
Poland wins the first-ever Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities
The Polish team has won all six matches in Belgrade and took their first Olympic gold in chess since 1930, according to FIDE International Chess Federation. The IPCA got the silver, and the Philippines won the bronze. Players with disabilities from across the world showed their chess skills on a global stage in a first-ever Olympiad dedicated to them. The inaugural event celebrating diversity and competition has been a milestone moment for chess. During the past six days, 26 teams with participants from 33 countries competed for the title. Poland achieved huge success as the team confidently won the Olympiad, defeating all of their opponents and scoring 12 match points. The Physically Disabled Chess Players (IPCA) won second place with 10 match points. Four teams: The Philippines, India, Serbia and Uzbekistan, shared third to sixth place with eight match points. The cheerful squad of the Philippines came in third after a better tie-break. Croatia – who had a bad start to the tournament – finished seventh, while second-seed Israel finished eighth and third-seed Hungary took the modest 9th place. The Polish team had the highest average ELO (2327) and proved their status in every match. In the final round, the Poles were up against their biggest rivals in this event – Israel. Despite having an average lower rating than Poland, Israel (2171) put on a strong performance and – with India and IPCA – were always in the race for the top place. Poland’s team was a class above anyone else. Out of 24 games played, they lost just three games.
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