24th Chess Olympiad
![](../I/m/Chess_Olympiad_Valletta_1980.jpg)
The 24th 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 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.
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 1 Soviet Union
Karpov, Polugaevsky, Tal, Geller, Balashov, Kasparov 2666 39 449.5 2 Hungary
Portisch, Ribli, Sax, Csom, Faragó, Pintér 2593 39 448.0 3 Yugoslavia
Ljubojević, Ivkov, Parma, Kurajica, Marjanović, Nikolić 2541 35
![](../I/m/Chess_Olympiad_Valletta_1980_game_hall.gif)
# Country Average
ratingPoints Buchholz MP 4 United States
2514 34 5 Czechoslovakia
2530 33 6 England
2520 32½ 453.0 7 Poland
2419 32½ 424.0 8 Israel
2474 32 439.0 9 Canada
2385 32 410.5 10 Netherlands
2533 31½ 449.5 11 Romania
2503 31½ 437.5 12 Sweden
2473 31½ 434.0 13 Cuba
2468 31½ 424.5 14 Argentina
2454 31 439.0 15 Philippines
2390 31 430.5 16 Denmark
2408 31 427.5 17 France
2381 31 415.0 18 Wales
2325 31 395.0 19 Bulgaria
2473 30½ 454.0 20 Finland
2401 30½ 431.0 21 Austria
2381 30½ 414.0 22 Italy
2334 30½ 409.0 23 Iceland
2474 30 434.5 24 Norway
2369 30 421.5 25 Germany
2451 30 420.0 26 Spain
2425 30 416.5 27 Greece
2365 30 402.5 28 Venezuela
2311 30 399.5 29 Brazil
2374 30 397.0 30 Syria
2235 30 394.5 31 Switzerland
2391 29½ 32 Colombia
2423 29 419.0 33 Albania
2319 29 415.5 34 Australia
2361 29 410.5 35 India
2325 29 410.0 36 Chile
2388 29 408.5 37 Mexico
2359 29 396.0 38 China
2380 28½ 411.5 39 Portugal
2351 28½ 406.0 40 Belgium
2233 28½ 395.0 41 Ireland
2255 28½ 391.5 42 Thailand
2225 28½ 390.0 43 Pakistan
2238 28½ 372.5 44 Dominican Republic
2258 28 399.0 45 Indonesia
2354 28 397.5 46 Mongolia
2328 27½ 402.5 47 Paraguay
2255 27½ 387.0 48 Turkey
2259 27½ 384.5 49 Malaysia
2200 27½ 378.0 50 Trinidad and Tobago
2200 27½ 370.5 51 Scotland
2291 27 423.5 52 Japan
2213 27 373.0 53 Guyana
2203 26½ 369.0 13 54 Luxembourg
2230 26½ 369.0 12 55 Algeria
2200 26½ 351.0 56 New Zealand
2336 26 401.0 57 Lebanon
2243 26 389.5 58 Tunisia
2279 26 387.5 59 Egypt
2200 25½ 391.0 60 United Arab Emirates
2200 25½ 379.0 61 Malta
2226 25½ 376.5 62 Zimbabwe
2200 25½ 369.5 63 Puerto Rico
2201 25½ 357.0 - Malta "B"
2200 25½ 355.5 64 Jamaica
2200 25½ 348.5 65 United States Virgin Islands
2233 25½ 333.0 66 Hong Kong
2235 25 349.0 67 Guernsey
2200 25 345.0 68 Jordan
2200 25 323.5 69 Cyprus
2200 24½ 356.0 70 Kenya
2200 24½ 318.5 71 Nigeria
2200 23½ 361.0 72 Faroe Islands
2200 24½ 355.0 73 Andorra
2200 23½ 345.5 74 Libya
2200 23½ 344.0 75 British Virgin Islands
2216 23½ 326.0 76 Bermuda
2200 23 326.0 77 Zaire
2200 23 319.5 78 Monaco
2200 20½ 79 Papua New Guinea
2200 19½ 80 Uganda
2200 17½ 81 Angola
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 results
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 1 Soviet Union
Chiburdanidze, Gaprindashvili, Alexandria, Ioseliani 2370 32½ 2 Hungary
Verőci-Petronić, Ivánka, Porubszky-Angyalosine, Csonkics 2232 32 3 Poland
Ereńska-Radzewska, Szmacińska, Wiese, Brustman 2148 26½ # Country Average
ratingPoints Buchholz MP Head-
to-head4 Romania
2200 26 5 West Germany
2152 24 339.5 6 China
1843 24 338.5 7 Israel
2113 23½ 339.5 8 Yugoslavia
2142 23½ 333.5 9 Bulgaria
2138 23 340.0 10 Brazil
1850 23 300.5 11 Spain
2122 22½ 331.0 12 Argentina
1913 22½ 314.0 13 United States
2092 22 334.0 14 England
2160 22 332.5 15 France
1942 22 312.5 16 Australia
1870 22 302.5 17 Netherlands
2092 21½ 323.0 18 Colombia
1888 21½ 311.0 19 Canada
1938 21½ 305.0 15 2½ 20 Italy
1935 21½ 305.0 15 ½ 21 Sweden
1962 21½ 297.5 22 Iceland
1800 21½ 279.0 23 Dominican Republic
1800 21½ 263.5 24 Greece
1800 21½ 253.0 25 India
2075 21 305.5 26 Ireland
1818 21 287.5 27 Wales
1930 21 277.0 28 Scotland
1817 20½ 286.0 29 New Zealand
1800 20½ 239.0 30 Denmark
1875 20 291.5 31 Switzerland
1907 20 279.0 32 Mexico
1827 20 233.0 33 Austria
1938 19½ 291.0 34 Finland
1900 19½ 283.0 35 Egypt
1800 19½ 234.0 36 Japan
1817 19 283.0 37 Belgium
1800 19 235.0 38 Malta
1800 15 39 Puerto Rico
1800 14½ 40 United Arab Emirates
1800 13½ 41 United States Virgin Islands
1800 4 42 Nigeria
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.
- 24th Chess Olympiad: La Valletta 1980 OlimpBase