Romania's chess teams put in a strong performance at the Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, which finished yesterday (September 9 ). In the open competition, Romania came out in eighth place, out of 150 countries in the competition.

The winners were the Armenian team, with Russia and the Ukraine in second and third place respectively. Also ahead of Romania were China, the USA, the Netherlands and Vietnam. Behind Romania, the top ten was rounded out by Hungary and Azerbaijan.

In the women's event, Romania performed even better, coming fifth out of 127 countries. The Russian team won the women's event, with China, the Ukraine and India in second, third and fourth places.

Romania's team of Grand Masters included Constantin Lupulescu, Mircea-Emilian Parligras, Mihail Marin, Levente Vajda and Vladislav Nevednichy. Romania's top scoring player was Mircea-Emilian Parligras, who scored eight points from ten games.

In the women's event, Cristina-Adela Foisor, Irina Bulmaga, Elena-Luminita Cosma, Alina L'ami and Mihaela Sandu represented Romania. The highest scoring player was Alina L'ami, with 7.5 points from 10 games.

The 2012 World Chess Olympiad was held  in Istanbul, Turkey and started on August 27, with the closing ceremony yesterday evening.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

(photo source: chessolympiadistanbul.com)