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The 32nd Olympiad was controversially scheduled in the Caucasian melting pot. Apart from security problems, many had doubts about Armenia's ability to hold the event considering poor economic conditions of the country. The organisers however did everything possible to accommodate participants and no accidents took place. The Olympiad was very much an attempt to show that Armenia was re-building after its past difficulties.
The Yerevan event has been said by many to be one of the better organised in recent memory. Certainly the nightmare conditions of Moscow two years ago were not repeated here. Inlaid chess tables, distinguishable pieces, digital clocks, a well-lit venue with plenty of space, and high quality printed bulletins were some of the luxuries available in Yerevan but not in Moscow.
The Olympiad took place in the Yerevan Sports and Concerts Complex, a huge building at the top of a hill on the outskirts of the city. The site had a great view overlooking Yerevan and was surrounded by one million trees planted to remember Armenians killed in 1917 during conflict with the Turks. Buses were provided to ferry the chess players back and forth from the hotels to the playing hall. The organisers were extremely security-conscious and the players had to go through an airport-style metal detector before being allowed to enter the building. Woe betide anyone who forgot their 'player badge', a pass which allowed access to otherwise forbidden territories!
The incumbent FIDE president was Kirsan Ilumzhinov, President of the Russian Republic of Kalmykia, and a skilled self-publicist. He made a point of meeting every team at the Olympiad and presenting each member with several gifts – Kirsan Vodka, Kirsan caviar, Kirsan sunglasses, his comic book autobiography, a Kirsan book on the Karpov-Kamsky match, and a Kirsan watch. Ilumzhinov was re-elected after three days of political manoeuvres that made playing chess seem simplistic.
The full weight of the Armenian Government was behind the event to make it a success. The Olympiad coincided with elections for the Armenian Government (22 September 1996) and the elections were scheduled parallelly with the Olympiad on purpose. The games were planned to coincide with the elections so that the ruling team could make maximum political capital out of the event.
On 18 September 1996, a few days before the election, troubles started in Yerevan and these troubles were far from ‘peaceful’ between the ruling party and the opposition! Suddenly Yerevan had become a ‘dangerous’ city, where small military operations were taking place and gun-shots could be heard regularly! The Government announced on public television that their respective agencies have prevented an attempted coup d'état and even sent tanks and troops to Yerevan to enforce the ban on rallies and demonstrations on 26th September 1996!
Chess players mostly concentrate on their games, often failing to realise that there are more important things in life than moving pieces around a board…
I was selected to participate in the Olympiad with the Greek National Team, and in the 5th round we were paired against United States of America, which ended in the 3rd position. In this Olympiad I was playing on the 4th Board (sometimes even in the 2nd or 3rd), and I made a decent result with +6/=3/-2 * 7½/11, my team’s best performance with 68.2%.
I was paired with the American GM Larry Christiansen. Although my opponent was for a long time a top-player, he gained a lot of extra fame because of the following miniature versus non-other than Anatoly Karpov:
My team fullfield the ‘expectations’ and we lost the match 1:3 (two draws and two losses), but my game was well played until a certain point and could have reduced the damage by half-point.
We spend the next few days mostly inside our Hotel, as moving around was restricted. I even had made some photos in-between some tanks that were stationed outside the Hotel! The Bullet Game saved in a way my opponent. But it were mostly my mistakes that did the job!
A game is not won until the opponent resigns…
