIDE officials and dignitaries. Attention chess fans. The 38th Chess Olympiad will be staged in the city of Dresden, Saxony, Germany, from November 12 to 25, 2008. During the time a FIDE Congress will also be held. For those wishing to participate or attend here are all the most important details. |
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The 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden begins on Wednesday
11.11.2008 – It starts in the evening at 20:08h local time (reflects the year 2008 – get it?) with a big opening gala which has show stars and musical performances. Over 500 persons are involved in the show. If you cannot be in Dresden you can still catch the opening ceremony and the rest of the event on the Chess Olympiad TV. And on Playchess, which will broadcast 32 games plus video interviews. Details. |
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Chess Olympiad in Dresden – the Opening Ceremony
13.11.2008 – German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble was present, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov could not attend, owing to a car accident he suffered in Moscow on the previous day. The 38th Chess Olympiad began with a spectacular opening ceremony, which took place in a giant ice skating hall (and on ice!). Delegations from 152 nations saw a very impressive show. Pictures and videos. |
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Olympiad R1: Azerbaijan and Armenia score 4-0
14.11.2008 – The first round of the Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany, began with white-wash victories by Azerbaijan and Armenia. Host Germany defeated Scotland 3.5:0.5, and the second team actually beat Bulgaria 2.5:1.5. In the women's section Russia crushed Azerbaijan 4-0, while Germany was held by Iran. We bring you the results of the top boards and photographic impressions of the participants. |
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Olympiad R2: Azerbaijan and Armenia lead, US twice upset
15.11.2008 – After two rounds at the Olympiad in Dresden 20 teams have four points each, with Azerbaijan and Armenia leading on tiebreak points. The upset was the 2:2 draw between 10th seed US against 27th ranked Greece. In the women's section Israel, ranked 21st, beat the seventh seed Americans. Fourteen teams lead with four points each, with Russia ahead on tiebreaks. Massive photo report. |
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Olympiad R3: Norway beats China, Ugandans forfeited
16.11.2008 – The shocker of round three was nineteenth seed Norway's 2.5:1.5 win over third seed China. Armenia and Germany won to take first and second place on the table. The Ugandan team appeared for the round with only one player, owing to visa problems, and have sent an urgent appeal for assistance. In the women's section top seed, Russia almost lost to eleventh seed India. Big pictorial report. |
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Olympiad R4: Germany ahead of Russia
17.11.2008 – Talk about home advantage: the German Olympiad team is in the lead, a few tiebreak points ahead of Russia, both teams having won all their matches so far. Israel beat Egypt in a somewhat charged political match. In the women's section China and Poland have won all their matches and lead with 8/8. We bring you results, games and once again a giant pictorial report. |
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Olympiad R5: Six teams with 9/10 points
18.11.2008 – Germany and Russia drew their match, Armenia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and England won theirs, so now there are six teams with an equal number of match points at the top of the table. The day's sensation: Adams lost with white against 16-year-old Fabiano Caruana. In the women's section China thrashed their main rival Poland to take the sole lead. Results, games, giant pictorial. |
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Olympiad R6: Armenia and Russia lead with 11/12 points
20.11.2008 – After a 2:2 against Ukraine, and wins by Russia and Armenia over England and Azerbaijan respectively, the leading Germany join six other teams in the second slot. In the women's section China beat Hungary to take a two-point lead, with Russia, Netherlands, Ukraine, USA and Poland in second place. TV ChessBase is producing interviews after the games. Pictorial report. |
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Olympiad R8: Armenia beats France, Israel in sole second
21.11.2008 – The French team, who were looking so good yesterday, suffered a painful ½:3½ beating at the hands of the leading Armenians, who are now a match point ahead of Israel, and two ahead of Russia and Ukraine. The biggest performance, 2936, has been given by Veselin Topalov, who is likely to climb to over 2800 in the next FIDE list. In the women's section China still leads. Full illustrated report. |
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Olympiad R7: Armenia lead ahead of Germany, Israel and France
21.11.2008 – The win came on board three: Gabriel Sargissian defeated Alexander Grischuk, and with it the Russian hopes of catching the leading Armenians. Now Kramnik and Co. are in the third tier, together with Ukraine, China, Vietnam and the US and behind Germany, Israel and France. In the women's section Ukraine has come to within a point of the leading Chinese.
Big pictorial report. |
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Olympiad R9: Armenia and China falter in ninth round mixup
23.11.2008 – Two major shocks pulled the two teams that had been leading all the way away from the top: Armenia lost to Israel in the open section, and the overpowering Chinese lost to Serbia in the women's section. Suddenly on this snow-covered weekend in Dresden we have Israel in the sole lead in the former and Ukraine, Poland and Serbia leading the latter section. Full illustrated report. |
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Olympiad R10: Armenia back in the lead, together with Ukraine
24.11.2008 – Armenia beat Serbia 3:1, Ukraine took Israel down with a 2½:1½ win. Veselin Topalov ended his winning streak with a painful loss to Alexei Shirov (Spain beat Bulgaria 3:1). In the Women's Section China lost to Georgia and is now in place seven. The final round is on Tuesday and starts at 10 a.m. German time. Watch it live on our chess server Playchess.com.
Full illustrated report. |
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Olympiad R11: Photographic impressions from Dresden
27.11.2008 – It started at ten in the morning, in chilly Dresden. After the final round was over an incident with Vassily Ivanchuk and the doping controls. Then the closing ceremony and awarding of medals, then a dinner and final farewells. The next day everyone was in the air or on road or rail. The ChessBase team is safely back in Hamburg and brings you a big pictorial report of the final round. |
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Olympiad in Dresden: Closing ceremony and prize giving
29.11.2008 – 1,270 players took part in the event, hailing from 141 different countries. 722 men and 548 women played a total of 6,050 games. In the end Armenia and Georgia had won Gold in the men's and women's sections. But there were also prizes in different Elo categories, medals for best performances on different boards. We bring you all the winners in this big pictorial report. |
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Olympiad Dresden: The Ivanchuk Files
02.12.2008 – The events surrounding the failed attempt to get Vassily Ivanchuk to submit to a doping test have hit the broadsheets and news services. A number of chess players, most publicly Alexei Shirov, have expressed fears that Ivanchuk may be banned from competitive chess and the medals redistributed. Before you make up your mind where you stand, here are all the details of the case. |
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Olympiad Dresden: statistics and stories
02.12.2008 – The games are over, but there are still plenty of stories to tell about one of the biggest and most spectacular chess Olympiads ever. We start our series of retrospective articles with one on the Elo winners, a medal-deciding game, on the most unusual results, the stolen diamond, the reception of the winners in their home countries and the trauma of a 0-4 loss against your arch rivals. Enjoy. |
