Board Pairings-Open resultsTurkey - Rwanda [4-1]Rwanda – Wales [0-4]Macau - Rwanda [2½-1½]Rwanda – Nepal [0-4]Rwanda – San Marino [1-3]Burundi - Rwanda [½-3½]Rwanda – Hong Kong [0-4]Palau – Rwanda [2-2]Rwanda – Bermuda [1-3]Togo – Rwanda [3-1]Rwanda – Sierre Leone [1-3]RWANDA’S chess team finished overall 155th at the 40th world chess Olympiad which ended this week in Istanbul, Turkey.Rwanda won one game against Burundi ranked 156, drew against Palau ranked 145 and lost nine games to Wales, Macau, Nepal, San Marino, Hong Kong, Bermuda, Togo, Sierra Leone and hosts Turkey.Rwanda’s team was composed of Gervais Baziki, Jean Baptiste Hakizimana, Eugene Kagabo Mugema, Maxence Murara and Theotime Rutaremara.Murara, ranked 1712 in the world, performed relatively well and completed with a 40 percent score, after winning three games and dropping six. He failed to get a candidate master after his Burundian opponent failed to turn up for the game.Mugema was Rwanda’s second ranked player after completing 25 percent score following a third round draw against Celis Chang Joel of Macau but missed more points in sixth and eleventh round when his opponents Tony Nininahazwe of Burundi and Cole Brian of Sierra Leone failed to show up.Hakizimana finished third with 20 percent score while Rutaremera ranked 1760 and Baziki secured 15 and 10 percent score respectively.Team captain Murara told Times Sport yesterday, “We have some good players, who are able to analyze the game correctly but the lack of competitions and poor preparations continue to be a big impediment in our pursuit for good performances in international competitions.”Armenia won gold in Istanbul after collecting 19, 0/22, 0 Match points. Russia finished with the same match points, but worse tiebreak and settled for second.Third place was secured by Ukraine, who won against China in the last round. This is the third title for Armenia after winning the gold in 2006 and 2008.The FIDE Congress awarded the 2016 World Chess Olympiad to the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. The other two applications by Albena (Bulgaria) and Tallin (Estonia) were rejected.The FIDE World Cup 2015 is also awarded to the city of Baku.
