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28th Chess Olympiad

The 28th Chess Olympiad, organized by FIDE and comprising an open 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
rating		 Points Buchholz
1 Soviet Union Kasparov, Karpov, Yusupov, Beliavsky, Ehlvest, Ivanchuk 2694 40½
2 England Short, Speelman, Nunn, Chandler, Mestel, Watson 2635 34½ 457.0
3 Netherlands Van der Wiel, Sosonko, Van der Sterren, Piket, Kuijf, Douven 2513 34½ 455.0
# Country Average
rating		 Points Buchholz MP
4 United States 2580 34 459.0
5 Hungary 2604 34 456.5
6 Yugoslavia 2574 33½
7 Philippines 2435 33 449.5
8 China 2441 33 447.0
9 Cuba 2520 33 439.5
10 Argentina 2486 33 434.5
11 Israel 2481 33 432.5
12 Sweden 2538 32½ 458.0
13 Czechoslovakia 2518 32½ 446.0
14 Italy 2420 32½ 423.0
15 Iceland 2550 32 449.5
16 Denmark 2475 32 449.0
17 East Germany 2508 32 444.5
18 West Germany 2540 32 435.5
19 India 2466 32 393.5
20 Switzerland 2480 31½ 423.0
21 Poland 2460 31½ 419.0 17
22 Spain 2479 31½ 419.0 13
23 Brazil 2406 31½ 416.0
24 Bulgaria 2520 31 449.0
25 Romania 2476 31 441.0
26 Indonesia 2453 31 431.5
27 Greece 2449 31 419.0
28 Austria 2415 31 411.0
29 Guatemala 2251 31 325.0
30 Scotland 2383 30½ 431.0
31 France 2473 30½ 429.5
32 Finland 2420 30½ 421.0
33 Albania 2364 30½ 415.0
34 Belgium 2388 30½ 412.0
35 Colombia 2406 30 431.5
36 Peru 2460 30 428.0
37 Canada 2439 30 411.0
38 New Zealand 2321 30 405.0
39 Paraguay 2354 30 365.5
40 Australia 2414 29½ 412.0
41 Venezuela 2261 29½ 376.0
42 Thailand 2280 29½ 368.5
43 Norway 2450 29 418.5
44 Mexico 2398 29 413.0
45 Dominican Republic 2348 29 412.0
46 Wales 2290 29 411.0
47 Singapore 2280 29 410.5
48 Egypt 2250 29 401.5
49 Uruguay 2284 29 394.5
50 Ireland 2260 28½ 403.0
51 Syria 2278 28½ 391.5
52 Turkey 2305 28 403.0
53 Luxembourg 2221 28 373.0
54 Portugal 2381 27½ 410.0
55 Greece "B" 2288 27½ 407.0
56 Pakistan 2345 27½ 403.5
57 Faroe Islands 2270 27½ 395.0
58 Malaysia 2211 27½ 393.0
59 Puerto Rico 2239 27½ 391.0
60 Morocco 2201 27½ 390.0
61 Angola 2200 27½ 381.0
62 Costa Rica 2240 27½ 380.5
63 Bangladesh 2293 27½ 377.5
64 Bolivia 2230 27½ 371.0
65 Jamaica 2231 27 375.5
66 Algeria 2200 27 372.5
67 Japan 2203 26½ 390.0
68 United Arab Emirates 2209 26½ 383.0
69 Barbados 2206 26½ 377.5
70 Nigeria 2201 26½ 368.5
71 Libya 2201 26½ 361.0
72 Zimbabwe 2204 26½ 344.0
73 El Salvador 2228 26 383.5
74 Cyprus 2203 26 371.0
75 Qatar 2233 26 354.5
76 Malta 2200 26 347.5
77 Jordan 2210 25½ 376.0
78 Lebanon 2234 25½ 369.5
79 Honduras 2200 25½ 364.0
80 Suriname 2200 25½ 279.5
81 Zambia 2201 25 356.0
82 Senegal 2201 25 334.0
83 Botswana 2200 25 322.0
84 Hong Kong 2226 24½ 382.0
85 Bahrain 2201 24½ 372.0
86 Andorra 2210 24½ 371.5
87 North Yemen 2201 24½ 360.0
88 Palestine 2206 24½ 359.5
89 Netherlands Antilles 2201 24½ 350.0
90 Mauritania 2203 24½ 305.5
91 Haiti 2204 24 350.0
92 Panama 2200 24 317.0
93 Liechtenstein 2200 24 295.0
94 Monaco 2200 24 293.5
95 Uganda 2203 23½ 372.5
96 San Marino 2201 23½ 365.0
97 Mali 2203 23½ 288.5
98 Guernsey and Jersey 2220 23 327.5
99 Sudan 2203 23 315.5
100 British Virgin Islands 2200 23 295.5
101 Kenya 2203 22½ 346.0
102 United States Virgin Islands 2200 22½ 293.0
103 Bermuda 2201 21
104 Bahamas 2201 18
105 Mauritius 2201 16
106 Fiji 2201 14
107 Seychelles 2200 10

Individual medals

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
rating		 Points
1 Hungary Zsuzsa Polgár, J. Polgár, Mádl, Zsófia Polgár 2400 33
2 Soviet Union Chiburdanidze, Akhmilovskaya, Levitina, Litinskaya 2455 32½
3 Yugoslavia Marić, Marković, Maksimović, Bašagić 2300 28
# Country Average
rating		 Points Buchholz
4 China 2095 27
5 Bulgaria 2275 24 344.5
6 Romania 2267 24 344.0
7 Greece 2207 24 343.0
8 Cuba 2170 24 336.5
9 United States 2278 23½ 342.5
10 Netherlands 2203 23½ 319.5
11 Poland 2282 23 349.5
12 England 2300 23 322.5
13 France 2160 23 317.0
14 India 2128 23 316.0
15 West Germany 2277 22½ 333.5
16 Argentina 2130 22½ 315.5
17 Spain 2200 22½ 312.5
18 Israel 2228 22½ 311.5
19 Denmark 2123 22½ 303.5
20 Brazil 2073 22½ 302.5
21 Switzerland 2115 22 309.0
22 Philippines 2205 22 259.5
23 Czechoslovakia 2242 21½ 343.0
24 Sweden 2240 21½ 329.5
25 Greece "B" 2013 21½ 297.0
26 Canada 2125 21½ 296.0
27 Colombia 2088 21½ 295.0
28 Dominican Republic 2002 21½ 294.5
29 Ireland 2012 21½ 291.0
30 Finland 2000 21½ 286.0
31 Mexico 2003 21½ 283.0
32 New Zealand 2005 21½ 271.0
33 Austria 2088 21 313.5
34 Australia 2023 21 309.0
35 Belgium 2008 21 296.5
36 Indonesia 2035 21 285.0
37 Italy 2010 21 276.0
38 Uruguay 2003 21 253.0
39 Venezuela 2013 20½ 302.0
40 Norway 2025 20½ 286.0
41 Wales 2075 20½ 277.5
42 Bangladesh 2000 20½ 267.5
43 Portugal 2000 20 275.5
44 Turkey 2000 20 262.0
45 Scotland 2012 19½
46 Malaysia 2018 19 280.5
47 Jamaica 2002 19 238.0
48 Puerto Rico 2003 19 236.0
49 Nigeria 2002 17 234.0
50 Lebanon 2000 17 229.5
51 Barbados 2000 16½
52 Zimbabwe 2000 14½
53 Netherlands Antilles 2000 14
54 Malta 2000 12½
55 Seychelles 2000 8
56 United States Virgin Islands 2000 2½

Individual medals

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