2012 Blind Chess Olympiad In Chennai
The 40th Chess Olympiad is due to start next week (preview coming soon), but Chennai in India has just hosted the 14th International Blind Chess Olympiad.
The competition took place from 10-19 August and featured 25 teams from 24 countries (there were two teams from the hosts, India). The top seeds were Russia, and they lived up to their billing by taking the Gold medal, winning 7 of their 9 matches.
Ukraine took the Silver medal and Spain the Bronze.
India were cheered on by world champion Vishy Anand, finishing in a very creditable 5th place.
The winning Russian team receive their trophy from Ajay Maken (Minister of Sports)
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The final standings:
| # | Team | Fed | W | L | D | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | Russia | RUS | 7 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 25.0 | 149.75 |
| 2 | Ukraine | UKR | 6 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 23.5 | 139.00 |
| 3 | Spain | ESP | 7 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 23.0 | 140.50 |
| 4 | Germany | GER | 7 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 21.5 | 140.00 |
| 5 | India - A | IND | 5 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 20.0 | 104.25 |
| 6 | Poland | POL | 5 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 23.5 | 89.00 |
| 7 | UK | ENG | 5 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 19.5 | 87.50 |
| 8 | Venezuela | VEN | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 18.5 | 77.50 |
| 9 | Croatia | CRO | 5 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 17.5 | 75.50 |
| 10 | Kazakhstan | KAZ | 4 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 21.5 | 70.25 |
| 11 | Serbia | SRB | 4 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 20.0 | 80.00 |
| 12 | Bulgaria | BUL | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 19.5 | 70.25 |
| 13 | Columbia | COL | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 17.0 | 68.50 |
| 14 | Romania | ROM | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 16.5 | 83.75 |
| 15 | Slovenia | SLO | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 16.0 | 71.00 |
| 16 | Sweden | SWE | 3 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 18.5 | 67.25 |
| 17 | Iran | IRI | 3 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 17.0 | 67.50 |
| 18 | India - B | IND | 3 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 17.0 | 50.25 |
| 19 | Turkey | TUR | 3 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 14.5 | 46.50 |
| 20 | Slovakia | SVK | 3 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 16.5 | 36.00 |
| 21 | Italy | ITA | 3 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 15.0 | 35.00 |
| 22 | South Africa | RSA | 2 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 12.5 | 28.50 |
| 23 | France | FRA | 1 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 12.0 | 23.00 |
| 24 | Denmark | DEN | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 11.5 | 17.00 |
| 25 | Netherland | NED | 0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 11.0 | 0.00 |
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The playing area in the Hotel Le Royal Meridien, Chennai
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An example of a chess board for blind players, with holes and raised dark squares.
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Vishy Anand and cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar talk about the Blind Chess Olympiad:
Pictures and video from the official website. Standings and games via TWIC.
