Georgia has been awarded first place and the gold medals, on tiebreak, in the 2008 Dresden Women's Olympiad, ahead of Ukraine (team silver), with those two nations ending up tied in overall match points. The United States captured the team bronze medals, also on tiebreak.
Interestingly, none of the team medal winners faced each other during the 11 rounds!! An outcome of the unusual pairing system, perhaps!? And also of the shortened tournament (11 rounds, down from the usual 14).
Georgia was led by an astounding performance from its board one, the former Women's World Champion, GM Maia Chiburdanidze, who has passed her 50th birthday. She posted a 2715 performance with 7.5 points in nine games against top-class opposition!! :) :) This might be the best result, from a performance rating standpoint, in her long and distinguished career.
Finishing ahead of the Russians must have been especially sweet for Georgia. After all, it was only a few months ago that the Russian army invaded Georgia, and intervened further in a long-running civil war.
Three top players who are well known in Canada anchored the American team. IM Irina Krush played board one, IM Anna Zatonskih excelled on board two with the second-highest performance rating, and WGM Rusudan Goletiani played all 11 games on board three, without a loss. All three have played either in Canadian Opens or in other international events on Canadian soil. The American reserve board player may have fallen ill, as she played only three matches out of 11, putting immense strain on her teammates. It would have been very interesting to see what the U.S. might have done with an in-form GM Susan Polgar on board one.
Interestingly, none of the team medal winners faced each other during the 11 rounds!! An outcome of the unusual pairing system, perhaps!? And also of the shortened tournament (11 rounds, down from the usual 14).
Georgia was led by an astounding performance from its board one, the former Women's World Champion, GM Maia Chiburdanidze, who has passed her 50th birthday. She posted a 2715 performance with 7.5 points in nine games against top-class opposition!! :) :) This might be the best result, from a performance rating standpoint, in her long and distinguished career.
Finishing ahead of the Russians must have been especially sweet for Georgia. After all, it was only a few months ago that the Russian army invaded Georgia, and intervened further in a long-running civil war.
Three top players who are well known in Canada anchored the American team. IM Irina Krush played board one, IM Anna Zatonskih excelled on board two with the second-highest performance rating, and WGM Rusudan Goletiani played all 11 games on board three, without a loss. All three have played either in Canadian Opens or in other international events on Canadian soil. The American reserve board player may have fallen ill, as she played only three matches out of 11, putting immense strain on her teammates. It would have been very interesting to see what the U.S. might have done with an in-form GM Susan Polgar on board one.
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