# 27th Chess Olympiad

The 27th Chess Olympiad (Arabic: أولمبياد الشطرنج ال27, uwlimbiad al-shatranj al-27), 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 14 and December 2, 1986, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Once again, the Olympiad was marred by politics. With the event being held in an Arab nation, Israel couldn't participate, being in an official state of war with several Arab countries. In protest, Western European nations like Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands didn't come to Dubai. Strong individual players like Viktor Korchnoi, Robert Hübner, and Eric Lobron also stayed away.
With no championship match in progress at the time, the Soviet Union was again able to field the strongest possible team, led by reigning world champion Kasparov and ex-champion Karpov. Even so, they only finished half a point ahead of England, and they only managed to capture the top spot in the last round. The United States, who had led the table after the penultimate round, had to settle for the bronze medals.

## Open event

For the first time, the number of participants reached triple digits. 108 teams from 107 different nations played 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.
    Open event #CountryPlayersAverage ratingPoints 1 Soviet UnionKasparov, Karpov, Sokolov, Yusupov, Vaganian, Tseshkovsky268140 2 EnglandMiles, Nunn, Short, Chandler, Speelman, Flear258539½ 3 United StatesSeirawan, Christiansen, Kavalek, Fedorowicz, De Firmian, Dlugy255538½
    #CountryAverage ratingPointsBuchholzMP 4 Hungary258434½ 5 Iceland252634466.0 6 Bulgaria247934465.0 7 China244834432.5 8 Czechoslovakia252333456.5 9 Cuba251033452.0 10 France249933443.5 11 Argentina250133443.0 12 Peru238033426.5 13 West Germany247332½436.0 14 Austria239432½421.0 15 Yugoslavia258032466.5 16 Poland244532446.0 17 Portugal238532420.0 18 Romania252531½466.5 19 Indonesia241831½445.5 20 Brazil243331½444.0 21 Chile245131½443.0 22 Scotland239531½432.0 23 Canada240631½420.0 24 Spain246031462.5 25 India238931413.5 26 Greece238931411.0 27 Italy241330½434.0 28 Philippines234830½424.0 29 Switzerland241330½423.0 30 Belgium235530½403.5 31 Australia241930426.5 32 Dominican Republic231930415.5 33 Singapore228130413.517 34 Finland241530413.515 35 Colombia240330405.5 36 Paraguay228030399.5 37 New Zealand232130396.5 38 Iraq221430393.5 39 Turkey234429½425.5 40 Egypt226929½419.0 41 Mexico231629½409.5 42 Malaysia227129½385.0 43 Ecuador232329420.5 44 Nicaragua226429412.5 45 Tunisia229329409.0 46 Ireland229029408.0 47 Venezuela224329404.0 48 Pakistan231529402.0 49 Lebanon223929391.0 50 Uruguay225428½403.0 51 Wales231428½401.0 52 Puerto Rico225528½399.0 53 Guatemala226428½397.5 54 El Salvador223328½391.5 55 Costa Rica223928389.5 56 Malta225128388.5 57 Andorra221528373.5 58 Syria230627½417.0 59 Thailand223427½394.5 60 Bolivia221327½388.5 61 Morocco220027½381.5 62 Trinidad and Tobago220127½374.0 63 North Yemen220027½373.5 64 Palestine220027½361.5 65 Bangladesh226627400.5 66 Nigeria220127383.0 67 Guernsey and Jersey221827377.0 68 Jordan220027374.0 69 Hong Kong224027373.0 70 Honduras220027372.5 71 Luxembourg220326½394.5 72 United Arab Emirates222126½384.0 73 Zimbabwe220026½364.0 74 Haiti220026½362.5 75 San Marino220026½353.0 76 Sri Lanka228026402.5 77 Algeria220326394.0 78 Angola220626387.0 79 Libya220326367.5 80 Mauritania220026334.5 81 Mali220026329.5 82 Bahrain220026321.0 83 United Arab Emirates "B"220125½372.0 84 Uganda220125½354.5 85 Zambia220125½351.5 86 Panama220025366.5 87 Barbados220025363.0 88 Senegal220025330.5 89 Cyprus220024½379.5 90 Japan220024½367.0 91 South Yemen220024½360.0 92 Jamaica220324372.0 93 Kenya221124365.0 94 Sudan220024347.0 95 Ghana220024336.5 96 Fiji220024310.0 97 Brunei220023½336.5 98 Netherlands Antilles220023½324.5 99 Qatar220023346.0 100 Antigua and Barbuda220023332.0 101 Papua New Guinea220423308.5 102 British Virgin Islands220122328.5 103 Bahamas220022307.5 104 Bermuda220020312.5 105 Mauritius220020300.5 106 Botswana220018½ 107 Gambia220014½ 108 Seychelles22005

### Individual medals

* Performance rating: Garry Kasparov 2746
* Board 1: Garry Kasparov 8½ / 11 = 77.3%
* Board 2: Imed Abdelnabbi 9½ / 12 = 79.2%
* Board 3: Nigel Short 10 / 13 = 76.9%
* Board 4: Artur Yusupov 10 / 12 = 83.3%
* 1st reserve: Luís Muñiz 6 / 7 = 85.7%
* 2nd reserve: Ng Ek Teong 6 / 7 = 85.7%

## Women's event

A total of 49 nations took part. 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 a comfortable margin. Hungary and Romania took silver and bronze, respectively.
The real star of the women's event, though, was 45-year-old ex-world champion Gaprindashvili, who won all of her 10 games and finished with an uncanny performance rating of 2877 – more than 100 points better than the best male.
    #CountryPlayersAverage ratingPointsBuchholz 1 Soviet UnionChiburdanidze, Akhmilovskaya, Gaprindashvili, Alexandria235833½ 2 HungaryVerőci-Petronić, Mádl, Ivánka, Grosch224729 3 RomaniaMureșan, Nuțu, Polihroniade, Stanciu-Olărașu217828343.5
    #CountryAverage ratingPointsBuchholz 4 China213328342.0 5 Yugoslavia219025½ 6 West Germany215325 7 Poland223724½350.0 8 England222224½344.0 9 Bulgaria214823½ 10 Cuba206323 11 Brazil200522½303.0 12 Austria196722½288.0 13 Finland190322½287.5 14 Spain208722339.5 15 France206722327.5 16 United States205522318.0 17 Scotland190322306.5 18 Greece197721½324.5 19 India208321½311.5 20 Ireland192821½305.0 21 Wales198821½291.5 22 Mexico190021½235.5 23 Switzerland205521313.5 24 Argentina190721308.5 25 Indonesia192521302.0 26 Turkey191221299.5 27 Belgium190221291.0 28 Italy190021287.0 29 Colombia191320½309.5 30 Philippines190020½301.5 31 Dominican Republic190220½294.5 32 Bangladesh196020½286.0 33 Australia193320½278.0 34 United Arab Emirates190020½228.5 35 Iraq190020263.0 36 Guatemala190020246.5 37 Venezuela190020221.5 38 Uruguay190020218.0 39 Japan190319½289.0 40 Malaysia190019½263.0 41 New Zealand190219½255.5 42 Portugal190219½251.0 43 Syria190019½229.0 44 Puerto Rico190018½ 45 Trinidad and Tobago190216½223.5 46 Jamaica190016½221.0 47 Nigeria190015½ 48 Seychelles19005½ 49 Panama19002½

### Individual medals

* Performance rating: Nona Gaprindashvili 2877
* Board 1: Tatjana Lematschko 9½ / 11 = 86.4%
* Board 2: Faridah Karim 7 / 8 = 87.5%
* Board 3: Nona Gaprindashvili 10 / 10 = 100.0%
* Reserve: Gabriela Stanciu-Olărașu 7 / 9 = 77.8%