Canadian Chess

Chess Olympiad

The Chess Olympiad is a team competition for nations sanctioned by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). It was first held in 1927 at London, England and has been held every 2 years since 1950. Until the 2008 Olympics were held in Beijing, more countries competed in the Chess Olympiad than in any other sporting event.

The 37th Chess Olympiad in 2006 at Turin, Italy had teams from 143 countries. The 38th Chess Olympiad in 2008 at Dresden, Germany attracted 141 countries, as did the 39th Chess Olympiad in 2010 at Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. In the 2010 Women's event, there were teams from 110 countries.

History

Read the history of the Chess Olympiad on Wikipedia.

Canada's participation

Canada first participated in the Chess Olympiads in 1939 at Buenos Aires, Argentina, where 14-year old Abe Yanofsky of Winnipeg, Manitoba attracted the world's attention. In 1964 at Tel Aviv, Israel, Yanofsky secured the first Grandmaster title for a player raised in the Commonwealth. Recent highlights include wins by Pascal Charbonneau over former FIDE World Champion Viswanathan Anand in 2006; and Mark Bluvshtein over former FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov in 2010.

Canada has sent a team to every Chess Olympiad since 1964. Canada's best finish at the Chess Olympiad was tied for 7th place in 1978 at Buenos Aires, Argentina. Canada finished tied for 8th place in 1976 at Haifa, Israel and again in 1980 at Valetta, Malta.

Canadians have won individual medals 10 times:

Gold:

• D. Abraham Yanofsky, Board 2, 1939
• Frank Anderson, Board 2, 1954, 1958

Silver:

• Peter Biyiasas, Board 2, 1978
• Kevin Spraggett, Board 2, 2000

Bronze:

• Peter Biyiasas, Board 4, 1972
• Jean Hébert, Board 3, 1982
• Lawrence Day, Board 3, 1986
• Deen Hergott, Alternate 1, 1990
• Yan Teplitsky, Board 4, 2002

Additional individual accomplishments:

• Frank Anderson had the best percentage, Board 2, 1958
• Roman Pelts had the 2nd highest score among masters, Board 4, 1984
• Lawrence Day has represented Canada at the Chess Olympiads 13 times
• D. Abraham Yanofsky represented Canada at the Chess Olympiads 11 times

The Women's Chess Olympiad was first held in 1957 at Emmen, Netherlands. Canada first participated in the Women's Chess Olympiad in 1974 at Medellin, Columbia, and has sent a team every time since 2000.

Canadians have won individual medals 4 times:

Gold:

• Nava Starr, Board 2, 1976
• Céline Roos, Board 2, 1984

Bronze:

• Smilja Vujosevic, Board 1, 1976
• Nava Starr, Board 1, 1982

Additional individual accomplishment:

• Nava Starr has represented Canada at the Chess Olympiads 12 times

Canada's 2010 Olympiad National Team

• Mark Bluvshtein, GM, Toronto, ON
• Thomas Roussel-Roozmon, GM, Montreal, QC
• Leonid Gerzhoy, IM, Toronto, ON
• Artem (Artiom) Samsonkin, IM, Toronto, ON
• Nikolay Noritsyn, IM, Richmond Hill, ON

Canada's 2010 Olympiad Women's Team

• Yuanling Yuan, WIM, Toronto, ON
• Dina Kagramanov, WIM, Richmond Hill, ON
• Iulia Lacau-Rodean, Kitchener, ON
• Yelizaveta (Liza) Orlova, WCM, Toronto, ON
• Dalia Kagramanov, Richmond Hill, ON