The 36th Chess Olympiad had primarily been scheduled to be held in Menorca, the smaller of the two Balearic Islands. However some 10 months before the gong they withdrew due to financial problems. Fortunately the Olympiad didn't leave the magnificent countryside of the Balearic Islands since Calvia, a city located in adjacent island of Mayorca decided to face the challenge. The 75th FIDE congress and huge Chess Festival were held concurrently with the Olympiad.

Funnily enough the Olympiad overlapped the Dannemann World Championship match between Kramnik and Leko and one of most prestigious commercial events The Essent Chess Tournament held annually in Hoogoven, The Netherlands. Because of those Kramnik and Leko were absent and most of their seconds came late (incl. Svidler, Akopian, Illescas Cordoba). The Hoogoven participants Short, Sokolov and famous Norwegian prodigy Carlssen late-joined also. Kasparov didn't come this time as well as Judith Polgar who gave birth to a baby short before the Olympiad started. Still Russia were favourites for gold led by ebullient Morozevich. Ukraine - with the superb Ponomariov & Ivanchuk duo and a 14-year-old Kariakan at 2nd reserve board - and Israel seemed to be main contenders. India were expected to improve their all-time best as Anand re-joined after years of boycott. Armenia had virtually same squad as in Bled, where they won bronze medals. Team USA comprised of six mature Soviet expatriates. Spain, the host team, lead by Shirov were hoping for much as they were seeded in 7th. England had FIDE WCh contender Adams and superb youngster McShane in the squad, but no Short, who played in Hoogoven. Hungary deprived of Leko and Polgar were highly unlikely to vindicate their 2002 performance.

The Calvia 2004 Chess Olympiad started on 15th October with FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and the Mayor of Calvia, Carlos Delgado, making the first move on board 2 of the Spain-Tunisia match. The spectacular opening ceremony had been regarded by all the participants as one of the best in the history of the Olympiads. The press coverage of the ceremony had been great and most of Spain's local and national newspapers had published photos and written coverage. There had also been quite a lot of TV coverage. As in all Swiss events, in the first rounds the best teams play against weaker opposition, and most of the strongest teams won. However some surprises had occurred. Marc Simonet of Andorra held Khalifman to a draw. A great result from the Andorran player. England managed only 2½-1½ vs progressive Turkey and Croatia were unhappy to see their team barely halving vs Iraq. After the second round only two teams left with a perfect 8/8. Seed 2 Ukraine defeated Spain "B" clearly by 4-0, leading the field with the Czech Republic, who beat Bangladesh by the same result. Several teams shared the third place with 7½/8. The strong Israel team defeated Australia 3½-½ (GM Rogers drew with GM Sutovsky). Other teams to lie in tied third were Serbia & Montenegro, Slovakia, Canada and Bulgaria. Spain "A" managed only a draw against Argentina. Cifuentes lost against GM Campora, but Spain's first board Vallejo defeated Felgaer in the finish. Russia, the defending champions, playing down the table had a solid 3-1 win over Switzerland with two wins and two draws. The Russians were led by Alexander Morozevich who ruthlessly dispatched the legendary Russian-born Victor Kortschnoj at board one. It was all over after 45 minutes of play and 13 moves of Ruy Lopez, and Kortschnoj stayed more for than 20 minutes at the table trying to understand what had actually happened. The Ukrainians played superb chess in the third round as well to establish themselves at the top of the standings with their third consecutive 4-0 win of the Olympiad. Their top player Ivanchuk ferociously turned back Czech prodigy Navarra's Sicilian. Their championship aspirations were to be put to the severest test in round four as they were to face the defending champions Russia (lying in 4th at the moment with 10½ points). Elsewhere Cuba and Latvia played to three draws on boards 2-4 but the 2000 junior WCh Lazaro Bruzon defeated Fridman to seal Capablanca's men win 2½-1½. India rested Anand for the second time in 3 rounds but were too good for Philippines, winning 3-1 with two wins and two draws. The USA faced Iran in a battle with political background (fortunately no reflection on chess!) and prevailed 3-1 with wins by Soviet-born Shabalov and Gulko. The Americans had their next battle scheduled vs India. England continued to make progress as apart from their two draws Adams and Speelman won to grant England's victory 3-1 in what sounds like a football result! The English, hunting their first-ever Olympiad title, were in tied 15th with 8½ points. On the next day the memorable Ukraine-Russia clash was held. Ukrainian leader Ivanchuk went into his think-tank, armoury, chess factory and other places only he knows of and produced a fantastic performance on board one to defeat the exciting Russian number one Morozevich and the Ukraine won a mouth-watering match-up 2½-1½ in fourth round top action. The 2001 FIDE World Championship finalist's fourth win in as many starts propelled Ukraine to 14½ points and maintained their position at the top of the standings. The other Ukrainians, Ponomariov, Volokitin and Moiseenko drew vs Grischuk, Khalifman and Zviagintsev, respectively, on the other boards. England's top Adams kept pace with Ivanchuk by securing the only win in his match as Queen Elizabeth II's men defeated Canada 2½-1½. Cuba continued to play well defeating Holland 2½-1½. Anand drew vs Ukrainian-born Onischuk on board 1 of prestigious India-USA match but India still beat the USA after wins by Harikrishna and Kunte over Shabalov and Goldin, respectively. Novikov got the Americans' sole win by prevailing over Sandipan on board 4. Although Shirov drew on board 1, Spain A with 3 victories beat Macedonia 3½-½ to move into tied 6th. Azerbaijan were disappointed to drop 1½ points vs underestimated Scotland. Standings were: Ukraine 14½; Israel 14; Russia, Azerbaijan and Slovakia 12. The other big news of the day was the last game of the Dannemann World Championship being held in Brissago (Switzerland) between Kramnik and Leko. Although behind by a full point, Kramnik won a brilliant last game tactical ending to level on points with the contender by 7-7, therefore retaining the title.

To be continued...