Dresden Olympiad Medals Decided

After 11 hard-fought rounds the biggest chess Olympics in history has finished and the medals have been awarded.

Armenia won Gold again to succesfully defend the title that they won at the last Olympiad, 2 years ago in Turin.  Israel finished second to take the Silver medal and the USA demolished mighty Ukraine 3.5-0.5 in the last round to take a highly creditable Bronze - a repeat of their fine performance 2 years ago.

In the women's event, Poland led going into the last round, but agonisingly lost by the narrowest of margins to Ukraine to miss out on a medal.  Ukraine were rewarded with a Silver medal, but it was the traditionally strong nation of Georgia, led by the vastly experienced Maia Chiburdanidze who inched ahead at the end to take Gold.  In third place were the USA, who narrowly beat France in the final round to secure Bronze.

Congratulations to all those who earned medals, but much appreciation also to everyone who took part. It's the sheer scale of the Olympiad that makes it special - from the top seeds to the lowest ranked, there were over 150 countries taking part in the open event.  It's a celebration of chess on a gigantic scale!

Top 20 Final Standings - Open Event

Top 10 Final Standings - Women's Event