Olympiad in Baku: Impressions from the opening ceremony

by André Schulz
9/2/2016 – The 42nd Chess Olympiad is the most lavish in the history of chess. The budget for the tournament is said to be 13.3 million Euros. The playing venue is the Chrystal Hall in Baku, and yesterday, 1st September, the splendid opening ceremony showed how high the standards of the organisers are. President Ilham Aliyev was present at the event but it was not allowed to take pictures of him. Impressions...
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Impressions from the opening ceremony

Photos by David Llada

Folklore from Azerbaijan

Three times pas de deux

Hou Yifan and Vladimir Kramnik, with arbiter Faik Gasamov in the middle

Celebrations in Black and White

FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov opens the games

Center stage: Chess!

Judit Polgar, team captain of Hungary, followed the proceedings

The Russian coaches: Rublevsky, Najer, Potkin, Riazantsev and Motylev, with
Andrey Filatov, the President of the Russian Chess Federation (right)

 

Photos by L. Afandiyeva

 

Open section (top pairings)

Br. 87 Nigeria (NGR) Elo - 1 Russia (RUS) Elo 0-0
1.1 FM Kigigha, Bomo 2340 - GM Karjakin, Sergey 2769  
1.2 FM Anwuli Daniel, 2336 - GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2731  
1.3 IM Adu, Oladapo 2334 - GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 2740  
1.4   Emuakpeje, Ochuko 2272 - GM Grischuk, Alexander 2754  
Br. 2 USA Elo - 88 Andorra (AND) Elo 0-0
2.1 GM Nakamura, Hikaru 2789 - IM Aloma Vidal, Robert 2482  
2.2 GM So, Wesley 2782 - GM De La Riva Aguado, Oscar 2503  
2.3 GM Shankland, Samuel L 2679 -   Fernandez Lopez, Joan 2142  
2.4 GM Robson, Ray 2674 - FM Garcia Paolicchi, Raul 2153  
Br. 89 Kosovo (KOS) Elo - 3 China (CHN) Elo 0-0
3.1 FM Saraci, Nderim 2337 - GM Ding, Liren 2753  
3.2   Makolli, Perparim 2289 - GM Yu, Yangyi 2725  
3.3 FM Fejzullahu, Afrim 2298 - GM Li, Chao b 2746  
3.4 IM Sadiku, Bedri 2189 - GM Wei, Yi 2717  
Br. 4 Azerbaijan 1 (AZE) Elo - 92 Zimbabwe (ZIM) Elo 0-0
4.1 GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2761 - IM Makoto, Rodwell 2405  
4.2 GM Radjabov, Teimour 2722 - IM Mandizha, Farai 2363  
4.3 GM Naiditsch, Arkadij 2696 -   Masango, Spencer 2200  
4.4 GM Safarli, Eltaj 2688 -   Mushore, Emarald Takudzwa 2187  
Br. 5 Ukraine (UKR) Elo - 91 Jordan (JOR) Elo 0-0
5.1 GM Ponomariov, Ruslan 2709 -   Aboudi, Marwan 2209  
5.2 GM Kryvoruchko, Yuriy 2693 - FM Mansour, Sameer 2245  
5.3 GM Korobov, Anton 2675 - IM Ahmad, Al Khatib 2253  
5.4 GM Volokitin, Andrei 2647 - FM Mohannad, Farhan 2294  
Br. 93 Iraq (IRQ) Elo - 7 Poland (POL) Elo 0-0
6.1 CM Ismael, Namir Mohammed Ismael 2161 - GM Wojtaszek, Radoslaw 2736  
6.2 FM Mohammed, Zozek Salah Mohammed 2251 - GM Duda, Jan-Krzysztof 2675  
6.3 FM Salih, Akar Ali Salih 2302 - GM Bartel, Mateusz 2646  
6.4 FM Abdulwahhab, Ahmed Abdulsattar A 2236 - GM Swiercz, Dariusz 2639  
Br. 8 France (FRA) Elo - 94 Guatemala (GUA) Elo 0-0
7.1 GM Maze, Sebastien 2617 - FM Cu Hor, Winston Darwin 2318  
7.2 GM Edouard, Romain 2635 - IM Juarez Flores, Carlos A. 2392  
7.3 GM Fressinet, Laurent 2664 - IM Lorenzana, Wilson Estuardo 2239  
7.4 GM Bauer, Christian 2623 -   Giron, David 2174  
Br. 95 Bolivia (BOL) Elo - 9 India (IND) Elo 0-0
8.1 IM Gemy, Jose Daniel 2384 - GM Adhiban, B. 2671  
8.2 CM Aguilar, Luis Miguel 2301 - GM Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi 2669  
8.3   Delgadillo, Adonay 2232 - GM Sethuraman, S.P. 2640  
8.4   Parraga, Alejandro 2173 - GM Karthikeyan, Murali 2527  
Br. 10 Hungary (HUN) Elo - 97 Japan (JPN) Elo 0-0
9.1 GM Berkes, Ferenc 2640 - IM Kojima, Shinya 2398  
9.2 GM Almasi, Zoltan 2684 - IM Nanjo, Ryosuke 2340  
9.3 GM Balogh, Csaba 2614 -   Averbukh, Alex 2223  
9.4 IM Gledura, Benjamin 2585 - CM Yamada, Kohei 2100  
Br. 98 Morocco (MAR) Elo - 11 Netherlands (NED) Elo 0-0
10.1 IM Tissir, Mohamed 2388 - GM Giri, Anish 2755  
10.2 CM Choukri, Adel 2269 - GM L'Ami, Erwin 2611  
10.3 CM Aithmidou, Mohamed-Mehdi 2229 - GM Van Kampen, Robin 2640  
10.4   Becham, Khalid 2134 - GM Bok, Benjamin 2592  
Br. 12 Norway (NOR) Elo - 99 Wales (WLS) Elo 0-0
11.1 GM Hammer, Jon Ludvig 2651 - IM Jones, Richard S. 2396  
11.2 GM Tari, Aryan 2570 - FM Strugnell, Carl 2239  
11.3 GM Urkedal, Frode 2537 -   Kett, Tim 2227  
11.4 IM Getz, Nicolai 2445 -   Morris, Charles F 2127  
Br. 100 Thailand (THA) Elo - 13 Germany (GER) Elo 0-0
12.1 FM Kongsee, Uaychai 2285 - GM Meier, Georg 2654  
12.2 FM Teerapabpaisit, Wisuwat 2248 - GM Bluebaum, Matthias 2626  
12.3 FM Pitirotjirathon, Jirapak 2205 - GM Buhmann, Rainer 2640  
12.4   Sajjapornthep, Jarunpol 1909 - GM Fridman, Daniel 2618  
Br. 14 Spain (ESP) Elo - 101 Syria (SYR) Elo 0-0
13.1 GM Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2716 -   Rayes, Abdul Kader 2254  
13.2 GM Salgado Lopez, Ivan 2662 - IM Husari, Satea 2299  
13.3 GM Anton Guijarro, David 2630 -   Bello, Gassan 2096  
13.4 GM Ibarra Jerez, Jose Carlos 2566 -   Sohib, Okla 2153  
Br. 102 Nicaragua (NCA) Elo - 15 Cuba (CUB) Elo 0-0
14.1 FM Ampie, Mauro 2348 - GM Bruzon Batista, Lazaro 2623  
14.2 FM Pineda, Juan Jose 2175 - GM Quesada Perez, Yuniesky 2636  
14.3   Ortiz, Marcos 2219 - GM Ortiz Suarez, Isan Reynaldo 2581  
14.4 FM Alfaro, William 2188 - GM Gonzalez Vidal, Yuri 2553  
Br. 16 Israel (ISR) Elo - 103 Barbados (BAR) Elo 0-0
15.1 GM Postny, Evgeny 2619 - FM Husbands, Orlando 2257  
15.2 GM Nabaty, Tamir 2630 - FM Del Castilho, Martyn 2248  
15.3 GM Roiz, Michael 2605 - FM Poon, Yu Tien 2196  
15.4 GM Baron, Tal 2553 - IM Farley, Terry 2203  
Br. 104 Malaysia (MAS) Elo - 17 Czech Republic (CZE) Elo 0-0
16.1 IM Mok, Tze-Meng 2373 - GM Navara, David 2742  
16.2   Ng, Tze Han 2190 - GM Hracek, Zbynek 2591  
16.3   Subramaniam, Sumant 2137 - GM Babula, Vlastimil 2540  
16.4 IM Liew, Chee-Meng Jimmy 2202 - IM Plat, Vojtech 2519  
Br. 18 Croatia (CRO) Elo - 105 Lebanon (LIB) Elo 0-0
17.1 GM Palac, Mladen 2623 - IM Eid, Fadi 2354  
17.2 GM Stevic, Hrvoje 2608 - FM El Jawich, Amro 2260  
17.3 GM Kozul, Zdenko 2622 - FM Kassis, Antoine 2142  
17.4 GM Brkic, Ante 2584 -   Asmar, Elie 2026  
Br. 106 El Salvador (ESA) Elo - 19 Turkey (TUR) Elo 0-0
18.1 IM Arias, Lemnys A. 2305 - GM Ipatov, Alexander 2652  
18.2 FM Arias, Daniel 2285 - GM Yilmaz, Mustafa 2616  
18.3 CM Giron, Jorge Ernesto 2208 - GM Can, Emre 2565  
18.4   Chavez, Hector Eduardo 2077 - GM Esen, Baris 2524  
Br. 20 Georgia (GEO) Elo - 107 Myanmar (MYA) Elo 0-0
19.1 GM Mchedlishvili, Mikheil 2609 - IM Wynn, Zaw Htun 2407  
19.2 GM Pantsulaia, Levan 2601 -   Myint, Han 2289  
19.3 GM Gelashvili, Tamaz 2575 -   Sie, Thu 2148  
19.4 GM Sanikidze, Tornike 2497 - WGM Maung Kyaw, Zaw Hein 2031  

Women's section (top pairings)

In the women's tournament China, which brought its best team to Baku, is favorite to win Gold. However, two years ago, at the Olympiad in Tromso, the Chinese were also favorite to win but it was the Russian team which took the highest medal. In the first round China is playing against Luxemburg and top board Ju Wenjun, number two on the women's world ranking list is playing againstFiona Steil-Antoni.

Second seed is not Russia but Ukraine. In the first round the Ukranian women play against Portugal, the Russian team plays against Scotland.

Br. 1 China (CHN) Elo - 67 Luxembourg (LUX) Elo 0-0
1.1 GM Ju, Wenjun 2583 - WIM Steil-Antoni, Fiona 2159  
1.2 GM Zhao, Xue 2522 - WFM Bakalarz, Grazyna 1953  
1.3 WGM Tan, Zhongyi 2475 -   Biryukov, Alice 1898  
1.4 IM Guo, Qi 2417 -   Kremer, Nadine 1844  
Br. 68 Portugal (POR) Elo - 2 Ukraine (UKR) Elo 0-0
2.1 WFM Baptista, Ana Filipa 2125 - GM Muzychuk, Mariya 2539  
2.2 WFM Coimbra, Margarida 2078 - GM Zhukova, Natalia 2475  
2.3   Silva, Mariana Sofia T. 1789 - GM Ushenina, Anna 2457  
2.4   Silva, Ana Ines Teixeira Da 1855 - IM Gaponenko, Inna 2416  
Br. 3 Russia (RUS) Elo - 69 Scotland (SCO) Elo 0-0
3.1 GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2538 - GM Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan 2381  
3.2 WGM Goryachkina, Aleksandra 2475 -   Roy, Ali 1894  
3.3 WGM Pogonina, Natalija 2484 - WFM Durno, Joy 1894  
3.4 WGM Girya, Olga 2452 -   Espinosa Cancino, Monica 1679  
Br. 83 Nicaragua (NCA) Elo - 16 Azerbaijan 1 (AZE) Elo 0-0
4.1 WFM Mendieta, Kathya 1943 - WGM Mamedjarova, Zeinab 2295  
4.2 WIM Granados Diaz, Maria Esther 1831 - WGM Mammadova, Gulnar 2304  
4.3   Alarcon, Pamela 1834 - WFM Hojjatova, Aydan 2339  
4.4   Moraga, Maria 1732 - WGM Kazimova, Narmin 2302  
Br. 70 ICCD (ICCD) Elo - 4 Georgia (GEO) Elo 0-0
5.1 WIM Baklanova, Tatiana 2200 - IM Javakhishvili, Lela 2486  
5.2   Lagutina, Olga 1910 - GM Khotenashvili, Bela 2463  
5.3   Myronenko, Natalya 1922 - IM Batsiashvili, Nino 2474  
5.4   Gonchar, Svitlana 1807 - IM Melia, Salome 2419  
Br. 5 India (IND) Elo - 71 FYROM (MKD) Elo 0-0
6.1 IM Padmini, Rout 2408 - WFM Stojkovska, Monika 2033  
6.2 IM Tania, Sachdev 2402 -   Bejatovic, Bojana 2063  
6.3 WGM Soumya, Swaminathan 2379 -   Nikolovska, Dragana 1886  
6.4 WIM Pratyusha, Bodda 2287 -   Lakinska, Simona 1695  
Br. 72 Tajikistan (TJK) Elo - 6 United States of America (USA) Elo 0-0
7.1 WFM Antonova, Nadezhda 2015 - GM Krush, Irina 2444  
7.2   Nasriddinzoda, Marvorii 2073 - IM Paikidze, Nazi 2366  
7.3   Hotami, Mutriba 1735 - IM Zatonskih, Anna 2449  
7.4   Odinaeva, Saodat 1881 - WGM Nemcova, Katerina 2365  
Br. 7 Poland (POL) Elo - 73 Kyrgyzstan (KGZ) Elo 0-0
8.1 WGM Zawadzka, Jolanta 2429 -   Samaganova, Alexandra 2048  
8.2 WGM Szczepkowska-Horowska, Karina 2409 -   Omurbekova, Diana 1868  
8.3 WGM Kulon, Klaudia 2346 -   Alymbay Kyzy, Aizhan 1913  
8.4 WIM Wozniak, Mariola 2246 -   Zairbek kyzy, Begimay 1836  
Br. 74 Albania (ALB) Elo - 8 Hungary (HUN) Elo 0-0
9.1 WCM Gjergji, Rozana 1947 - IM Lazarne Vajda, Szidonia 2372  
9.2 WCM Shabanaj, Eglantina 1932 - WGM Papp, Petra 2336  
9.3 WFM Shabanaj, Alda 1881 - WGM Gara, Ticia 2379  
9.4 WCM Tuzi, Bruna 1807 - IM Gara, Anita 2355  
Br. 9 Bulgaria (BUL) Elo - 75 Jamaica (JAM) Elo 0-0
10.1 IM Videnova, Iva 2386 - WIM Richards, Deborah 2023  
10.2 WGM Nikolova, Adriana 2358 - CM Miller, Rachel 1971  
10.3 WIM Raeva, Elitsa 2232 - WCM Barrett, Ariel 1763  
10.4 WGM Voiska, Margarita 2290 - WCM Smith, Annesha 1770  
Br. 11 Romania (ROU) Elo - 77 Dominican Republic (DOM) Elo 0-0
11.1 IM Foisor, Cristina-Adela 2353 - WFM Diaz Cesar, Wilsaida Pieranlly 1889  
11.2 WGM Cosma, Elena-Luminita 2331 - WCM Munoz Santana, Doribel 1899  
11.3 IM Bulmaga, Irina 2395 - WCM Jose Polanco, Kenia 1923  
11.4 WIM Dragomirescu, Angela 2227 -   Almanzar Vasquez, Jennifer Maria 1768  
Br. 78 Puerto Rico (PUR) Elo - 12 Lithuania (LTU) Elo 0-0
12.1 WIM Morales Santos, Natasha 1908 - IM Daulyte, Deimante 2421  
12.2 WFM Comas Colon, Rinelly M. 1773 - WIM Zaksaite, Salomeja 2298  
12.3 WCM Vega Jimenez, Keyshla M. 1641 - WFM Batyte, Daiva 2189  
12.4   Hernandez Resto, Aracelys 1314 - WFM Domarkaite, Laima 2161  
Br. 13 Iran (IRI) Elo - 80 Guatemala (GUA) Elo 0-0
13.1 WGM Pourkashiyan, Atousa 2335 - WCM Figueroa, Julissa 1787  
13.2 WGM Hejazipour, Mitra 2314 - WIM Sotomayor Villatoro, Silvi 1876  
13.3 WIM Hakimifard, Ghazal 2308 - WIM Mazariegos, Silvia Carolina 1942  
13.4   Alavi, Homa 1997 -   Diaz, Luisa 1825  
Br. 81 Ireland (IRL) Elo - 14 Spain (ESP) Elo 0-0
14.1 WCM Mirza, Diana 1948 - WGM Calzetta Ruiz, Monica 2249  
14.2   O`Gorman, Alice 1781 - IM Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina 2411  
14.3 WFM Menon Jayadev, Poornima 1837 - IM Matnadze, Ana 2383  
14.4 WFM Kruk, Karina 1766 - WIM Aranaz Murillo, Amalia 2279  
Br. 15 Mongolia (MGL) Elo - 82 Finland (FIN) Elo 0-0
15.1 IM Batchimeg, Tuvshintugs 2391 - WCM Nazarova, Anastasia 1897  
15.2 WIM Uuriintuya, Uurtsaikh 2228 - WFM Puuska, Heini 1926  
15.3 WGM Enkhtuul, Altan-Ulzii 2288 -   Rinne, Heini 1751  
15.4 WIM Lkhamsuren, Uuganbayar 2147 -   Turunen, Tiina 1773  
Br. 17 Turkey (TUR) Elo - 84 Wales (WLS) Elo 0-0
16.1 IM Atalik, Ekaterina 2422 - WFM Smith, Olivia 2002  
16.2 WGM Yildiz, Betul Cemre 2369 - WCM Roberts, Lynda 1888  
16.3 WGM Ozturk, Kubra 2277 -   Camp, Imogen A L 1718  
16.4 WIM Isgandarova, Khayala 2188 -   Sivarajasingam, Venetia 1631  
Br. 86 Panama (PAN) Elo - 18 Israel (ISR) Elo 0-0
17.1   Arosemena, Dalia 0 - WIM Shvayger, Yuliya 2408  
17.2 WCM Munoz, Alba 1704 - IM Klinova, Masha 2290  
17.3 WCM Barria Baker, Raisa Melissa 1961 - WIM Gutmakher, Olga 2216  
17.4 WCM Gonzalez, Yaribeth 1826 -   Lahav, Michal 2054  
Br. 19 Vietnam (VIE) Elo - 85 Morocco (MAR) Elo 0-0
18.1 IM Pham, Le Thao Nguyen 2338 - WCM Bahji, Hind 1948  
18.2 WGM Hoang, Thi Bao Tram 2325 - WIM Rania, Sbai 1907  
18.3 WGM Nguyen, Thi Mai Hung 2316 -   Mayar ElIdrissi, Firdaous 1786  
18.4 WGM Nguyen, Thi Thanh An 2249 - WFM Alaoui Belghiti, Chaimaa 1654  
Br. 87 Iraq (IRQ) Elo - 20 Italy (ITA) Elo 0-0
19.1 WIM Al-Rufaye, Iman Hasan Mohammed 2001 - IM Zimina, Olga 2389  
19.2 WFM Jalaluldeen, Kareen Kamal J. 1824 - FM Brunello, Marina 2376  
19.3 WFM A-ALI, Sali Abbas Abdulzahra 1728 - WFM Movileanu, Daniela 2268  
19.4   Al-Fayyadh, Zainab Asif Abdulah 1703 - WFM Di Benedetto, Desiree 2183  

Olympiad schedule

Date Time Event, function
1 September 18:30/20:30 Arrival, Opening, Captains meeting
2 September 10:00/15:00 Arbiters meeting/Round 1
3 September 15:00 Round 2
4 September 15:00 Round 3
5 September 15:00 Round 4
6 September 15:00/22:00 Round 5/Bermuda Party
7 September   Day Off
8 September 15:00 Round 6
9 September 15:00 Round 7
10 September 15:00 Round 8
11 September 15:00 Round 9
12 September 15:00 Round 10
13 September 11:00/19:30 Round 11/Closing Ceremony
14 September All day Departure day

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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