Levon Aronian, in conversation with Chessdom.com editor-in-chief Goran Urosevic, shared his thoughts on the Armenian team at the Chess Olympiad. Aronian also praised Wesley So, saying “he is a talented player from a country with great chess culture”. See a previsions interview of Aronian with Chessdom here.

The coach of the women team of Russia, and ex coach of the men team of Russia from ETCC 2011, spoke to Anastasiya Karlovich and Chessdom.com journalists during the Chess Olympiad in Istanbul. Part 1 Part 2

Video report by Cheddom.com team member Vijay Kumar

Irina Krush about the performance of the USA team, possibilities of getting GM norms, definition of chess professional, and more. Questions by Anastasiya Karlovich and Goran Urosevic, video by Vijay Kumar Chessdom.com

Ukraine, the defending champion defeated Qatar with a 3-1 score despite the loss by first board GM Vassily Ivanchuk to GM Mohamad Al-Modiahki. Ivanchuk was slightly better with black but he carelessly allowed the enemy queen to sneak into the back rank. Ivanchuk immediately resigned, not declining attempts to seek compensation for the piece. The [...]

  Press conference of the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropolous and the FIDE Vice President, President of the Turkish Chess Federation, the Chairman of the 40th World Chess Olympiad Organizing Committee Ali Nihat Yazici. KARLOVICH: Let me welcome our guests at the first press conference of the 40th World Chess Olympiad: [...]

Here are the videos from the first day of the Chess Olympiad by the renowned producer Vijay Kumar for Chessdom.com and the official website. See more videos from yesterday here. Opening ceremony Press conference presentation of the TCF teams

Here is a photo report from the opening ceremony of the World Chess Olympiad. More photos are going to be uploaded in the same gallery, stay tuned for updates. Opening ceremony details here Note: click on each photo for full size view Photos by David Llada, Anastasiya Karlovich, Chessdom.com

The opening ceremony of the World Chess Olympiad took place at the WOW Convention center in Istanbul. The ceremony began with the national anthem of Turkey, followed by a tribute to historical world chess players. The audience enjoyed a rich cultural program including traditional dances. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the Minister of Youth and Sports [...]

Large photo report and opening day preview