Why are russians so good at programming?

Are Russians/Eastern Europeans more intelligent on average than the average American?

• In any international Math / Chess / Programming contests Russians / former Soviet colonies in Eastern Europe outshine Americans and most other parts of the world. Even in silicon valley many iconic companies are founded by people who are of Russian/East-European origins.

• Answer:

  Going byhttp://www.photius.com/rankings/national_iq_scores_country_ranks.html, drawn from the controversial work of Lynn and Vanhanen, the United States appears to have a slightly higher national average IQ than most post-Communist nations save Poland and Estonia. The differences are so slight--literally one point separates the United States's 98 from Poland's 99, and another point the United States from Russia's 97--that I'm inclined to think these small differences don't amount to much. It could well be that Russians and eastern Europeans working in Silicon Valley are uncommonly bright. I'd suggest that this may be a consequence not of the average Russian and eastern European being brighter than the average American, but rather of above-average Russians and eastern Europeans coming to the United States to work for want of like work in their homelands. This might be a perfect illustration of the phenomenon of brain drain.