
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 
 rating- Points - Buchholz - MP - 1  Soviet Union Soviet Union- Karpov, Polugaevsky, Tal, Geller, Balashov, Kasparov - 2666 - 39 - 449.5 - 2  Hungary Hungary- Portisch, Ribli, Sax, Csom, Faragó, Pintér - 2593 - 39 - 448.0 - 3 .svg.png.webp) Yugoslavia Yugoslavia- Ljubojević, Ivkov, Parma, Kurajica, Marjanović, Nikolić - 2541 - 35 - 4  United States United States- Alburt, Seirawan, Christiansen, Tarjan, de Firmian, Shamkovich - 2514 - 34 - 5  Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia- Hort, Smejkal, Jansa, Plachetka, Ftáčnik, Lechtýnský - 2530 - 33 - 6  England England- Miles, Stean, Nunn, Speelman, Keene, Mestel - 2520 - 32½ - 453.0 - 7  Poland Poland- Sznapik, W. Schmidt, Kuligowski, Bielczyk, Pokojowczyk, Przewoźnik - 2419 - 32½ - 424.0 - 8  Israel Israel- Liberzon, Birnboim, Y. Gruenfeld, Murey, Kagan, D. Bernstein - 2474 - 32 - 439.0 - 9 .svg.png.webp) Canada Canada- Hébert, Day, Yanofsky, Vukadinov, Vranesic, Allan - 2385 - 32 - 410.5 - 10  Netherlands Netherlands- Timman, Sosonko, Ree, Langeweg, van der Wiel, Ligterink - 2533 - 31½ - 449.5 - 11 .svg.png.webp) Romania Romania- Gheorghiu, Ciocâltea, Șubă, Ghindă, Ghițescu, Stoica - 2503 - 31½ - 437.5 - 12  Sweden Sweden- Andersson, L. Karlsson, Schneider, Schüssler, Wedberg, Renman - 2473 - 31½ - 434.0 - 13  Cuba Cuba- García Gonzáles, García Martínez, Rodríguez Céspedes, Nogueiras, Hernández, Vera González - 2468 - 31½ - 424.5 - 14  Argentina Argentina- Quinteros, Rubinetti, Debarnot, Schweber, Giardelli, Hase - 2454 - 31 - 439.0 - 15  Philippines Philippines- Torre, Mascariñas, R. Rodríguez, Pacis, Bernal, Ramos - 2390 - 31 - 430.5 - 16  Denmark Denmark- Jakobsen, Høi, Fedder, Mortensen, Øst-Hansen, Pedersen - 2408 - 31 - 427.5 - 17  France France- Haïk, Giffard, Seret, L. Roos, Goldenberg, D. Roos - 2381 - 31 - 415.0 - 18  Wales Wales- Williams, Cooper, Hutchings, Jones, Johnston - 2325 - 31 - 395.0 - 19 .svg.png.webp) Bulgaria Bulgaria- Ermenkov, Tringov, Radulov, Georgiev, Popov, Spasov - 2473 - 30½ - 454.0 - 20  Finland Finland- Westerinen, Rantanen, Hurme, Ristoja, Mäki, Pirttimäki - 2401 - 30½ - 431.0 - 21  Austria Austria- Robatsch, Hölzl, Herzog, Roth, Wittmann, Wagner - 2381 - 30½ - 414.0 - 22  Italy Italy- Tóth, Zichichi, Taruffi, Passerotti, Trabattoni, Iannaccone - 2334 - 30½ - 409.0 - 23  Iceland Iceland- F. Ólafsson, H. Ólafsson, Árnason, Pétursson, Hjartarson, Jóhannsson - 2474 - 30 - 434.5 - 24  Norway Norway- Helmers, Heim, Hoen, Moen, Tiller, Sande - 2369 - 30 - 421.5 - 25  Germany Germany- Pfleger, Hecht, Borik, Lobron, Hermann, Kunsztowicz - 2451 - 30 - 420.0 - 26 .svg.png.webp) Spain Spain- Díez del Corral, Bellón López, Pomar, Rivas Pastor, Sanz Alonso, Gómez Esteban - 2425 - 30 - 416.5 - 27  Greece Greece- Makropoulos, Skembris, Skalkotas, Pountsas, Natsis, Trikaliotis - 2365 - 30 - 402.5 - 28 .svg.png.webp) Venezuela Venezuela- Ostos, Fernández, Palacios, Dounia, Escalante - 2311 - 30 - 399.5 - 29 .svg.png.webp) Brazil Brazil- Sunye Neto, Carvalho, Lucena, van Riemsdijk, Câmara, Gentil - 2374 - 30 - 397.0 - 30  Syria Syria- Catalan, Hakki, Beitar, Arafeh, Kassabe - 2235 - 30 - 394.5 - 31 .svg.png.webp) Switzerland Switzerland- Hug, Wirthensohn, Huss, Hammer, Züger, Franzoni - 2391 - 29½ - 32  Colombia Colombia- García, Zapata, Castro, Cuartas, Acosta, González Rodríguez - 2423 - 29 - 419.0 - 33 .svg.png.webp) Albania Albania- Muço, Adhami, Pustina, Zadrima, Qendro, Karkanaqe - 2319 - 29 - 415.5 - 34 .svg.png.webp) Australia Australia- Rogers, Jamieson, Johansen, Fuller, Shaw, West - 2361 - 29 - 410.5 - 35  India India- Ravisekhar, Ravikumar, Khan, Meetei, Hassan - 2325 - 29 - 410.0 - 36  Chile Chile- Morovic, Campos Moreno, Cifuentes, Silva Sánchez, Donoso Velasco, Velasquez Ojeda - 2388 - 29 - 408.5 - 37  Mexico Mexico- Frey Beckman, Campos López, Félix Villarreal, Maya, Ocampo, Navarro - 2359 - 29 - 396.0 - 38  China China- Liu Wenzhe, Qi Jingxuan, Liang Jinrong, Li Zunian, Tang Hongjian - 2380 - 28½ - 411.5 - 39  Portugal Portugal- Silva, Fernandes, J. Santos, L. Santos, Durão - 2351 - 28½ - 406.0 - 40 .svg.png.webp) Belgium Belgium- Meulders, De Bruycker, Deleyn, Goormachtigh, Defize, Schumacher - 2233 - 28½ - 395.0 - 41  Ireland Ireland- Delaney, Dunne, Doyle, Ludgate, Curtin, McCarthy - 2255 - 28½ - 391.5 - 42  Thailand Thailand- Chaivichit, Sinprayoon, Trisa-Ard, Darakorn - 2225 - 28½ - 390.0 - 43  Pakistan Pakistan- Mirza, Farooqui, Zafar, Chaudry, Ahmad, Rana - 2238 - 28½ - 372.5 - 44  Dominican Republic Dominican Republic- Álvarez, Abreu, Gonzáles, Mateo, Pérez Nivar - 2258 - 28 - 399.0 - 45  Indonesia Indonesia- Handoko, Suradiradja, Arif, Ardiansyah, Gunawan, Kusnadi - 2354 - 28 - 397.5 - 46 .svg.png.webp) Mongolia Mongolia- Myagmarsuren, Tumurbator, Jigjidsuren, Lhagva - 2328 - 27½ - 402.5 - 47 .svg.png.webp) Paraguay Paraguay- Gamarra Cáceres, Ferreira, Bogda, Santacruz - 2255 - 27½ - 387.0 - 48  Turkey Turkey- İpek, Gümrükçüoğlu, Öney, Süer, Pamuk - 2259 - 27½ - 384.5 - 49  Malaysia Malaysia- Liew Chee Meng, Foo Lum Choon, Chang Hing Wah, Cheah Woon Leng, Abdul Rahman - 2200 - 27½ - 378.0 - 50  Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago- Lee, Raphael, Duchesne, Lee, Mohipp, Ramon-Fortune - 2200 - 27½ - 370.5 - 51  Scotland Scotland- Pritchett, Swanson, Upton, McNab, Norris, Bonner - 2291 - 27 - 423.5 - 52 .svg.png.webp) Japan Japan- Gonda, Takemoto, T. Shiraki, Sakurai, T. Hirata, Sugimoto - 2213 - 27 - 373.0 - 53  Guyana Guyana- M. Broomes, G. Broomes, Wharton, R. Austin, J. Macedo - 2203 - 26½ - 369.0 - 13 - 54  Luxembourg Luxembourg- Haas, Feller, Stull, Schammo, Specchio, Kirsch - 2230 - 26½ - 369.0 - 12 - 55  Algeria Algeria- Baghli, Cherrad, Slimani, Kharchi, R. Bounedjar, Belamine - 2200 - 26½ - 351.0 - 56  New Zealand New Zealand- Chandler, Sarapu, Small, Aptekar, Anderson - 2336 - 26 - 401.0 - 57  Lebanon Lebanon- Kouatly, Sursock, Abouchaaya, Khechen, N. Saade - 2243 - 26 - 389.5 - 58 .svg.png.webp) Tunisia Tunisia- Bouaziz, Belkadi, Hmadi, Ouechtati, Doghri, L. Hamzaoui - 2279 - 26 - 387.5 - 59  Egypt Egypt- Soliman, Fatin, El-Said, Afifi, Sadek, Hamed - 2200 - 25½ - 391.0 - 60  United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates- N. A. Said, S. A. Said, N. M. Said, Ghubash, Qasim, Saleh - 2200 - 25½ - 379.0 - 61  Malta Malta- Attard, Camilleri, Gouder, Sollars, Gauci, G. Borg - 2226 - 25½ - 376.5 - 62  Zimbabwe Zimbabwe- Donnely, Barlow, V. Strugo, Levy, Kuwaza, T. Klement - 2200 - 25½ - 369.5 - 63 .svg.png.webp) Puerto Rico Puerto Rico- M. Colón Romero, Ochoa, Moraza Choisme, Vázquez Ramos, Sosa, Falcón - 2201 - 25½ - 357.0 - -  Malta "B" Malta "B"- Cilia Vincenti, Vella Gera, Psaila, Thake, Vasallo, A. Borg - 2200 - 25½ - 355.5 - 64  Jamaica Jamaica- Wheeler, Powell, A. Niederhoffer, Cameron - 2200 - 25½ - 348.5 - 65  United States Virgin Islands United States Virgin Islands- Van Tilbury, R. Grim, Grumer, Turner, Chiu Yum San, D. Delzell - 2233 - 25½ - 333.0 - 66 .svg.png.webp) Hong Kong Hong Kong- Kan Wai Shui, Lin, Chao, Luk Luen Wah, M. Camm, R. Murphy - 2235 - 25 - 349.0 - 67 .svg.png.webp) Guernsey Guernsey- Fulton, Blow, Newman, Knight, Lainé, Bisson - 2200 - 25 - 345.0 - 68  Jordan Jordan- S. Bukhari, Bakr, M. Bukhari, Kilani, Arafat - 2200 - 25 - 323.5 - 69 .svg.png.webp) Cyprus Cyprus- Martidis, Riza, Aristotelous, Hadjiyiannis, Kleopas - 2200 - 24½ - 356.0 - 70  Kenya Kenya- Kanani, Adam, Yongo, Donde, Kinyanjui, S. Oulo - 2200 - 24½ - 318.5 - 71  Nigeria Nigeria- Omuku, Agusto, O. Faseyitan, E. Awobokun, O. Ayoola - 2200 - 23½ - 361.0 - 72  Faroe Islands Faroe Islands- Ziska, Apol, Vilhelm, Midjord, Joensen - 2200 - 24½ - 355.0 - 73  Andorra Andorra- Santamaría Mas, Clua Ballague, J. A. Pantebre Martínez, De la Casa, Gómez Abad, B. Pantebre Martínez - 2200 - 23½ - 345.5 - 74 .svg.png.webp) Libya Libya- M. Hingary, Tawengi, El-Mejbri, Benohman, Ali Dreibika, Talha - 2200 - 23½ - 344.0 - 75  British Virgin Islands British Virgin Islands- Hook, Jarecki, Georges, Solomon - 2216 - 23½ - 326.0 - 76  Bermuda Bermuda- Wojciechowski, Harris, Radford, Chudleigh, Dill, Tee - 2200 - 23 - 326.0 - 77 .svg.png.webp) Zaire Zaire- De Vries, Ciezkowski, Buysschaert, Callens, Claeys - 2200 - 23 - 319.5 - 78  Monaco Monaco- Caruana, Negro, Girault, Lepine, Bernard, Angles d'Auriac - 2200 - 20½ - 79  Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea- B. Whyte, F. Conejares, Hothersall, Markov, Marko, Puru - 2200 - 19½ - 80  Uganda Uganda- Zabasajja, O. Musasira, Mungyereza, Kisubi, Kamuhangire, Kiiza - 2200 - 17½ - 81  Angola Angola- Fonseca 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% William Hook 11½/14 = 82.1%
- Board 2:  Yrjö Rantanen 9½/13 = 73.1% Yrjö Rantanen 9½/13 = 73.1%
- Board 3:  José Félix Villarreal 9/11 = 81.8% José Félix Villarreal 9/11 = 81.8%
- Board 4:  István Csom 7/9 = 77.8% István Csom 7/9 = 77.8%
- 1st reserve:  Yury Balashov (7½/10) and Yury Balashov (7½/10) and Bjørn Tiller (6/8) = 75.0% Bjørn Tiller (6/8) = 75.0%
- 2nd reserve: .svg.png.webp) Predrag Nikolić 6½/8 = 81.3% 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 
 rating- Points - Buchholz - MP - Head- 
 to-head- 1  Soviet Union Soviet Union- Chiburdanidze, Gaprindashvili, Alexandria, Ioseliani - 2370 - 32½ - 2  Hungary Hungary- Verőci-Petronić, Ivánka, Porubszky-Angyalosine, Csonkics - 2232 - 32 - 3  Poland Poland- Ereńska-Radzewska, Szmacińska, Wiese, Brustman - 2148 - 26½ - 4 .svg.png.webp) Romania Romania- Polihroniade, Baumstark, Nuțu, Mureșan - 2200 - 26 - 5  West Germany West Germany- Fischdick, B. Hund, Laakmann, I. Hund - 2152 - 24 - 339.5 - 6  China China- Liu Shilan, Wu Mingqian, An Yangfeng - 1843 - 24 - 338.5 - 7  Israel Israel- Glaz, Kristol, Podrazhanskaya, Nudelman - 2113 - 23½ - 339.5 - 8 .svg.png.webp) Yugoslavia Yugoslavia- Marković, Dragašević, Štadler, Prokopović - 2142 - 23½ - 333.5 - 9 .svg.png.webp) Bulgaria Bulgaria- Lematschko, Bojadjieva, Voyska, Angelova - 2138 - 23 - 340.0 - 10 .svg.png.webp) Brazil Brazil- Abreu Carvalho, Chaves, Cardoso, Longo - 1850 - 23 - 300.5 - 11 .svg.png.webp) Spain Spain- García Vicente, Ferrer Lucas, García Padrón, Cuevas Rodríguez - 2122 - 22½ - 331.0 - 12  Argentina Argentina- Soppe, Arias, Justo, Vázquez - 1913 - 22½ - 314.0 - 13  United States United States- Savereide, Crotto, Haring, Frenkel - 2092 - 22 - 334.0 - 14  England England- Miles, Jackson, Caldwell, Whitehead - 2160 - 22 - 332.5 - 15  France France- Merlini, Ruck-Petit, Schall, Legendre - 1942 - 22 - 312.5 - 16 .svg.png.webp) Australia Australia- Mott-McGrath, Hawkesworth, Slavotinek, Martin - 1870 - 22 - 302.5 - 17  Netherlands Netherlands- Vreeken, Belle, van Parreren, Bruinenberg - 2092 - 21½ - 323.0 - 18  Colombia Colombia- Guggenberger, Leyva, Maya de Alzate, Patiño - 1888 - 21½ - 311.0 - 19 .svg.png.webp) Canada Canada- Shterenberg, Roos, Das, Day - 1938 - 21½ - 305.0 - 15 - 2½ - 20  Italy Italy- Pernici, Gramignani, Merciai, Deghenghi - 1935 - 21½ - 305.0 - 15 - ½ - 21  Sweden Sweden- Borisova-Ornstein, Aatolainen, Nyberg, Samuelsson - 1962 - 21½ - 297.5 - 22  Iceland Iceland- Kristinsdóttir, Tráinsdóttir, Friðþjófsdóttir, Norðdahl - 1800 - 21½ - 279.0 - 23  Dominican Republic Dominican Republic- García Portes, A. R. Marino, Cuevas - 1800 - 21½ - 263.5 - 24  Greece Greece- Fouriki, A. Efremoglou, Petraki, K. Mihailidou - 1800 - 21½ - 253.0 - 25  India India- J. Khadilkar, R. Khadilkar, V. Khadilkar, Thipsay - 2075 - 21 - 305.5 - 26  Ireland Ireland- Cronin, Delaney, O'Siochrú, Connolly - 1818 - 21 - 287.5 - 27  Wales Wales- Garwell, Evans, James, Brunker - 1930 - 21 - 277.0 - 28  Scotland Scotland- Hindle, Elder, Jackson, Houstoun - 1817 - 20½ - 286.0 - 29  New Zealand New Zealand- Foster, Stretch, Brightwell, Flower - 1800 - 20½ - 239.0 - 30  Denmark Denmark- Thygesen, Haahr, Berg, Larsen - 1875 - 20 - 291.5 - 31 .svg.png.webp) Switzerland Switzerland- Veprek, Bürgin, Schladetzky, Meyer - 1907 - 20 - 279.0 - 32  Mexico Mexico- Camps de Ocampo, Salazar, Escondrillas - 1827 - 20 - 233.0 - 33  Austria Austria- Hennings, Hausner, Samt, Kattinger - 1938 - 19½ - 291.0 - 34  Finland Finland- Sirkka-Liisa Landry, Palasto, Laitinen, Pihlajamäki - 1900 - 19½ - 283.0 - 35  Egypt Egypt- Basta Sohair, Izmael, A. Samy Maha, Ibrahim - 1800 - 19½ - 234.0 - 36 .svg.png.webp) Japan Japan- Takahashi, Watai, Nakagawa - 1817 - 19 - 283.0 - 37 .svg.png.webp) Belgium Belgium- Careme, De Corte, Schumacher, Loo - 1800 - 19 - 235.0 - 38  Malta Malta- Grech-Sollars, Sciortino, Lentini, Fiott - 1800 - 15 - 39 .svg.png.webp) Puerto Rico Puerto Rico- Rodríguez Ramírez, Irizarry Adequin, Latorre Vélez, Martorell Martínez - 1800 - 14½ - 40  United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates- Ahmad, N. Saleh, Karim, Hassan - 1800 - 13½ - 41  United States Virgin Islands United States Virgin Islands- Widmer, Quenzel, Grumer - 1800 - 4 - 42  Nigeria Nigeria- Isong, Olusola - 1800 - 1 
Individual medals
- Board 1:  Maia Chiburdanidze 11½ / 13 = 88.5% Maia Chiburdanidze 11½ / 13 = 88.5%
- Board 2:  Nona Gaprindashvili 9½ / 12 = 79.2% Nona Gaprindashvili 9½ / 12 = 79.2%
- Board 3: .svg.png.webp) Daniela Nuţu 7½ / 10 = 75.0% Daniela Nuţu 7½ / 10 = 75.0%
- Reserve:  Nana Ioseliani 7½ / 9 = 83.3% 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


