24th Chess Olympiad
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.
![](../I/m/Chess_Olympiad_Valletta_1980.jpg)
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 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
![](../I/m/Chess_Olympiad_Valletta_1980_game_hall.gif)
# Country Average
ratingPoints Buchholz MP 4 United States2514 34 5 Czechoslovakia2530 33 6 England2520 32½ 453.0 7 Poland2419 32½ 424.0 8 Israel2474 32 439.0 9 Canada2385 32 410.5 10 Netherlands2533 31½ 449.5 11 Romania2503 31½ 437.5 12 Sweden2473 31½ 434.0 13 Cuba2468 31½ 424.5 14 Argentina2454 31 439.0 15 Philippines2390 31 430.5 16 Denmark2408 31 427.5 17 France2381 31 415.0 18 Wales2325 31 395.0 19 Bulgaria2473 30½ 454.0 20 Finland2401 30½ 431.0 21 Austria2381 30½ 414.0 22 Italy2334 30½ 409.0 23 Iceland2474 30 434.5 24 Norway2369 30 421.5 25 Germany2451 30 420.0 26 Spain2425 30 416.5 27 Greece2365 30 402.5 28 Venezuela2311 30 399.5 29 Brazil2374 30 397.0 30 Syria2235 30 394.5 31 Switzerland2391 29½ 32 Colombia2423 29 419.0 33 Albania2319 29 415.5 34 Australia2361 29 410.5 35 India2325 29 410.0 36 Chile2388 29 408.5 37 Mexico2359 29 396.0 38 China2380 28½ 411.5 39 Portugal2351 28½ 406.0 40 Belgium2233 28½ 395.0 41 Ireland2255 28½ 391.5 42 Thailand2225 28½ 390.0 43 Pakistan2238 28½ 372.5 44 Dominican Republic2258 28 399.0 45 Indonesia2354 28 397.5 46 Mongolia2328 27½ 402.5 47 Paraguay2255 27½ 387.0 48 Turkey2259 27½ 384.5 49 Malaysia2200 27½ 378.0 50 Trinidad and Tobago2200 27½ 370.5 51 Scotland2291 27 423.5 52 Japan2213 27 373.0 53 Guyana2203 26½ 369.0 13 54 Luxembourg2230 26½ 369.0 12 55 Algeria2200 26½ 351.0 56 New Zealand2336 26 401.0 57 Lebanon2243 26 389.5 58 Tunisia2279 26 387.5 59 Egypt2200 25½ 391.0 60 United Arab Emirates2200 25½ 379.0 61 Malta2226 25½ 376.5 62 Zimbabwe2200 25½ 369.5 63 Puerto Rico2201 25½ 357.0 - Malta "B"2200 25½ 355.5 64 Jamaica2200 25½ 348.5 65 United States Virgin Islands2233 25½ 333.0 66 Hong Kong2235 25 349.0 67 Guernsey2200 25 345.0 68 Jordan2200 25 323.5 69 Cyprus2200 24½ 356.0 70 Kenya2200 24½ 318.5 71 Nigeria2200 23½ 361.0 72 Faroe Islands2200 24½ 355.0 73 Andorra2200 23½ 345.5 74 Libya2200 23½ 344.0 75 British Virgin Islands2216 23½ 326.0 76 Bermuda2200 23 326.0 77 Zaire2200 23 319.5 78 Monaco2200 20½ 79 Papua New Guinea2200 19½ 80 Uganda2200 17½ 81 Angola2200 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 UnionChiburdanidze, Gaprindashvili, Alexandria, Ioseliani 2370 32½ 2 HungaryVerőci-Petronić, Ivánka, Porubszky-Angyalosine, Csonkics 2232 32 3 PolandEreńska-Radzewska, Szmacińska, Wiese, Brustman 2148 26½ # Country Average
ratingPoints Buchholz MP Head-
to-head4 Romania2200 26 5 West Germany2152 24 339.5 6 China1843 24 338.5 7 Israel2113 23½ 339.5 8 Yugoslavia2142 23½ 333.5 9 Bulgaria2138 23 340.0 10 Brazil1850 23 300.5 11 Spain2122 22½ 331.0 12 Argentina1913 22½ 314.0 13 United States2092 22 334.0 14 England2160 22 332.5 15 France1942 22 312.5 16 Australia1870 22 302.5 17 Netherlands2092 21½ 323.0 18 Colombia1888 21½ 311.0 19 Canada1938 21½ 305.0 15 2½ 20 Italy1935 21½ 305.0 15 ½ 21 Sweden1962 21½ 297.5 22 Iceland1800 21½ 279.0 23 Dominican Republic1800 21½ 263.5 24 Greece1800 21½ 253.0 25 India2075 21 305.5 26 Ireland1818 21 287.5 27 Wales1930 21 277.0 28 Scotland1817 20½ 286.0 29 New Zealand1800 20½ 239.0 30 Denmark1875 20 291.5 31 Switzerland1907 20 279.0 32 Mexico1827 20 233.0 33 Austria1938 19½ 291.0 34 Finland1900 19½ 283.0 35 Egypt1800 19½ 234.0 36 Japan1817 19 283.0 37 Belgium1800 19 235.0 38 Malta1800 15 39 Puerto Rico1800 14½ 40 United Arab Emirates1800 13½ 41 United States Virgin Islands1800 4 42 Nigeria1800 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