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The Olympiad’s 20th anniversary was celebrated in Skopje, today's capital of North Macedonia and part of communist Yugoslavia at the time of the event. Skopje was totally devastated by a massive earthquake that struck the city in 1963. Rebuilt from scratch, the city was ready to hold the 1972 Olympiad. The newly built industrial pavilions were adapted for the chess tournament. The organization was outstanding despite the limited time available for preparations. For the first time, extraordinary security precautions were taken because of the Munich tragedy when Palestinian terrorists shot nine Israeli athletes taking part in the recent Summer Olympics. The organizers fortunately dropped the dim idea of limiting the number of countries to 60, and three more teams arrived at Skopje with newcomers Wales, Malaysia, and Iraq. Rhodesia and South Africa, who wished to participate, were not granted Yugoslav visas. The FIDE Congress decided that no future Olympiad would be awarded to those who did not promise that all nations could participate without issues.
Most of the world's top players came to Skopje, though many were absent. The USSR was missing Spassky, who had lost the World Champion title some months ago, and the newly crowned King of Chess, Bobby Fischer, did not feel like visiting Skopje as merely one of many players. He demanded special conditions, including a separate game hall for himself, which were refused. The USA team was further weakened since Reshevsky, Evans, and Lombardy were also absent. Denmark played without Larsen, and West Germany was missing Unzicker and Schmid. After many years spent in the USA, GM Rossolimo decided to return to the French team. Argentina was missing all their top players and was anticipated to fare more poorly than in prior years. Mrs. Susan Grumer of the Virgin Islands was the only lady in the open field, another woman who failed to accomplish anything but a series of losses. Unlike Siegen and Lugano, no "carry-on" rule existed, and teams could meet twice during the event. The ELO ratings system was adopted for the first time, and it served as the basis for seeding the teams, which were divided into eight qualifying groups and four final sections of 16 teams (with bottom-section D having one less team).
In Group 1, the Soviets had a typically overwhelming advantage, but their 2nd reserve, Savon, lost on time to Estevez from Cuba. This upset didn't help them since Denmark, even without Larsen, beat Belgium and Finland. Cuba lost badly to Belgium in the penultimate round. With the last round to go, Cuba had to beat Denmark by 3-1 to reach the finals. Four draws got the job done for the Danes, and Cuba and Belgium could only extend their dreams via the consolation arena. Finland was relegated to final C.
In Group 2, Yugoslavia, the hosts, were big favourites, and England seemed most likely to be the second qualifier. In the first round, they lost to Yugoslavia 1-3, which was alright, given they beat dangerous Brazil the next day. Unfortunately, England suffered a heavy loss vs. Japan in the 3rd round (Wade lost to Takahashi), and Switzerland barely drew against the exuberant, young Peruvian team, a seemingly unimportant result. In Round 4, England was thought to have sealed their qualification since they beat Switzerland after a hard-fought battle. However, in the next round, they failed to deny Peru, an amateurish team with a lowly average ELO of 2268 that outplayed most of their weakest opposition with a firm 4-0. Peru had a 2-point lead over Switzerland, but they played Yugoslavia the next day and were lucky to save a mere ½ point. At the same time, Switzerland beat Brazil 2½-1½ and went through by virtue of their Berger tiebreak record thanks to their 2-2 draw vs. Yugoslavia. England beat Cyprus 4-0, but this was still ½ a point behind Switzerland and Peru.
In Group 3, Hungary and Poland were the seeded teams. Norway was the only team to threaten them. Hungary beat Norway in an excellent match in Round 3, while Poland stepped from one win to another despite some unexpected slip-ups. A draw vs. Hungary gave them some advantage over the Norwegians, who needed to beat the Poles in the last round to pass them by. Polish master Bednarski bravely sacrificed a rook and finally won after complex play under mutual time pressure.
Both seeded teams of Group 4 came to Skopje without their top boards, but Argentina's deficiency was dramatically troublesome. At the very beginning, they lost all four games against West Germany! They were lucky to witness Iceland, their most dangerous second-place contender, being hammered by the Germans by a similar margin the next day. In Round 3, Argentina dropped further points vs. Greece. But this result is scarcely sensational since the Argentinian squad had a bleak average ELO of 2296 and two unrated players that day. Round 4 brought even more confusion to the Argentinian team as they barely drew against New Zealand. IM Sarapu beat Argentina's sole grandmaster, Rossetto. Never mind all those failures. Argentina beat Iceland in a decisive struggle in Round 5 and, with a dynamic finish, sealed their championship final qualification. Iceland and Greece went into final B at the cost of New Zealand, who lost decisively to Greece and West Germany in the last two rounds. GM Rossolimo was in awful form and was an obstacle rather than a help for the French team. The Frenchmen were relegated to the bottom final section, meaning they would miss the top 48, something unbelievable judging by their potential and Olympiad performance history.
Czechoslovakia was the top seed of Group 5, followed by Spain, Israel, and Mongolia. The Spaniards, who qualified for the main Olympiad final in most of their last appearances, did it again. Mongolia was thrashed by Czechoslovakia at the start, but Spain had a very unfortunate kick-off as well since they sensationally lost to Ireland on day 2. Czechoslovakia was another doomsday victim as they barely drew against Portugal, and Smejkal suffered his only tournament loss to Durão. In Round 3, Czechoslovakia firmly beat Israel, and Spain overcame Mongolia by a small margin. Portugal drew against Israel in Round 4 and retained their excellent chance for a final spurt. Spain beat Israel in a crucial match in Round 5, virtually dropping them out of contention. The penultimate round was decisive as Spain eliminated their last two contenders. Not only did they beat Portugal 4-0, but Mongolia dropped 1½ vs. unpredictable Ireland, and an easy ride over Hong Kong in the last round sealed the Spanish triumph. Portugal was relegated to the final C.
In Group 6, East Germany, Canada, and Sweden were the favourites. Sweden dropped two points vs. Italy on day 2, but Canada did not fare much better and conceded three draws to Turkey. The match for silver was held in the third round, and Sweden won 2½-1½, although Canada's average ELO was superior by about 70 points. The next day, Sweden lost to GDR, but Canada failed to beat Italy substantially. Canada's last chance was to beat East Germany in Round 5, but it proved too hard for them, and Sweden was in, mainly thanks to GM Andersson.
Group 7 brought many unexpected turnabouts. On paper, Holland and Bulgaria were the favourites ahead of Colombia and Australia, led by GM Browne. Bulgaria and Holland beat Australia and Colombia, respectively, by 2½-1½ in the 2nd round. Still, Albania unexpectedly went into the lead, beating Colombia the next day, while Holland beat Bulgaria. GM Browne lost a miserable game to Iraqi Taha, and this cost Australia dearly in the final analysis. Bulgaria managed to stop Albania in Round 4, and Holland defeated Australia. In Round 5, Albania trounced Australia, giving up just a single draw (Browne-Pustina). Yet, a quick 2-2 draw in the Albania-Holland match showed they were satisfied with their final B place. In the last round, Holland drew very quickly against Puerto Rico (why were they so lazy?!). Bulgaria showed a genuine lack of courtesy and sportsmanship, drawing against Colombia in a match where the total number of moves did not exceed 50. This result assured the Colombians final B qualification at the cost of Australia, who were relegated to final C.
Group 8 unexpectedly underwent much tension until the last day of the games. The USA and Romania were big favourites, but the Philippines kept pace with them. The Asians did not seem too dangerous at the start since they barely drew vs. Iran (both IMs lost, Cardoso and Torre) and then against Austria. USA-Romania ended in an honourable draw. In the 5th round, Romania drew against Austria (we had seen many drawn matches in this group!). The Philippines had yet to face the USA and Romania in the last two rounds, and they drew both those matches. Their last-round clash vs. the USA was a dramatic, fierce battle, and it was Kavalek who beat Torre and dashed the Philippine hopes for the championship final in favor of Romania. Austria was another nation that joined the consolation group. The top three teams did not suffer any match defeats in the preliminaries.
According to the ELO list, the USSR was the top favourite of the final group with an average rating of 2626, followed by Yugoslavia at 2528, Hungary at 2509, Czechoslovakia at 2481, and East Germany at 2458. Hungary had an excellent start, beating the Soviets 2½-1½, the second victory against the USSR in their history, this time earned courtesy of Bilek, who defeated Korchnoi. Yugoslavia lost to Czechoslovakia the next day, and although the USSR beat West Germany, we saw the first and only Petrosian loss at an Olympiad. GM Hübner was the conqueror. On the following day, Hungary hammered East Germany, and Czechoslovakia drew against the USA team. Despite Padevsky's excellent win over Karpov in the 4th round, Bulgaria modestly lost to the USSR (Tringov was forfeited under dubious circumstances as the scoresheet with his sealed move was lost), and Hungary was happy to beat Poland 3-1 (Sznapik blundered in severe time pressure). Czechoslovakia sensationally lost to Spain. Yugoslavia was in the lead with 12 points ahead of Hungary at 11½ and Czechoslovakia at 9½. The Soviets finally accelerated their moderate pace and wiped out East Germany in Round 5. Sweden lost badly to the tailenders from Sweden after Portisch's famous debut debacle vs Andersson. Spain unexpectedly leveled up to 3rd place, but this was not surprising since they hadn't played any of the top teams yet. Two days later, Hungary earned a vital win over Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia easily outplayed Argentina. East Germany, considered to be a decent squad with prospects for a good finals performance, lost their 6th consecutive match and fell to the next-to-last place. West Germany beat Czechoslovakia at the halfway point, and on the next day, Yugoslavia, the leaders, lost to Hungary and were caught by the USSR, who drew against Czechoslovakia. Hungary was a point behind, while West Germany, the leaders of the pursuit group, dropped 2 points vs. Denmark and was as far as 4 points behind. They needed to beat Yugoslavia in the 10th round if they wanted to join in the battle for medals, but they only drew. The Soviet Union beat Yugoslavia in the 11th round thanks to veteran Smyslov, who beatthe young star Ljubojević. Hungary hammered fading Spain by 3½-½ and then finished off the poor Argentinians, destroying them by a humiliating 4-0 (not the first defeat of that kind for Argentina in Skopje!). Yugoslavia drew against Bulgaria, and the USSR beat the USA. With three rounds to go, Hungary and USSR were in joint lead, 3½ points ahead of Yugoslavia, who was safely in third place. USSR earned a 1-point advantage after the 13th round because of their major win over Spain, but then they barely drew with Argentina while Hungary defeated Holland. The last round was decisive regarding the gold, which was a first-time drama for the USSR. Hungary had a superior tie-break but was ½ point behind the leaders and faced West Germany, considered stronger than Romania, against whom the Soviets played. The Germans were missing two top players in their team. Hübner refrained from the last round with the best individual score on Board 1 in his pocket, and Pfleger had to face and beat a GM if he wanted to obtain a GM norm. After the adjournment, the USSR was in the lead with 41½ points and one game to be finished (where Tal was lost); Hungary had 40 points and yet two games in hand, both of them hard to save. Csom lost, Portish drew (denying Pfleger's GM norm), and the USSR won the title after the most brutal combat they had ever fought. Yugoslavia easily secured the bronze medal. Czechoslovakia came 4th because of their good pace at the finish ahead of East Germany and Bulgaria. The USA was down in 9th place. England won section B over Israel, but this was all overshadowed by the politically-based withdrawal of the Albanian team over their opposition to the foreign politics of Israel. Their scores were recorded as “friendlies”, violating the rule stipulating that their results must be scored officially after a team reaches halfway in the tournament. Peru, who did so well in the preliminary round, came last. Australia, so unlucky to be relegated as low as to final C, won that section comfortably with 13 wins and two draws ahead of Finland. France won the bottom section, but this was a horrible 49th overall. Singapore, led by Tan Lian Ann and Giam Choo Kwee, came second by a considerable distance ahead of Malta.
The Soviets won their 11th consecutive Olympiad gold medal with the utmost trouble. They did not reach the score expected based on their ratings. Savon was out of form and lost two games, while his teammates did not enchant the public either. Young Karpov's debut was promising, and Tal scored their top result. They won three gold medals for individual performance. Hungary was in superb form this time. They overcame their initial rating of 2509 by 50 points with a team performance at the 2561 level. Although none won an individual medal, they were a steadfast and consistent squad. They all scored in the 60-80% range (Sax even scored 85% but had to play more frequently to win a prize). They lost only five games (two of them in the last two rounds...) and played many inventive, significant games. Yugoslavia, the host nation, won the bronze medals without peril, but this hardly qualifies as a good job. They were hoping for more, at least after the first rounds of the final group. Gligorić fell apart in the late rounds of the final, costing the hosts decisive points. Ivkov, Ljubojević (individual gold on Board 3), and Matulović were their top scorers. That Czechoslovakia won 4th place was no major surprise, but it was no colossal achievement for them. Hort went through the Olympiad undefeated, and all the other players, except out-of-form Přibyl, did well. Germany, led by Dr. Hübner, confirmed their stable position in the world's top, and Bulgaria, who finished 6th, was slightly disappointed with Tringov's poor performance. Still, it cannot be considered bad overall. Holland finished in 8th, which could have been better if Donner had not been in a severe slump. The USA, hurt by the absence of their top players, couldn't achieve more, given they had two untitled, unknown players in reserve, and Bisguier was in awful form. Argentina's result was pathetic, but it couldn't have been better, judging from their squad. Australian Walter Browne gave another brilliant performance, but his poor loss to an Iraqi player in the preliminaries cost his team a final B qualification. Still, a performance rating of 2572 is not bad. The Olympiad was over, and the next one will be on the sunny coast of Southern France.
/ Revised by Philip Jurgens, Ottawa, ON, Canada 30.03.2024 /
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