The US is on the verge of wining Olympiad Gold! They are controlling their own destiny. But let’s take a look at the history of the Chess Olympiad.
The last time the US won Gold was in 1976. But that was the year the Soviet Union boycotted. So the victory has an *. If you do not count 1976, you have to go back to 1937. That was an era when the US dominated by winning 4 in a row: Prague , Czechoslovakia 1931 (Kashdan , Marshall , Dake , Horowitz , Steiner H. ), Folkestone , United Kingdom 1933 (Kashdan , Marshall , Fine , Dake , Simonson ), Warsaw , Poland 1935 (Fine , Marshall , Kupchik , Dake , Horowitz ) and Stockholm , Sweden 1937 (Reshevsky , Fine , Kashdan , Marshall , Horowitz )!
Therefore, it would be so big if the US could win Gold in 2016 with Fabiano Caruana (started his chess career in my Chess Club in New York in May 1998), Hakaru Nakamura (participated in my Mayor’s Cup Invitational in June 2001), Wesley So (trained at Webster University – SPICE for more than 2 years – Went from #99 in the world 2652 to #10 2762 in a little more than 2 years), Sam Shankland, and Ray Robson (still at Webster University = SPICE – Went from 2599 to 2680).
This is an exciting time for US Chess with the performance of US team in Baku, and the upcoming World Championship in New York City between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin.
Olympiad History
Year
Event
Host
Gold
Silver
Bronze
1924
1st unofficial Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad (individual)
Paris , France
Czechoslovakia 31
Hungary 30
Switzerland 29
1926
2nd unofficial Chess Olympiad
The Team Tournament
(part of FIDE summit)
Budapest , Hungary
Hungary 9
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes 8
Romania 5
1927
1st Chess Olympiad
London , United Kingdom
Hungary 40
Denmark 38½
England 36½
1928
2nd Chess Olympiad
The Hague , Netherlands
Hungary 44
United States 39½
Poland 37
1930
3rd Chess Olympiad
Hamburg , Germany
Poland 48½
Hungary 47
Germany 44½
1931
4th Chess Olympiad
Prague , Czechoslovakia
United States 48
Poland 47
Czechoslovakia 46½
1933
5th Chess Olympiad
Folkestone , United Kingdom
United States 39
Czechoslovakia 37½
Sweden 34
1935
6th Chess Olympiad
Warsaw , Poland
United States 54
Sweden 52½
Poland 52
1936
3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad
non-FIDE unofficial Chess Olympiad
Munich , Germany
Hungary 110½
Poland 108
Germany 106½
1937
7th Chess Olympiad
Stockholm , Sweden
United States 54½
Hungary 48½
Poland 47
1939
8th Chess Olympiad
Buenos Aires , Argentina
Germany 36
Poland 35½
Estonia 33½
1950
9th Chess Olympiad
Dubrovnik , Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia 45½
Argentina 43½
West Germany 40½
1952
10th Chess Olympiad
Helsinki , Finland
Soviet Union 21
Argentina 19½
Yugoslavia 19
1954
11th Chess Olympiad
Amsterdam , Netherlands
Soviet Union 34
Argentina 27
Yugoslavia 26½
1956
12th Chess Olympiad
Moscow , Soviet Union
Soviet Union 31
Yugoslavia 26½
Hungary 26½
1958
13th Chess Olympiad
Munich , West Germany
Soviet Union 34½
Yugoslavia 29
Argentina 25½
1960
14th Chess Olympiad
Leipzig , East Germany
Soviet Union 34
United States 29
Yugoslavia 27
1962
15th Chess Olympiad
Varna , Bulgaria
Soviet Union 31½
Yugoslavia 28
Argentina 26
1964
16th Chess Olympiad
Tel Aviv , Israel
Soviet Union 36½
Yugoslavia 32
West Germany 30½
1966
17th Chess Olympiad
Havana , Cuba
Soviet Union 39½
United States 34½
Hungary 33½
1968
18th Chess Olympiad
Lugano , Switzerland
Soviet Union 39½
Yugoslavia 31
Bulgaria 30
1970
19th Chess Olympiad
Siegen , West Germany
Soviet Union 27½
Hungary 26½
Yugoslavia 26
1972
20th Chess Olympiad
Skopje , Yugoslavia
Soviet Union 42
Hungary 40½
Yugoslavia 38
1974
21st Chess Olympiad
Nice , France
Soviet Union 46
Yugoslavia 37½
United States 36½
1976
22nd Chess Olympiad *
Haifa , Israel
United States 37
Netherlands 36½
England 35½
1976
Against Chess Olympiad
Tripoli , Libya
El Salvador 38½
Tunisia 36
Pakistan 34½
1978
23rd Chess Olympiad
Buenos Aires , Argentina
Hungary 37
Soviet Union 36
United States 35
1980
24th Chess Olympiad
Valletta , Malta
Soviet Union 39
Hungary 39
United States 35
1982
25th Chess Olympiad
Lucerne , Switzerland
Soviet Union 42½
Czechoslovakia 36
United States 35
1984
26th Chess Olympiad
Thessaloniki , Greece
Soviet Union 41
England 37
United States 35
1986
27th Chess Olympiad
Dubai , United Arab Emirates
Soviet Union 40
England 39
United States 38
1988
28th Chess Olympiad
Thessaloniki , Greece
Soviet Union 40½
England 34½
Netherlands 34½
1990
29th Chess Olympiad
Novi Sad , Yugoslavia
Soviet Union 39
United States 35½
England 35½
1992
30th Chess Olympiad
Manila , Philippines
Russia 39
Uzbekistan 35
Armenia 34½
1994
31st Chess Olympiad
Moscow , Russia
Russia 37½
Bosnia and Herzegovina 35
Russia “B” 34½
1996
32nd Chess Olympiad
Yerevan , Armenia
Russia 38½
Ukraine 35
United States 34
1998
33rd Chess Olympiad
Elista , Russia
Russia 35½
United States 34½
Ukraine 32½
2000
34th Chess Olympiad
Istanbul , Turkey
Russia 38
Germany 37
Ukraine 35½
2002
35th Chess Olympiad
Bled , Slovenia
Russia 38½
Hungary 37½
Armenia 35
2004
36th Chess Olympiad
Calvià , Spain
Ukraine 39½
Russia 36½
Armenia 36½
2006
37th Chess Olympiad
Turin , Italy
Armenia 36
China 34
United States 33
2008
38th Chess Olympiad
Dresden , Germany
Armenia 19
Israel 18
United States 17
2010
39th Chess Olympiad
Khanty-Mansiysk , Russia
Ukraine 19
Russia 18
Israel 17
2012
40th Chess Olympiad
Istanbul , Turkey
Armenia 19
Russia 19
Ukraine 18
2014
41st Chess Olympiad
Tromsø , Norway
China 19
Hungary 17
India 17
Photos round 1-11 and Closing Ceremony:
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