26th Chess Olympiad
# 26th Chess Olympiad

The 26th Chess Olympiad (Greek: Η 26η Σκακιστική Ολυμπιάδα, I 26i Skakistikí Olympiáda), 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 18 and December 5, 1984, in Thessaloniki, Greece.

In the home country of the Olympic movement, it was business as usual. The Soviet Union, led by Beliavsky, won their third consecutive gold medals (and 15th in total), well ahead of England (helped by a Nunn in top form) and the United States. This dominance happened even in the absence of Karpov and Kasparov who were in the midst of their marathon match. In fact, for the first time in Olympic history, the Soviet team didn't feature a single world champion – past, present or future.

The only champion present in Thessaloniki was Boris Spassky who had defected and now represented France. His performance helped the French team to an unprecedented 7th-place finish, even though he drew 12 of his 14 games – an Olympic record.

After the successful 26th Olympiad in Thessaloniki in 1984, FIDE 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.

## Open event

There were 87 nations playing in a 14-round Swiss system tournament. To make for an even number of teams, the Greek 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 #CountryPlayersAverage ratingPoints 1 Soviet UnionBeliavsky, Polugaevsky, Vaganian, Tukmakov, Yusupov, Sokolov261041 2 EnglandMiles, Nunn, Speelman, Chandler, Mestel, Short255637 3 United StatesDzindzichashvili, Kavalek, Christiansen, Browne, Alburt, De Firmian255335
    #CountryAverage ratingPointsBuchholz 4 Hungary259634½ 5 Romania247033 6 West Germany251632½445.0 7 France248532½442.0 8 Yugoslavia256132457.5 9 Bulgaria247032447.5 10 Netherlands257432446.0 11 Cuba247332444.5 12 China243332429.0 13 Israel246832425.5 14 Argentina240132423.5 15 Iceland251431½450.0 16 Philippines242631½425.0 17 Czechoslovakia255531435.0 18 Denmark245831420.5 19 Brazil241031418.5 20 Canada242331412.0 21 Poland244930½418.0 22 Australia242630½416.0 23 Chile242330½412.0 24 Scotland232530½403.0 25 Sweden250330454.5 26 Colombia240930431.0 27 Spain245130430.5 28 Italy240630421.0 29 Indonesia239830413.0 30 Norway243830411.5 31 Greece239930408.0 32 Portugal234930407.5 33 India240929½420.0 34 Turkey236529½396.0 35 United Arab Emirates228629½389.5 36 Wales231329½382.0 37 Morocco220029½364.0 38 Austria238029416.5 39 Finland243829416.0 40 Belgium232429414.5 41 Albania233329410.0 42 Singapore232429407.0 43 Mexico233029402.0 44 New Zealand229329392.0 45 Greece "B"231829379.0 46 Egypt224928½403.0 47 Dominican Republic229128½396.5 48 Tunisia227828 49 Switzerland238527½412.5 50 Malaysia228527½401.0 51 Sri Lanka228327½392.5 52 Puerto Rico223627½380.5 53 Pakistan225527388.5 54 Hong Kong227427375.5 55 Iraq220027367.0 56 Ireland223026½395.5 57 Paraguay227526½392.5 58 Algeria220126½384.5 59 Cyprus222626½368.5 60 Uganda220326½332.5 61 Thailand227126389.5 62 Bangladesh228026388.5 63 Faroe Islands222926382.5 64 Andorra220326370.0 65 Malta223026364.0 66 Lebanon222626362.5 67 Honduras220026355.5 68 Luxembourg221525½373.0 69 Bahrain220125½314.0 70 Zimbabwe223425383.0 71 Trinidad and Tobago220325368.0 72 Nigeria220125355.0 73 Suriname220025346.5 74 Libya220025326.0 75 Kenya220125324.5 76 Jordan220324½351.5 77 Jamaica220524½333.0 78 Angola220024355.5 79 Guernsey and Jersey220124352.0 80 British Virgin Islands221824342.0 81 Papua New Guinea220324331.5 82 Japan220023½ 83 United States Virgin Islands221521½ 84 Monaco220121 85 Bermuda220817½ 86 Mali220017 87 San Marino220016 88 Palestine220013

### Individual medals

For the first time, in addition to the performance awards on each board, a special award was given to the best overall performance rating.

* Performance rating: John Nunn 2868
* Board 1: Craig Van Tilbury 9½ / 11 = 86.4%
* Board 2: John Nunn 10 / 11 = 90.9%
* Board 3: Rafael Vaganian 8½ / 10 = 85.0%
* Board 4: Pricha Sinprayoon 8 / 10 = 80.0%
* 1st reserve: Dewperkash Gajadin, József Pintér, Javier Ochoa de Echagüen, and Jonathan Mestel 7 / 9 = 77.8%
* 2nd reserve: Gorden Comben and Marios Schinis 7½ / 10 = 75.0%

## Women's event

50 nations took part, and with the Greek hosts also fielding a "B" side, the total number of teams came to 51. 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 was dominated by the Soviet Union, captained by world champion Chiburdanidze, who won the gold medals by an impressive 5½ points. Bulgaria and Romania took silver and bronze, respectively.

    #CountryPlayersAverage ratingPoints 1 Soviet UnionChiburdanidze, Levitina, Gaprindashvili, Semenova233532 2 BulgariaVoiska, Gocheva, Chilingirova, Savova210527½ 3 RomaniaMureșan, Polihroniade, Nuțu, Olărașu218027
    #CountryAverage ratingPointsBuchholz 4 West Germany223226340.5 5 China209826335.0 6 Hungary221825 7 Poland222724½345.5 8 England213724½336.0 9 Yugoslavia216224340.5 10 Spain205524330.0 11 Netherlands207523½346.5 12 Switzerland207223½316.5 13 United States207723½316.0 14 Cuba209223½303.0 15 Sweden214323 16 India201822½ 17 Canada202022316.5 18 France198522308.5 19 Brazil196322303.5 20 Scotland190822299.5 21 Portugal180022250.0 22 Colombia191321½311.0 23 Wales195321½301.5 24 Denmark185521½288.0 25 Dominican Republic180021½257.5 26 Norway180021½244.5 27 Greece198821316.5 28 Iceland187321301.5 29 Italy190321292.5 30 Austria189321283.5 31 Finland190021281.0 32 Malaysia180021260.5 33 Indonesia185520½300.5 34 Australia192720½296.0 35 Argentina195520½292.0 36 Greece "B"185320½269.5 37 Belgium180020½267.0 38 Ireland180020½245.0 39 Mexico182020286.0 40 New Zealand180320226.5 41 Japan191519½274.5 42 Turkey189219½265.0 43 Iraq180019½218.0 44 Egypt182818½268.5 45 Guatemala180018½253.0 46 United Arab Emirates180016½ 47 Hong Kong180015½ 48 Trinidad and Tobago183515 49 Jamaica180010 50 Zimbabwe18008½ 51 United States Virgin Islands18003½

### Individual medals

* Performance rating: Lidia Semenova 2505
* Board 1: Pia Cramling 10½ / 13 = 80.0%
* Board 2: Céline Roos 9½ / 13 = 73.1%
* Board 3: Jussara Chaves 9 / 10 = 90.0%
* Reserve: Lidia Semenova 9½ / 10 = 95.0%
