28th Chess Olympiad
The 28th Chess Olympiad, organized by FIDE and comprising an open[1] and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between November 12 and November 30, 1988, in Thessaloniki, Greece.
After the successful 26th Olympiad in Thessaloniki in 1984, FIDE had agreed to hold every other Olympiad (the ones in Olympic years) in the home country of the Olympic movement - provided the Greek Chess Federation and government could provide the necessary funding. This was only the case once, in 1986; after that the Olympiad went back to a new host city every two years.
Israel was back, having been effectively banned from the previous Olympiad in Dubai, as were the countries that had stayed away in sympathy: The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Also reappearing in the Olympic arena—after a 16-year absence—was East Germany, who celebrated their return by beating their West German rivals 3–1.
The Soviet Union dominated as usual. With world champions Kasparov (reigning) and Karpov (former) on the top boards, they won by no less than six points. A strong English team took their third consecutive silver medals, while the returning Dutch team took the bronze.
Open event
There were 107 teams from 106 different nations playing in a 14-round Swiss system tournament. Chile had also been signed up, but never arrived.
In the event of a draw, the tie-break was decided first by using the Buchholz system, then by match points.
Open event # Country Players Average
ratingPoints Buchholz 1 Soviet UnionKasparov, Karpov, Yusupov, Beliavsky, Ehlvest, Ivanchuk 2694 40½ 2 EnglandShort, Speelman, Nunn, Chandler, Mestel, Watson 2635 34½ 457.0 3 NetherlandsVan der Wiel, Sosonko, Van der Sterren, Piket, Kuijf, Douven 2513 34½ 455.0 # Country Average
ratingPoints Buchholz MP 4 United States2580 34 459.0 5 Hungary2604 34 456.5 6 Yugoslavia2574 33½ 7 Philippines2435 33 449.5 8 China2441 33 447.0 9 Cuba2520 33 439.5 10 Argentina2486 33 434.5 11 Israel2481 33 432.5 12 Sweden2538 32½ 458.0 13 Czechoslovakia2518 32½ 446.0 14 Italy2420 32½ 423.0 15 Iceland2550 32 449.5 16 Denmark2475 32 449.0 17 East Germany2508 32 444.5 18 West Germany2540 32 435.5 19 India2466 32 393.5 20 Switzerland2480 31½ 423.0 21 Poland2460 31½ 419.0 17 22 Spain2479 31½ 419.0 13 23 Brazil2406 31½ 416.0 24 Bulgaria2520 31 449.0 25 Romania2476 31 441.0 26 Indonesia2453 31 431.5 27 Greece2449 31 419.0 28 Austria2415 31 411.0 29 Guatemala2251 31 325.0 30 Scotland2383 30½ 431.0 31 France2473 30½ 429.5 32 Finland2420 30½ 421.0 33 Albania2364 30½ 415.0 34 Belgium2388 30½ 412.0 35 Colombia2406 30 431.5 36 Peru2460 30 428.0 37 Canada2439 30 411.0 38 New Zealand2321 30 405.0 39 Paraguay2354 30 365.5 40 Australia2414 29½ 412.0 41 Venezuela2261 29½ 376.0 42 Thailand2280 29½ 368.5 43 Norway2450 29 418.5 44 Mexico2398 29 413.0 45 Dominican Republic2348 29 412.0 46 Wales2290 29 411.0 47 Singapore2280 29 410.5 48 Egypt2250 29 401.5 49 Uruguay2284 29 394.5 50 Ireland2260 28½ 403.0 51 Syria2278 28½ 391.5 52 Turkey2305 28 403.0 53 Luxembourg2221 28 373.0 54 Portugal2381 27½ 410.0 55 Greece "B"2288 27½ 407.0 56 Pakistan2345 27½ 403.5 57 Faroe Islands2270 27½ 395.0 58 Malaysia2211 27½ 393.0 59 Puerto Rico2239 27½ 391.0 60 Morocco2201 27½ 390.0 61 Angola2200 27½ 381.0 62 Costa Rica2240 27½ 380.5 63 Bangladesh2293 27½ 377.5 64 Bolivia2230 27½ 371.0 65 Jamaica2231 27 375.5 66 Algeria2200 27 372.5 67 Japan2203 26½ 390.0 68 United Arab Emirates2209 26½ 383.0 69 Barbados2206 26½ 377.5 70 Nigeria2201 26½ 368.5 71 Libya2201 26½ 361.0 72 Zimbabwe2204 26½ 344.0 73 El Salvador2228 26 383.5 74 Cyprus2203 26 371.0 75 Qatar2233 26 354.5 76 Malta2200 26 347.5 77 Jordan2210 25½ 376.0 78 Lebanon2234 25½ 369.5 79 Honduras2200 25½ 364.0 80 Suriname2200 25½ 279.5 81 Zambia2201 25 356.0 82 Senegal2201 25 334.0 83 Botswana2200 25 322.0 84 Hong Kong2226 24½ 382.0 85 Bahrain2201 24½ 372.0 86 Andorra2210 24½ 371.5 87 North Yemen2201 24½ 360.0 88 Palestine2206 24½ 359.5 89 Netherlands Antilles2201 24½ 350.0 90 Mauritania2203 24½ 305.5 91 Haiti2204 24 350.0 92 Panama2200 24 317.0 93 Liechtenstein2200 24 295.0 94 Monaco2200 24 293.5 95 Uganda2203 23½ 372.5 96 San Marino2201 23½ 365.0 97 Mali2203 23½ 288.5 98 Guernsey and Jersey2220 23 327.5 99 Sudan2203 23 315.5 100 British Virgin Islands2200 23 295.5 101 Kenya2203 22½ 346.0 102 United States Virgin Islands2200 22½ 293.0 103 Bermuda2201 21 104 Bahamas2201 18 105 Mauritius2201 16 106 Fiji2201 14 107 Seychelles2200 10
Individual medals
- Performance rating:
Garry Kasparov 2877 - Board 1:
Garry Kasparov 8½ / 10 = 85.0% - Board 2:
Anatoly Karpov 8 / 10 = 80.0% - Board 3:
Carlos Antonio Reyes Nájera 7½ / 10 = 75.0% - Board 4:
Suchart Chaivichit 8 / 9 = 88.9% - 1st reserve:
Ennio Arlandi and Eduardo Vásquez 5½ / 7 = 78.6% - 2nd reserve:
Tahmidur Rahman and Jorge Gómez Baillo 6 / 7 = 85.7%
Best combination
The 'Best combination' prize went to Carsten Høi (Denmark) - Boris Gulko (USA) from round 4.
Women's results
56 teams from 55 different nations took part. In the event of a draw, the tie-break was decided first by using the Buchholz system, then by match points.
The Soviet Union had won 10 of the previous 11 Olympiads, but this time they were bested by a Hungarian teenage team featuring 19-year-old Mádl as well as all three Polgár sisters: Zsuzsa (also 19), Zsófia (14), and Judit (12). The biggest star of the women's event was 12-year-old prodigy Judit, who scored 12½ points in 13 games and won her board as well as the overall performance rating.
# Country Players Average
ratingPoints 1 HungaryZsuzsa Polgár, J. Polgár, Mádl, Zsófia Polgár 2400 33 2 Soviet UnionChiburdanidze, Akhmilovskaya, Levitina, Litinskaya 2455 32½ 3 YugoslaviaMarić, Marković, Maksimović, Bašagić 2300 28 # Country Average
ratingPoints Buchholz 4 China2095 27 5 Bulgaria2275 24 344.5 6 Romania2267 24 344.0 7 Greece2207 24 343.0 8 Cuba2170 24 336.5 9 United States2278 23½ 342.5 10 Netherlands2203 23½ 319.5 11 Poland2282 23 349.5 12 England2300 23 322.5 13 France2160 23 317.0 14 India2128 23 316.0 15 West Germany2277 22½ 333.5 16 Argentina2130 22½ 315.5 17 Spain2200 22½ 312.5 18 Israel2228 22½ 311.5 19 Denmark2123 22½ 303.5 20 Brazil2073 22½ 302.5 21 Switzerland2115 22 309.0 22 Philippines2205 22 259.5 23 Czechoslovakia2242 21½ 343.0 24 Sweden2240 21½ 329.5 25 Greece "B"2013 21½ 297.0 26 Canada2125 21½ 296.0 27 Colombia2088 21½ 295.0 28 Dominican Republic2002 21½ 294.5 29 Ireland2012 21½ 291.0 30 Finland2000 21½ 286.0 31 Mexico2003 21½ 283.0 32 New Zealand2005 21½ 271.0 33 Austria2088 21 313.5 34 Australia2023 21 309.0 35 Belgium2008 21 296.5 36 Indonesia2035 21 285.0 37 Italy2010 21 276.0 38 Uruguay2003 21 253.0 39 Venezuela2013 20½ 302.0 40 Norway2025 20½ 286.0 41 Wales2075 20½ 277.5 42 Bangladesh2000 20½ 267.5 43 Portugal2000 20 275.5 44 Turkey2000 20 262.0 45 Scotland2012 19½ 46 Malaysia2018 19 280.5 47 Jamaica2002 19 238.0 48 Puerto Rico2003 19 236.0 49 Nigeria2002 17 234.0 50 Lebanon2000 17 229.5 51 Barbados2000 16½ 52 Zimbabwe2000 14½ 53 Netherlands Antilles2000 14 54 Malta2000 12½ 55 Seychelles2000 8 56 United States Virgin Islands2000 2½
Individual medals
- Performance rating:
Judit Polgár 2694 - Board 1:
Pia Cramling 12½ / 14 = 89.3% - Board 2:
Judit Polgár 12½ / 13 = 96.2% - Board 3:
Peng Zhaoqin (10½/14) and Maria Horvath (9/12) = 75.0% - Reserve:
Y. Begum 6½ / 8 = 81.3%
References
- ↑ Although commonly referred to as the men's division, this section is open to both male and female players.
- 28th Chess Olympiad: Thessaloniki 1988 OlimpBase