Malta’s national teams have just returned from the Chess Olympiad held in Tromsoe, Norway.

The men’s team consisted of David Cilia Vincenti, Colin Pace, Robert Zerafa, Patrick Zerafa and Duncan Vella with GM Bartlomej Heberla as captain.

The women’s team included Oana Caruana Pulpan, Filipina Thornton, Jutta Klotz, Jamie Farrugia and Ariana Axiaq. Peter Sammut Briffa was captain.

The men’s team was seeded 118th out of a total of 172 countries. From the 11 matches played, they won three – vs Hong Kong, Tanzania and Afghanistan – and drew against Yemen.

The men’s team performed below expectations and ended up in 152nd place. On an individual level, both Zerafa (56%) and Vella (50%) did well to increase their personal rating.

The women’s team had a successful tournament as they beat Swaziland, Nepal, Barbados, Honduras and Tunisia to collect 10 points and finish 91st after having been seeded 106th from 134 nations.

Caruana Pulpan, on top board, achieved a 50% score. Thornton totalled 5.5 points from nine games, a mere half-a-point away from achieving a WFM (Woman Fide Master).

Farrugia did manage the magical six, however, to get the WFM title. She also finished fourth overall from all the women participants in the rating gain classification, a rise of 117.2 points.

In her first experience in an Olympiad, Axiaq, 12, returned home with four wins... a very promising future is guaranteed with her level of chess at such a young age.

Geoffrey D. Borg, Malta Chess Federation president and CEO of the World Chess Federation, represented Malta as a delegate.

He was actively involved in Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s successful re-election as president following the 110-61 favourable result against Garry Kasparov.

Borg was also appointed chairman of FIDE’s Central Board of Commissions.