Women's Chess Olympiad

The Women's Chess Olympiad is an event held by FIDE (the International Chess Federation) since 1957 (every two years since 1972), where national women's teams compete at chess for gold, silver and bronze medals. Since 1976 the Women's Chess Olympiad has been incorporated within Chess Olympiad events, with simultaneous women's and open tournaments.

The Soviet Union has won it the most often: 11 times. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, China have won the event six times, Georgia – four times, Russia – three times and Ukraine – two times. It has also been won by Hungary led by three Polgár sisters (twice) and Israeli team fully composed of Soviet-born players (once in 1976 when it was boycotted by the Eastern Bloc).

Results

From 1957 to 1974 the Women's Olympiad was a separate event (with except of the 1972 event). Since 1976 it has been held in the same place and at the same time as the open event.

YearEventHostGoldSilverBronze
19571st Women's Chess Olympiad Emmen, Netherlands  Soviet Union 10½
Olga Rubtsova
Kira Zvorykina
 Romania 10½
Maria Pogorevici
Margareta Teodorescu
 East Germany 10
Edith Keller-Herrmann
Ursula Altrichter
19632nd Women's Chess Olympiad Split, Yugoslavia  Soviet Union 25
Nona Gaprindashvili
Tatiana Zatulovskaya
Kira Zvorykina
 Yugoslavia 24½
Milunka Lazarević
Verica Nedeljković
Katarina Jovanović-Blagojević
 East Germany 21
Edith Keller-Herrmann
Waltraud Nowarra
Eveline Kraatz
19663rd Women's Chess Olympiad Oberhausen, West Germany  Soviet Union 22
Nona Gaprindashvili
Valentina Kozlovskaya
Tatiana Zatulovskaya
 Romania 20½
Alexandra Nicolau
Elisabeta Polihroniade
Margareta Perevoznic
 East Germany 17
Edith Keller-Herrmann
Waltraud Nowarra
Gabriele Just
19694th Women's Chess Olympiad Lublin, Poland  Soviet Union 26
Nona Gaprindashvili
Alla Kushnir
Nana Alexandria
 Hungary 20½
Mária Ivánka
Zsuzsa Verőci
Károlyné Honfi
 Czechoslovakia 19
Štěpánka Vokřálová
Květa Eretová
Jana Malypetrová
197220th Chess Olympiad Skopje, Yugoslavia  Soviet Union 11½
Nona Gaprindashvili
Alla Kushnir
Irina Levitina
 Romania 8
Elisabeta Polihroniade
Gertrude Baumstark
Alexandra Nicolau
 Hungary 8
Mária Ivánka
Zsuzsa Verőci
Gyuláné Krizsán-Bilek
19746th Women's Chess Olympiad Medellín, Colombia  Soviet Union 13½
Nona Gaprindashvili
Nana Alexandria
Irina Levitina
 Romania 13½
Elisabeta Polihroniade
Gertrude Baumstark
Margareta Teodorescu
 Bulgaria 13
Tatjana Lematschko
Antonina Georgieva
Venka Asenova
197622nd Chess Olympiad * Haifa, Israel  Israel 17
Alla Kushnir
Ljuba Kristol
Olga Podrazhanskaya
Lea Nudelman
 England 11½
Jana Hartston
Sheila Jackson
Elaine Pritchard
Susan Caldwell
 Spain 11½
Pepita Ferrer Lucas
Nieves García Vicente
María del Pino García Padrón
Teresa Canela Giménez
197823rd Chess Olympiad Buenos Aires, Argentina  Soviet Union 16
Maia Chiburdanidze
Nona Gaprindashvili
Nana Alexandria
Elena Akhmilovskaya
 Hungary 11
Zsuzsa Verőci-Petronić
Mária Ivánka
Zsuzsa Makai
Rita Kas
 West Germany 11
Anni Laakmann
Gisela Fischdick
Barbara Hund
Hannelore Weichert
198024th Chess Olympiad Valletta, Malta  Soviet Union 32½
Maia Chiburdanidze
Nona Gaprindashvili
Nana Alexandria
Nana Ioseliani
 Hungary 32
Zsuzsa Verőci-Petronić
Mária Ivánka
Mária Porubszky-Angyalosine
Tünde Csonkics
 Poland 26½
Hanna Ereńska-Radzewska
Grażyna Szmacińska
Małgorzata Wiese
Agnieszka Brustman
198225th Chess Olympiad Lucerne, Switzerland  Soviet Union 33
Maia Chiburdanidze
Nana Alexandria
Nona Gaprindashvili
Nana Ioseliani
 Romania 30
Margareta Mureșan
Marina Pogorevici
Daniela Nuţu-Terescenko
Elisabeta Polihroniade
 Hungary 26
Zsuzsa Verőci-Petronić
Mária Ivánka
Mária Porubszky-Angyalosine
Tünde Csonkics
198426th Chess Olympiad Thessaloniki, Greece  Soviet Union 32
Maia Chiburdanidze
Irina Levitina
Nona Gaprindashvili
Lidia Semenova
 Bulgaria 27½
Margarita Voyska
Rumiana Gocheva
Pavlina Chilingirova
Stefka Savova
 Romania 27
Margareta Mureșan
Elisabeta Polihroniade
Daniela Nuţu
Gabriela Olărașu
198627th Chess Olympiad Dubai, United Arab Emirates  Soviet Union 33½
Maia Chiburdanidze
Elena Akhmilovskaya
Nona Gaprindashvili
Nana Alexandria
 Hungary 29
Zsuzsa Verőci-Petronić
Ildikó Mádl
Mária Ivánka
Mária Grosch
 Romania 28
Margareta Mureșan
Daniela Nuţu
Elisabeta Polihroniade
Gabriela Olărașu
198828th Chess Olympiad Thessaloniki, Greece  Hungary 33
Zsuzsa Polgár
Judit Polgár
Ildikó Mádl
Zsófia Polgár
 Soviet Union 32½
Maia Chiburdanidze
Elena Akhmilovskaya
Irina Levitina
Marta Litinskaya
 Yugoslavia 28
Alisa Marić
Gordana Marković
Suzana Maksimović
Vesna Bašagić
199029th Chess Olympiad Novi Sad, Yugoslavia  Hungary 35
Zsuzsa Polgár
Judit Polgár
Zsófia Polgár
Ildikó Mádl
 Soviet Union 35
Maia Chiburdanidze
Nona Gaprindashvili
Alisa Galliamova
Ketevan Arakhamia
 China 29
Xie Jun
Peng Zhaoqin
Qin Kanying
Wang Lei
199230th Chess Olympiad Manila, Philippines  Georgia 30½
Maia Chiburdanidze
Nona Gaprindashvili
Nana Ioseliani
Nino Gurieli
 Ukraine 29
Alisa Galliamova-Ivanchuk
Marta Litinskaya
Irina Chelushkina
Lidia Semenova
 China 28½
Xie Jun
Peng Zhaoqin
Wang Pin
Qin Kanying
199431st Chess Olympiad Moscow, Russia  Georgia 32
Maia Chiburdanidze
Nana Ioseliani
Ketevan Arakhamia
Nino Gurieli
 Hungary 31
Zsuzsa Polgár
Zsófia Polgár
Ildikó Mádl
Tünde Csonkics
 China 27
Xie Jun
Peng Zhaoqin
Qin Kanying
Zhu Chen
199632nd Chess Olympiad Yerevan, Armenia  Georgia 30
Maia Chiburdanidze
Nana Ioseliani
Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant
Nino Gurieli
 China 28½
Xie Jun
Zhu Chen
Wang Lei
Wang Pin
 Russia 28½
Alisa Galliamova
Svetlana Matveeva
Svetlana Prudnikova
Ludmila Zaitseva
199833rd Chess Olympiad Elista, Russia  China 29
Xie Jun
Zhu Chen
Wang Pin
Wang Lei
 Russia 27
Svetlana Matveeva
Ekaterina Kovalevskaya
Tatiana Shumiakina
Tatiana Stepovaya-Dianchenko
 Georgia 27
Maia Chiburdanidze
Nana Ioseliani
Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant
Nino Khurtsidze
200034th Chess Olympiad Istanbul, Turkey  China 32
Xie Jun
Zhu Chen
Xu Yuhua
Wang Lei
 Georgia 31
Maia Chiburdanidze
Nana Ioseliani
Nino Khurtsidze
Nino Gurieli
 Russia 28½
Alisa Galliamova
Ekaterina Kovalevskaya
Svetlana Matveeva
Tatiana Stepovaya-Dianchenko
200235th Chess Olympiad Bled, Slovenia  China 29½
Zhu Chen
Xu Yuhua
Wang Pin
Zhao Xue
 Russia 29
Ekaterina Kovalevskaya
Svetlana Matveeva
Alexandra Kosteniuk
Tatiana Kosintseva
 Poland 28
Iweta Radziewicz
Joanna Dworakowska
Monika Soćko
Beata Kądziołka
200436th Chess Olympiad Calvià, Spain  China 31
Xie Jun
Xu Yuhua
Zhao Xue
Huang Qian
 United States 28
Susan Polgar
Irina Krush
Anna Zatonskih
Jennifer Shahade
 Russia 27½
Alexandra Kosteniuk
Tatiana Kosintseva
Ekaterina Kovalevskaya
Nadezhda Kosintseva
200637th Chess Olympiad Turin, Italy  Ukraine 29½
Natalia Zhukova
Kateryna Lahno
Inna Gaponenko
Anna Ushenina
 Russia 28
Alexandra Kosteniuk
Tatiana Kosintseva
Nadezhda Kosintseva
Ekaterina Kovalevskaya
 China 27½
Zhao Xue
Wang Yu
Shen Yang
Hou Yifan
200838th Chess Olympiad Dresden, Germany  Georgia 18
Maia Chiburdanidze
Nana Dzagnidze
Lela Javakhishvili
Maia Lomineishvili
Sopiko Khukhashvili
 Ukraine 18
Kateryna Lahno
Natalia Zhukova
Anna Ushenina
Inna Gaponenko
Natalia Zdebskaya
 United States 17
Irina Krush
Anna Zatonskih
Rusudan Goletiani
Katerina Rohonyan
Tatev Abrahamyan
201039th Chess Olympiad Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia  Russia 22
Tatiana Kosintseva
Nadezhda Kosintseva
Alexandra Kosteniuk
Alisa Galliamova
Valentina Gunina
 China 18
Hou Yifan
Ju Wenjun
Zhao Xue
Huang Qian
Wang Yu
 Georgia 16
Nana Dzagnidze
Lela Javakhishvili
Salome Melia
Sopiko Khukhashvili
Bela Khotenashvili
201240th Chess Olympiad Istanbul, Turkey  Russia 19
Tatiana Kosintseva
Valentina Gunina
Nadezhda Kosintseva
Alexandra Kosteniuk
Natalia Pogonina
 China 19
Hou Yifan
Zhao Xue
Ju Wenjun
Huang Qian
Ding Yixin
 Ukraine 18
Kateryna Lahno
Mariya Muzychuk
Natalia Zhukova
Anna Ushenina
Inna Gaponenko
201441st Chess Olympiad Tromsø, Norway  Russia 20
Kateryna Lagno
Valentina Gunina
Alexandra Kosteniuk
Olga Girya
Natalia Pogonina
 China 18
Hou Yifan
Ju Wenjun
Zhao Xue
Tan Zhongyi
Guo Qi
 Ukraine 18
Anna Muzychuk
Mariya Muzychuk
Anna Ushenina
Natalia Zhukova
Inna Gaponenko
201642nd Chess Olympiad Baku, Azerbaijan  China 20
Hou Yifan
Ju Wenjun
Zhao Xue
Tan Zhongyi
Guo Qi
 Poland 17
Monika Soćko
Jolanta Zawadzka
Karina Szczepkowska-Horowska
Klaudia Kulon
Mariola Woźniak
 Ukraine 17
Anna Muzychuk
Mariya Muzychuk
Natalia Zhukova
Anna Ushenina
Inna Gaponenko
201843rd Chess Olympiad Batumi, Georgia  China 18
Ju Wenjun
Shen Yang
Huang Qian
Lei Tingjie
Zhai Mo
 Ukraine 18
Anna Muzychuk
Mariya Muzychuk
Anna Ushenina
Natalia Zhukova
Yuliia Osmak
 Georgia 17
Nana Dzagnidze
Lela Javakhishvili
Nino Batsiashvili
Bela Khotenashvili
Meri Arabidze
202244th Chess Olympiad Chennai, India  Ukraine 18
Mariya Muzychuk
Anna Muzychuk
Anna Ushenina
Nataliya Buksa
Yuliia Osmak
 Georgia 18
Nana Dzagnidze
Nino Batsiashvili
Lela Javakhishvili
Salome Melia
Meri Arabidze
 India 17
Koneru Humpy
Harika Dronavalli
Rameshbabu Vaishali
Tania Sachdev
Bhakti Kulkarni
202445th Chess Olympiad Budapest, Hungary
202646th Chess Olympiad Uzbekistan

* In 1976 the Soviet Union and other Socialist states did not compete for political reasons.

Total team ranking

The table contains the women's teams ranked by the medals won at the Chess Olympiad, not including the unofficial events, ranked by the number of first place medals, ties broken by second-place medals, etc.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Soviet Union112013
2  China64414
3  Georgia4239
4  Russia3339
5  Hungary2529
6  Ukraine2338
7  Israel1001
8  Romania0527
9  Poland0123
10  Bulgaria0112
 United States0112
 Yugoslavia0112
13  England0101
14  East Germany0033
15  Czechoslovakia0011
 India0011
 Spain0011
 West Germany0011
Totals (18 entries)29292987

Most successful players

Boldface denotes active chess players and highest medal count among all players (including these who not included in these tables) per type.

Multiple team champions

RankPlayerCountryFromToGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Nona Gaprindashvili  Soviet Union
 Georgia
1963199211112
2Maia Chiburdanidze  Soviet Union
 Georgia
1978200893113
3Nana Alexandria  Soviet Union1969198666
4Nana Ioseliani  Soviet Union
 Georgia
198020005117
5Zhao Xue  China200220163317
6Alexandra Kosteniuk  Russia200220143216
7Xie Jun  China199020043137
8Zhu Chen  China199420023115
9Nino Gurieli  Georgia19922000314
Irina Levitina  Soviet Union19721988314

Multiple team medalists

The table shows players who have won at least 6 team medals in total at the Chess Olympiads.

RankPlayerCountryFromToGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Maia Chiburdanidze  Soviet Union
 Georgia
1978200893113
2Nona Gaprindashvili  Soviet Union
 Georgia
1963199211112
3Nana Ioseliani  Soviet Union
 Georgia
198020005117
4Zhao Xue  China200220163317
5Xie Jun  China199020043137
6Anna Ushenina  Ukraine200620222237
7Nana Alexandria  Soviet Union1969198666
8Alexandra Kosteniuk  Russia200220143216
9Natalia Zhukova  Ukraine200620181236
10Mária Ivánka  Hungary19691986426
Elisabeta Polihroniade  Romania19661986426
Zsuzsa Verőci-Petronić  Hungary19691986426

Best individual results in the women's section

The best individual results in order of overall percentage are:

Rank
Player      Country      Ol.Gms.  +    =    –   %   Individual
medals
  Number of
ind. medals
  Team medals  Number of
team medals
  1 Nona Gaprindashvili  Soviet Union (11)
 Georgia (1)
12128 94 26  883.68 – 3 – 01111 – 1 – 012
  2 Nadezhda Kosintseva  Russia551 36 13  283.34 – 0 – 042 – 1 – 14
  3 Pia Cramling  Sweden9107 71 33  381.83 – 2 – 270 – 0 – 00
  4 Zsófia Polgár  Hungary448 32 13  380.22 – 0 – 132 – 1 – 03
  5 Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant  Soviet Union (1)
 Georgia (4)
 Scotland (3)
886 58 19  978.52 – 0 – 132 – 1 – 14
  6 Wang Lei  China432 21  8  378.11 – 0 – 012 – 1 – 14
  7 Zsuzsa (Susan) Polgár  Hungary (3)
 United States (1)
456 31 25  077.71 – 2 – 142 – 2 – 04
  8 Valentina Gunina  Russia546 27 16  376.12 – 0 – 023 – 0 – 03
  9 Nana Alexandria  Soviet Union654 35 12  775.94 – 0 – 046 – 0 – 06
  10 Alisa Galliamova
(Galliamova-Ivanchuk)
 Soviet Union (1)
 Ukraine (1)
 Russia (3)
557 39  8 1075.40 – 2 – 021 – 2 – 25
  11 Zhao Xue  China881 49 24  875.33 – 0 – 033 – 3 – 17
  12 Maia Chiburdanidze  Soviet Union (7)
 Georgia (8)
15167 89 73  575.14 – 2 – 399 – 3 – 113
  13 Iman Hasan Al-Rufaye  Iraq548 31 10  775.01 – 2 – 030 – 0 – 00
  14 Hou Yifan  China661 34 23  474.61 – 3 – 261 – 3 – 15
  15 Nana Ioseliani  Soviet Union (2)
 Georgia (6)
888 49 32  773.92 – 2 – 155 – 1 – 17
  16 Zhu Chen  China559 34 19  673.72 – 1 – 033 – 1 – 15
  17 Nino Batsiashvili  Georgia545 27 12  673.31 – 1 – 020 – 1 – 12
  18 Zsuzsa Verőci-Petronić  Hungary10118 62 48  872.90 – 3 – 250 – 4 – 26
  19 Sarasadat Khademalsharieh  Iran440 22 14  472.50 – 0 – 000 – 0 – 00
  20 Edith Keller-Herrmann  East Germany449 26 19  472.40 – 1 – 120 – 0 – 33
Notes
  • Only players participating in at least four Olympiads are included in this table.
  • Medals indicated in the order gold - silver - bronze. The statistics of individual medals includes only medals which are awarding to the top three individual players on each board. The medals for overall performance rating (awarded in 1984–2006) are not included into this statistics, but are listed separately below the table.
  • Nona Gaprindashvili played eleven Olympiads for the Soviet Union, and one for Georgia. She won another one individual gold medal and one individual bronze medal for overall performance rating. In total she won 9 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze individual medals.
  • Pia Cramling won another one individual silver medal and one individual bronze medal for overall performance rating. In total she won 3 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze individual medals.
  • Zsófia Polgár won another one individual gold medal for overall performance rating. In total she won 3 gold and 1 bronze individual medals.
  • Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant played her first Olympiad for the Soviet Union, then four for Georgia and three for Scotland. She won another one individual gold medal and one individual bronze medal for overall performance rating. In total she won 3 gold and 2 bronze individual medals.
  • Wang Lei won another one individual gold medal for overall performance rating. In total she won 2 individual gold medals.
  • Zsuzsa Polgár played three Olympiads for Hungary, and one for the United States (as Susan Polgar). She won another one individual gold medal and two individual bronze medals for overall performance rating. In total she won 2 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze individual medals.
  • Alisa Galliamova played her first Olympiad for the Soviet Union, then one for Ukraine (as Galliamova-Ivanchuk) and three for Russia. She won another two individual silver medals for overall performance rating. In total she won 4 individual silver medals.
  • Zhao Xue won another two individual gold medals and one individual bronze medal for overall performance rating. In total she won 5 gold and 1 bronze individual medals.
  • Maia Chiburdanidze played her first seven Olympiads for the Soviet Union, the rest for Georgia. She won another one individual gold medal and three individual bronze medals for overall performance rating. In total she won 5 gold, 2 silver and 6 bronze individual medals.
  • Hou Yifan won another one individual bronze medal for overall performance rating. In total she won 1 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze individual medals.
  • Nana Ioseliani played her first two Olympiads for the Soviet Union, the rest for Georgia. She won another one individual silver medal and one individual bronze medal for overall performance rating. In total she won 2 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze individual medals.
  • Zhu Chen won another two individual gold medals for overall performance rating. In total she won 4 gold and 1 silver individual medals.

See also

External links