
The 24th Chess Olympiad (Maltese: L-24 Olimpijadi taċ-Ċess), 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 20 and December 6, 1980, in Valletta, Malta.
Once again, the defending champions Hungary proved to be a real match for the Soviet favourites. The Hungarians led the table until the last round, but in the end the two teams tied for first place. The Soviet Union had a slightly better tie break score and took back the gold medals after six years. Yugoslavia completed the medal ranks.
The Soviet team was captained by the reigning world champion Karpov (who fell ill during the tournament and didn't perform to his usual standard) and featured a former champion (Tal) as well as a future one: 17-year-old Olympic debutant Kasparov, who in his first appearance took a bronze medal on the 2nd reserve board.
The Buchholz points deciding the gold medal between the Soviet Union and Hungary were determined by the Scotland-Greece match in the last round. Members of the Hungarian team maintain to this day that Kasparov illegally advised the Greek players during the match whom eventually won 3.5 - 0.5 and thus the Soviet team got the better tie break than Hungary. Earlier in the last round Kasparov reached only a draw against Denmark's Jacob Øst-Hansen, and was allegedly scolded by Viktor Baturinsky the vice chairman of the Soviet Chess Federation.[2]
Open event
A total of 81 nations played a 14-round Swiss system tournament. To make for an even number of teams, the Maltese hosts also fielded a "B" team. 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 MP 1
Soviet UnionKarpov, Polugaevsky, Tal, Geller, Balashov, Kasparov 2666 39 449.5 2
HungaryPortisch, Ribli, Sax, Csom, Faragó, Pintér 2593 39 448.0 3
YugoslaviaLjubojević, Ivkov, Parma, Kurajica, Marjanović, Nikolić 2541 35 4
United StatesAlburt, Seirawan, Christiansen, Tarjan, de Firmian, Shamkovich 2514 34 5
CzechoslovakiaHort, Smejkal, Jansa, Plachetka, Ftáčnik, Lechtýnský 2530 33 6
EnglandMiles, Stean, Nunn, Speelman, Keene, Mestel 2520 32½ 453.0 7
PolandSznapik, W. Schmidt, Kuligowski, Bielczyk, Pokojowczyk, Przewoźnik 2419 32½ 424.0 8
IsraelLiberzon, Birnboim, Y. Gruenfeld, Murey, Kagan, D. Bernstein 2474 32 439.0 9
CanadaHébert, Day, Yanofsky, Vukadinov, Vranesic, Allan 2385 32 410.5 10
NetherlandsTimman, Sosonko, Ree, Langeweg, van der Wiel, Ligterink 2533 31½ 449.5 11
RomaniaGheorghiu, Ciocâltea, Șubă, Ghindă, Ghițescu, Stoica 2503 31½ 437.5 12
SwedenAndersson, L. Karlsson, Schneider, Schüssler, Wedberg, Renman 2473 31½ 434.0 13
CubaGarcía Gonzáles, García Martínez, Rodríguez Céspedes, Nogueiras, Hernández, Vera González 2468 31½ 424.5 14
ArgentinaQuinteros, Rubinetti, Debarnot, Schweber, Giardelli, Hase 2454 31 439.0 15
PhilippinesTorre, Mascariñas, R. Rodríguez, Pacis, Bernal, Ramos 2390 31 430.5 16
DenmarkJakobsen, Høi, Fedder, Mortensen, Øst-Hansen, Pedersen 2408 31 427.5 17
FranceHaïk, Giffard, Seret, L. Roos, Goldenberg, D. Roos 2381 31 415.0 18
WalesWilliams, Cooper, Hutchings, Jones, Johnston 2325 31 395.0 19
BulgariaErmenkov, Tringov, Radulov, Georgiev, Popov, Spasov 2473 30½ 454.0 20
FinlandWesterinen, Rantanen, Hurme, Ristoja, Mäki, Pirttimäki 2401 30½ 431.0 21
AustriaRobatsch, Hölzl, Herzog, Roth, Wittmann, Wagner 2381 30½ 414.0 22
ItalyTóth, Zichichi, Taruffi, Passerotti, Trabattoni, Iannaccone 2334 30½ 409.0 23
IcelandF. Ólafsson, H. Ólafsson, Árnason, Pétursson, Hjartarson, Jóhannsson 2474 30 434.5 24
NorwayHelmers, Heim, Hoen, Moen, Tiller, Sande 2369 30 421.5 25
GermanyPfleger, Hecht, Borik, Lobron, Hermann, Kunsztowicz 2451 30 420.0 26
SpainDíez del Corral, Bellón López, Pomar, Rivas Pastor, Sanz Alonso, Gómez Esteban 2425 30 416.5 27
GreeceMakropoulos, Skembris, Skalkotas, Pountsas, Natsis, Trikaliotis 2365 30 402.5 28
VenezuelaOstos, Fernández, Palacios, Dounia, Escalante 2311 30 399.5 29
BrazilSunye Neto, Carvalho, Lucena, van Riemsdijk, Câmara, Gentil 2374 30 397.0 30
SyriaCatalan, Hakki, Beitar, Arafeh, Kassabe 2235 30 394.5 31
SwitzerlandHug, Wirthensohn, Huss, Hammer, Züger, Franzoni 2391 29½ 32
ColombiaGarcía, Zapata, Castro, Cuartas, Acosta, González Rodríguez 2423 29 419.0 33
AlbaniaMuço, Adhami, Pustina, Zadrima, Qendro, Karkanaqe 2319 29 415.5 34
AustraliaRogers, Jamieson, Johansen, Fuller, Shaw, West 2361 29 410.5 35
IndiaRavisekhar, Ravikumar, Khan, Meetei, Hassan 2325 29 410.0 36
ChileMorovic, Campos Moreno, Cifuentes, Silva Sánchez, Donoso Velasco, Velasquez Ojeda 2388 29 408.5 37
MexicoFrey Beckman, Campos López, Félix Villarreal, Maya, Ocampo, Navarro 2359 29 396.0 38
ChinaLiu Wenzhe, Qi Jingxuan, Liang Jinrong, Li Zunian, Tang Hongjian 2380 28½ 411.5 39
PortugalSilva, Fernandes, J. Santos, L. Santos, Durão 2351 28½ 406.0 40
BelgiumMeulders, De Bruycker, Deleyn, Goormachtigh, Defize, Schumacher 2233 28½ 395.0 41
IrelandDelaney, Dunne, Doyle, Ludgate, Curtin, McCarthy 2255 28½ 391.5 42
ThailandChaivichit, Sinprayoon, Trisa-Ard, Darakorn 2225 28½ 390.0 43
PakistanMirza, Farooqui, Zafar, Chaudry, Ahmad, Rana 2238 28½ 372.5 44
Dominican RepublicÁlvarez, Abreu, Gonzáles, Mateo, Pérez Nivar 2258 28 399.0 45
IndonesiaHandoko, Suradiradja, Arif, Ardiansyah, Gunawan, Kusnadi 2354 28 397.5 46
MongoliaMyagmarsuren, Tumurbator, Jigjidsuren, Lhagva 2328 27½ 402.5 47
ParaguayGamarra Cáceres, Ferreira, Bogda, Santacruz 2255 27½ 387.0 48
Turkeyİpek, Gümrükçüoğlu, Öney, Süer, Pamuk 2259 27½ 384.5 49
MalaysiaLiew Chee Meng, Foo Lum Choon, Chang Hing Wah, Cheah Woon Leng, Abdul Rahman 2200 27½ 378.0 50
Trinidad and TobagoLee, Raphael, Duchesne, Lee, Mohipp, Ramon-Fortune 2200 27½ 370.5 51
ScotlandPritchett, Swanson, Upton, McNab, Norris, Bonner 2291 27 423.5 52
JapanGonda, Takemoto, T. Shiraki, Sakurai, T. Hirata, Sugimoto 2213 27 373.0 53
GuyanaM. Broomes, G. Broomes, Wharton, R. Austin, J. Macedo 2203 26½ 369.0 13 54
LuxembourgHaas, Feller, Stull, Schammo, Specchio, Kirsch 2230 26½ 369.0 12 55
AlgeriaBaghli, Cherrad, Slimani, Kharchi, R. Bounedjar, Belamine 2200 26½ 351.0 56
New ZealandChandler, Sarapu, Small, Aptekar, Anderson 2336 26 401.0 57
LebanonKouatly, Sursock, Abouchaaya, Khechen, N. Saade 2243 26 389.5 58
TunisiaBouaziz, Belkadi, Hmadi, Ouechtati, Doghri, L. Hamzaoui 2279 26 387.5 59
EgyptSoliman, Fatin, El-Said, Afifi, Sadek, Hamed 2200 25½ 391.0 60
United Arab EmiratesN. A. Said, S. A. Said, N. M. Said, Ghubash, Qasim, Saleh 2200 25½ 379.0 61
MaltaAttard, Camilleri, Gouder, Sollars, Gauci, G. Borg 2226 25½ 376.5 62
ZimbabweDonnely, Barlow, V. Strugo, Levy, Kuwaza, T. Klement 2200 25½ 369.5 63
Puerto RicoM. Colón Romero, Ochoa, Moraza Choisme, Vázquez Ramos, Sosa, Falcón 2201 25½ 357.0 -
Malta "B"Cilia Vincenti, Vella Gera, Psaila, Thake, Vasallo, A. Borg 2200 25½ 355.5 64
JamaicaWheeler, Powell, A. Niederhoffer, Cameron 2200 25½ 348.5 65
United States Virgin IslandsVan Tilbury, R. Grim, Grumer, Turner, Chiu Yum San, D. Delzell 2233 25½ 333.0 66
Hong KongKan Wai Shui, Lin, Chao, Luk Luen Wah, M. Camm, R. Murphy 2235 25 349.0 67
GuernseyFulton, Blow, Newman, Knight, Lainé, Bisson 2200 25 345.0 68
JordanS. Bukhari, Bakr, M. Bukhari, Kilani, Arafat 2200 25 323.5 69
CyprusMartidis, Riza, Aristotelous, Hadjiyiannis, Kleopas 2200 24½ 356.0 70
KenyaKanani, Adam, Yongo, Donde, Kinyanjui, S. Oulo 2200 24½ 318.5 71
NigeriaOmuku, Agusto, O. Faseyitan, E. Awobokun, O. Ayoola 2200 23½ 361.0 72
Faroe IslandsZiska, Apol, Vilhelm, Midjord, Joensen 2200 24½ 355.0 73
AndorraSantamaría Mas, Clua Ballague, J. A. Pantebre Martínez, De la Casa, Gómez Abad, B. Pantebre Martínez 2200 23½ 345.5 74
LibyaM. Hingary, Tawengi, El-Mejbri, Benohman, Ali Dreibika, Talha 2200 23½ 344.0 75
British Virgin IslandsHook, Jarecki, Georges, Solomon 2216 23½ 326.0 76
BermudaWojciechowski, Harris, Radford, Chudleigh, Dill, Tee 2200 23 326.0 77
ZaireDe Vries, Ciezkowski, Buysschaert, Callens, Claeys 2200 23 319.5 78
MonacoCaruana, Negro, Girault, Lepine, Bernard, Angles d'Auriac 2200 20½ 79
Papua New GuineaB. Whyte, F. Conejares, Hothersall, Markov, Marko, Puru 2200 19½ 80
UgandaZabasajja, O. Musasira, Mungyereza, Kisubi, Kamuhangire, Kiiza 2200 17½ 81
AngolaFonseca de Oliveira, Adão Domingos, De Meireles, Ferreira, V. Marques Alves, Saraiva de Carvalho 2200 13½
Individual medals
- Board 1:
William Hook 11½/14 = 82.1% - Board 2:
Yrjö Rantanen 9½/13 = 73.1% - Board 3:
José Félix Villarreal 9/11 = 81.8% - Board 4:
István Csom 7/9 = 77.8% - 1st reserve:
Yury Balashov (7½/10) and
Bjørn Tiller (6/8) = 75.0% - 2nd reserve:
Predrag Nikolić 6½/8 = 81.3%
Best game
The 'Best Game' prize went to Jonathan Mestel (England) - Nils Gustaf Renman (Sweden) from round 13.
Women's event
42 teams took part in the women's event which for the first time was played as a 14-round Swiss system tournament. In the event of a draw, the tie-break was decided first by using the Buchholz system, then by match points.
Like the open event, the women's tournament proved to be a tight affair between the Soviet Union and Hungary, with the Soviet team, captained by world champion Chiburdanidze, winning by half a point. Poland took the bronze.
# Country Players Average
ratingPoints Buchholz MP Head-
to-head1
Soviet UnionChiburdanidze, Gaprindashvili, Alexandria, Ioseliani 2370 32½ 2
HungaryVerőci-Petronić, Ivánka, Porubszky-Angyalosine, Csonkics 2232 32 3
PolandEreńska-Radzewska, Szmacińska, Wiese, Brustman 2148 26½ 4
RomaniaPolihroniade, Baumstark, Nuțu, Mureșan 2200 26 5
West GermanyFischdick, B. Hund, Laakmann, I. Hund 2152 24 339.5 6
ChinaLiu Shilan, Wu Mingqian, An Yangfeng 1843 24 338.5 7
IsraelGlaz, Kristol, Podrazhanskaya, Nudelman 2113 23½ 339.5 8
YugoslaviaMarković, Dragašević, Štadler, Prokopović 2142 23½ 333.5 9
BulgariaLematschko, Bojadjieva, Voyska, Angelova 2138 23 340.0 10
BrazilAbreu Carvalho, Chaves, Cardoso, Longo 1850 23 300.5 11
SpainGarcía Vicente, Ferrer Lucas, García Padrón, Cuevas Rodríguez 2122 22½ 331.0 12
ArgentinaSoppe, Arias, Justo, Vázquez 1913 22½ 314.0 13
United StatesSavereide, Crotto, Haring, Frenkel 2092 22 334.0 14
EnglandMiles, Jackson, Caldwell, Whitehead 2160 22 332.5 15
FranceMerlini, Ruck-Petit, Schall, Legendre 1942 22 312.5 16
AustraliaMott-McGrath, Hawkesworth, Slavotinek, Martin 1870 22 302.5 17
NetherlandsVreeken, Belle, van Parreren, Bruinenberg 2092 21½ 323.0 18
ColombiaGuggenberger, Leyva, Maya de Alzate, Patiño 1888 21½ 311.0 19
CanadaShterenberg, Roos, Das, Day 1938 21½ 305.0 15 2½ 20
ItalyPernici, Gramignani, Merciai, Deghenghi 1935 21½ 305.0 15 ½ 21
SwedenBorisova-Ornstein, Aatolainen, Nyberg, Samuelsson 1962 21½ 297.5 22
IcelandKristinsdóttir, Tráinsdóttir, Friðþjófsdóttir, Norðdahl 1800 21½ 279.0 23
Dominican RepublicGarcía Portes, A. R. Marino, Cuevas 1800 21½ 263.5 24
GreeceFouriki, A. Efremoglou, Petraki, K. Mihailidou 1800 21½ 253.0 25
IndiaJ. Khadilkar, R. Khadilkar, V. Khadilkar, Thipsay 2075 21 305.5 26
IrelandCronin, Delaney, O'Siochrú, Connolly 1818 21 287.5 27
WalesGarwell, Evans, James, Brunker 1930 21 277.0 28
ScotlandHindle, Elder, Jackson, Houstoun 1817 20½ 286.0 29
New ZealandFoster, Stretch, Brightwell, Flower 1800 20½ 239.0 30
DenmarkThygesen, Haahr, Berg, Larsen 1875 20 291.5 31
SwitzerlandVeprek, Bürgin, Schladetzky, Meyer 1907 20 279.0 32
MexicoCamps de Ocampo, Salazar, Escondrillas 1827 20 233.0 33
AustriaHennings, Hausner, Samt, Kattinger 1938 19½ 291.0 34
FinlandSirkka-Liisa Landry, Palasto, Laitinen, Pihlajamäki 1900 19½ 283.0 35
EgyptBasta Sohair, Izmael, A. Samy Maha, Ibrahim 1800 19½ 234.0 36
JapanTakahashi, Watai, Nakagawa 1817 19 283.0 37
BelgiumCareme, De Corte, Schumacher, Loo 1800 19 235.0 38
MaltaGrech-Sollars, Sciortino, Lentini, Fiott 1800 15 39
Puerto RicoRodríguez Ramírez, Irizarry Adequin, Latorre Vélez, Martorell Martínez 1800 14½ 40
United Arab EmiratesAhmad, N. Saleh, Karim, Hassan 1800 13½ 41
United States Virgin IslandsWidmer, Quenzel, Grumer 1800 4 42
NigeriaIsong, Olusola 1800 1
Individual medals
- Board 1:
Maia Chiburdanidze 11½ / 13 = 88.5% - Board 2:
Nona Gaprindashvili 9½ / 12 = 79.2% - Board 3:
Daniela Nuţu 7½ / 10 = 75.0% - Reserve:
Nana Ioseliani 7½ / 9 = 83.3%
References
- ↑ Although commonly referred to as the men's division, this section is open to both male and female players.
- ↑ "Kaszparov kereken 40 éve krampuszt adott a magyaroknak Mikulásra". Magyar Nemzet (in Hungarian). 2020-12-06. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
- 24th Chess Olympiad: La Valletta 1980 OlimpBase
