I don’t remember how I found Olimpbase.org for the first time, but I’m so glad I did. It seems the site has not been updated for a couple of years, but I still want to bring attention to it for those who are unfamiliar with it. I’ve put it under “Product Reviews” even though it is free.
The Olimpbase.org homepage.
Wojciech Bartelski has compiled the definitive reference on team chess. As the name hints, it contains extensive info about Chess Olympiads played through 2016. it has not been updated for 2018, and the 2020 event has been moved to 2021.
For each Olympiad (Open and Women), Bartelski includes a summary of the event and the results. These include the standings of the teams, player results, and medal winners. Also, most of the games can be viewed in a popup window, or downloaded as a zip file!
More than Olympiads
In addition to the chess Olympiads, Olimpbase.org has compiled information about all kinds of team chess events, including:
- World Team Championships
- Continental Team Championships (African, Asian, European, Pan-American)
- European Club Cup and various National Leauges
- Student and Youth Team Championships
- USSR Team Championships
- Others: USSR vs. World, Mitropa Cup, Asian Cities Championship, Pan Arab Games, etc.
More than team events, too!
Olimpbase now includes many individual events as well. Examples:
- The World Championship cycles (from 1886-2000)
- The World Junior Championships (Open and Girls)
- Continental Championships and Continental Junior Championships
- National Championships of the Soviet Union and Poland
Olimpbase has another important resource…
The site contains all FIDE rating lists since the first list in January 1971 up to October 2001! You can find everything since 2001 on the FIDE website. Ratings are a big part of our game, and full rating lists provide historical context. Some interesting tidbits:
- Only Fischer (1971), Karpov (1974), Tal (1980), and Kasparov (1984) achieved FIDE ratings of 2700 or above before Boris Gelfand joined them in January 1991.
- As late as July 1987, Artur Yusupov and Andrei Sokolov were ranked =3rd/4th in the world at just 2635! A player rated 2635 today wouldn’t make the Top 100!
- Judit Polgar was rated 2555 and =55th in the world in January 1989…as a 12-year-old!
- 16-year-old Gata Kamsky was ranked #8 in July 1990 with a rating of 2650…as a FIDE Master!
- Only 16 players reached 2700 before the year 2000.
- Did you know: Michal Krasenkow (July 2000) and Loek Van Wely (January 2001) were not only 2700 players, both were ranked #10 in the World?
Conclusion
Olimpbase.org contains a treasure trove of historical chess information. If you love chess history, the Olimpbase is not to be missed!