Chess: 38th World Chess Olympiad-Local chesslers return more experienced |04 December 2008

Without an experienced chessler like Kimende, who was Seychelles’ best representative in Torino with an outstanding contribution of 8.5 points, the country’s team were ranked 144th out of 154 teams in the recently ended 38th World Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany.

Seychelles scored 14.5 points in the open category to be placed higher than 10 other countries in the final standings of the tournament played on a team basis of four players on one team (2x team total).

The players on the men’s team were Arnold Mein (reserve, 1.0 point), Andry Accouche (board four, 3.5 points), Keith Vital (board three, 0 point), Kurt Meier (board one, 5.5 points) and Peter Meier (board two, 4.5 points). They amassed 14.5 points.

The ladies’ team of captain Flora Meier, Shirley Annette (board one, 0.5 points), Bernadette Mein (board two, 2.0 points), Rachelle Hoareau (board three, 1.5 points), Dericka Figaro (board four, 4.5 points) and Marianna Eulentin (reserve, 1.5 points) amassed 10 points to finish 110th – five places ahead of last-placed Morocco.

Seychelles Chess Federation chairperson and men’s team captain Benjamin Hoareau, Douglas Accouche and Lalatianna Accouche accompanied the chesslers to the Olympiad.

Hoareau told Sports Nation he was “satisfied with the results achieved by local chesslers at the Olympiad.”
He also thanked the general public and sponsors for their contribution towards the team’s trip to Dresden.

Armenia's men's team defended their title by winning the chess Olympiad, while Georgia's women's team also took the gold.

Led by Vladimir Akopian and Gabriel Sargissian, who were the top individual performers on boards 2 and 3, Armenia finished ahead of Israel by one point in the open section after 11 exciting rounds of chess. The United States won the bronze medal after a stunning 3.5-0.5 defeat of Ukraine.

In the women's division, Georgia finished just ahead of Ukraine on tie-breaks to earn the gold medal. The United States again claimed the bronze medal, this time ahead of Russia and Poland on tie-breaks.

The best performance in this section belonged to Georgia's Grand Master (GM) Maia Chiburdanidze, who scored 7.5/9 on board 1 for the champions.

G. G.