Every two years, the Chess Olympiad brings together the best players of each country to one location to compete on a global stage. This year, a few top Cardiff players represented Wales in the Open and Women’s section, hoping to give their best and to help Wales get as high a final position as possible.

The Cardiff players who participated were Grzegorz Toczek, Alex Bullen, Olivia Smith, Kimberly Chong and Emma Kong. Each team has 5 players and are shown below.

Both teams played in an 11-round swiss tournament. In the Open section, Wales were ranked in the top half at position 78/197. In the Women’s section, Wales were also in the top half ranked 80/183.

Wales were not only aiming for the highest team scores, but individual players were also pursuing personal milestones, such as the chance to earn a master title. The Olympiad is a unique tournament in that players who achieve certain scores can earn immediate master titles. In the Open section, a score of 3.5/7 awards the Candidate Master title, while 6/9 grants the FIDE Master title. Similarly, in the Women’s section, 3.5/7 earns the Women Candidate Master title, and 6/9 awards the Women FIDE Master title.

In the Open section, Alex Bullen was the only player below the FM title and so was pursuing 6/9 to obtain it. In the Women’s section, all players below Olivia were eligible to obtain WCM or WFM titles.

Looking at the individual performances of Cardiff players in the Open section, Grzegorz had a rocky start but found his footing in the second half of the tournament, giving Wales a late boost.

Alex, on the other hand, seemed to be having the tournament of his life. In his first six games, he scored an impressive 5/6, with a performance rating well over 2300. With three rounds to go, he appeared on track to achieve the 6/9 needed to become a FIDE Master. However, in the penultimate round, he couldn’t convert a difficult endgame and had to settle for a draw. Going into the final round, Alex needed just a draw to secure the FM title but was paired with a strong 2399-rated opponent. Possibly still recovering from the previous round, he unfortunately lost, falling just half a point short of the FM title. Despite the disappointing finish, Alex played a remarkable tournament, helping propel Wales up the rankings.

In the Women’s section, like Alex, Olivia had an excellent first two-thirds of the tournament, scoring 5/7. She is by far the strongest player on the team, which was evident in her final score of 5 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses.

Kim had a more consistent performance, generally defeating lower-rated players and securing draws against stronger opponents. Notably, she played both the youngest and oldest participants in the entire tournament – a fun statistic considering there were over 2,000 players. Kim’s steady performance earned her the required 3.5/7, securing the Women Candidate Master title, making her the only Welsh player to achieve a master title this Olympiad.

Emma, competing in her first Olympiad, may have felt some nerves on the world stage. Despite this, she delivered an admirable performance, scoring 3.5/9, with several impressive wins, including a particularly enjoyable victory in the final round.

Below are the final scores and performances by the Wales players:

As for the teams overall, the Open team scored 5.5 match points out of 11 and the Women’s team scored 4.5 match points out of 11.

Congratulations to team Wales for a successful tournament and especially to the Cardiff players who will come back with a load of experience.