Chess 96
The 32nd Chess Olympiad, organized by the Fe'de'ration Internationale des E'checs and comprising an open and women's tournament, took place between September 15 and October 2, 1996, in Yerevan, Armenia.
Both tournament sections were officiated by worldwide arbiter Alesha Khachatrian (ARM). Teams were paired across the 14 rounds of competition following the Swiss system; the open division was played over four boards per round, and the women's was played over three. The time control for each game permitted each player 2 hours to make the first 40 of his or her moves, then an additional 1 hour to make the next 20 moves.
The Open was won by the Russian team, which included such superb chess players as Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Alexey Dreev, Peter Svidler, Evgeny Bareev and Sergei Rublevsky. Second place went to the team from the Ukrane, and the United States' squad rounded out the top three.
The women's division was contested by 74 teams representing 72 nations and territories; Armenia, as hosts, fielded two teams, and the International Braille Chess Association entered one squad. Top prize went the team from Georgia lead by Maia Chiburdanidze. The People's Republic of China did well to come in second, as they were tied in points to the third place Russian Team.
Chess is a board game played between two players. It is played on a chessboard, which is a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. At the start, each player controls sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king, whereby the king is under immediate attack (in "check") and there is no way to remove or defend it from attack on the next move.
The form we know today of the game emerged in Europe during the later half of the 15th century after evolving from a much older (Shatranj) of Indian origin. Some aspects of art are found in chess composition. Theoreticians have developed extensive chess strategies and tactics since the game's inception. One of the goals of early computer scientists was to create a chess-playing machine. Chess is now greatly influenced by the abilities of chess programs and the opportunity for online play. In 1997 Deep Blue became the first computer to beat a reigning World Champion in a match when it defeated Garry Kasparov.
The tradition of organized competitive chess began in the 16th century. The first official World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, claimed his title in 1886; the current World Champion is Viswanathan Anand. Chess is a recognized sport of the International Olympic Committee, and is headed by the FIDE. Curently chess is one of the world's most played games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.