The much anticipated Chess Olympiad 2024 saw its first round in the Open and Women sections. And while the Olympiad is the place of many reunions and smiles, its coveted records and achievements are far from the expectations. The participation record is turning into disaster after close to 40 teams skipped round 1 due to visa issues that were known for weeks. The missing broadcast of the opening ceremony and the accommodation problems plus stories of overcharged players are in stark contrast with the 16,6M eur budget. The promoted gender equality is now skewed by the missing teams, while the historic presence of the Refugees team turned into historic absence.
If you are not aware about all these issues at the Chess Olympiad, each of the links above will tell you a story. At the opening Dvorkovich was talking about “top-notch conditions” and “nearly 200 nations”, while he should have asked who will be held accountable and who bears the responsibility for all of the above.
Enough of what we should talk about, let’s begin with what we want to talk about. It was a fantastic first round we had in Budapest! The top seeded in the open section USA started with a 3,5:0,5 victory, but the score not always tells everything. 2122-rated Andre Mendez Machado from Panama had a winning position with the white pieces against GM Levon Aronian and it was a miracle save by the US player.
The stories of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Nodirbek Yakubboev, Aryan Tari, and Wesley So were similar – some of them were very lucky to get to the draw.
On the other side of the spectrum were brilliancies, like the game of GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen, which Agadmator called with the iconic phrase “flawless victory”
Results and pairings: Round 1 results / Round 2 pairings
Replay Chess Olympiad Open section: Chess Olympiad 2024 live / Matches 1-26 live / Matches 26-50 live / Matches 51-75 live / Matches 75+ live / TCEC live / TCEC live 2
While most top matches in the women section finished 4-0, even a loss can bring magic at the Olympiad – Skye Attieh from Lebanon, who we recently had the honor to interview, became the youngest player to participate in the Chess Olympiad 2024.
In another highlight of the day, legendary Pia Cramling and and her daughter Anna Cramling made a successful clean sweep with their team Sweden, playing for yet another Olympiad together.
The defending champions of Ukraine started with 3,5:0,5, just like the rating favorites India. The perfect scores were for Hungary, Georgia, Poland, China, Azerbaijan, USA, Germany, Spain, Bulgaria, France, England, and many others.
Results and pairings: Round 1 results / Round 2 pairings
Replay Chess Olympiad Women section: Matches 1-26 live / Matches 26-50 live / Matches 51-75 live / Matches 75+ live
The Olympiad was also debut for chess arbiters, journalists, and volunteers. And they will remember it forever because Chess Olympiads are special!
