18th Chess Olympiad
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1b/Chess_Olympiad_Lugano_1968.jpg/200px-Chess_Olympiad_Lugano_1968.jpg)
The 18th Chess Olympiad, organized by FIDE and comprising an open[1] team tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between October 17 and November 7, 1968, in Lugano, Switzerland.
The Soviet team with six GMs, led by world champion Petrosian, lived up to expectations and won their ninth consecutive gold medals, with Yugoslavia and Bulgaria taking the silver and bronze, respectively.
Results
Preliminaries
A total of 53 teams entered the competition and were divided into seven preliminary groups of seven or eight teams each. The top two from each group advanced to Final A, the teams placed third-fourth to Final B, no. 5-6 to Final C, and the rest to Final D. Preliminary head-to-head results were carried over to the finals, so no teams met more than once. All preliminary groups and finals were played as round-robin tournaments. The results were as follows:
- Group 1: 1. Soviet Union, 2. Philippines, 3. England, 4. Israel, 5. Italy, 6. Portugal, 7. Mexico, 8. Cyprus.
- Group 2: 1. Denmark, 2. United States, 3. Mongolia, 4. Austria, 5. Australia, 6. Venezuela, 7. France.
- Group 3: 1. Yugoslavia, 2. Poland, 3. Spain, 4. Scotland, 5. South Africa, 6. Luxembourg, 7. Dominican Republic.
- Group 4: 1. Hungary, 2. Canada, 3. Netherlands, 4. Belgium, 5. Monaco, 6. Ireland, 7. Paraguay, 8. Costa Rica.
- Group 5: 1. West Germany, 2. Romania, 3. Switzerland, 4. Brazil, 5. Norway, 6. Puerto Rico, 7. Hong Kong, 8. Lebanon.
- Group 6: 1. Argentina, 2. East Germany, 3. Finland, 4. Sweden, 5. Greece, 6. Morocco, 7. British Virgin Islands.
- Group 7: 1. Bulgaria, 2. Czechoslovakia, 3. Iceland, 4. Cuba, 5. Tunisia, 6. Turkey, 7. Singapore, 8. Andorra.
Final
Final B # Country Points MP 15 Netherlands
33½ 16 England
33 17 Austria
30½ 18 Israel
30 19 Spain
28½ 20 Cuba
27 14 21 Switzerland
27 12 22 Iceland
26 23 Finland
24½ 24 Sweden
22½ 25 Brazil
21½ 26 Belgium
20½ 27 Mongolia
20 28 Scotland
19½
Final C # Country Points MP 29 Australia
38 30 Norway
36 31 Italy
31½ 32 Venezuela
30 33 Turkey
29½ 34 Greece
28½ 35 Portugal
27½ 16 36 South Africa
27½ 14 37 Tunisia
26 38 Ireland
21 39 Luxembourg
20½ 40 Puerto Rico
19½ 41 Morocco
16 42 Monaco
12½
Final D # Country Points MP 43 Singapore
32 44 France
30 45 Paraguay
27½ 46 Mexico
23½ 13 47 Dominican Republic
23½ 12 48 Hong Kong
22½ 49 Costa Rica
14½ 50 Lebanon
13½ 51 Cyprus
13 52 British Virgin Islands
11 53 Andorra
9
Individual medals
- Board 1:
Tigran Petrosian 10½ / 12 = 87.5%
- Board 2:
Georgi Tringov 11 / 14 = 78.6%
- Board 3:
Viktor Korchnoi 11 / 13 = 84.6%
- Board 4:
Shimon Kagan 10½ / 13 = 80.8%
- 1st reserve:
Glicerio Badilles 11½ / 14 = 82.1%
- 2nd reserve:
Vassily Smyslov 11 / 12 = 91.7%
References
- ^ Although commonly referred to as the men's division, this section is open to both male and female players.
- 18th Chess Olympiad: Lugano 1968 OlimpBase