Events in

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

in 1988.

Top players

Kasparov and Karpov remained the top two players in the world, positions that they had held since July 1982. Over the year,

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

player

Jan Timman Jan Timman (born 14 December 1951) is a Dutch chess grandmaster who was one of the world's leading chess players from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. At the peak of his career, he was considered to be the best non-Soviet player and was known a ...

and

Alexander Beliavsky Alexander Genrikhovich Beliavsky (, , ; also romanized ''Belyavsky''; born December 17, 1953) is a Soviet, Ukrainian and Slovenian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1975. He is also a chess coach and in 2004 wa ...

of the USSR moved up the list, whilst

Andrei Sokolov Andrei Yurievich Sokolov (; born 20 March 1963, in Vorkuta, Komi ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a chess Grandmaster of Russian origin, now living in France. He was one of the leading players in the world in the late 1980s. Formative yea ...

from the USSR and

Ljubomir Ljubojević Ljubomir Ljubojević (; born November 2, 1950) is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the Yugoslav Chess Championship in 1977 (tied) and 1982. Life and career Ljubojević was born on 2 November 1950 in Titovo Užice, Yugoslavia (now Užice, S ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

moved down. January 1988 FIDE rating list. Top 11 players

Events

The following major

chess tournament A chess tournament is a series of chess games played competitively to determine a winning individual or team. Since the first international chess tournament in London 1851 chess tournament, London, 1851, chess tournaments have become the standard ...

s took place in 1988:

Grandmasters Association World Cup

The

Grandmasters Association Grandmaster or Grand Master may refer to: People * Grandmaster Flash, Joseph Saddler (born 1958), hip-hop musician and disc jockey * Grandmaster Melle Mel, Melvin Glover (born 1961), hip-hop musician * "Grandmaster Sexay", nickname for professi ...

held six World Cup tournaments over 1988 and 1989, with some of the world's best players invited. The first three of these tournaments were held in 1988. * 1 April – 22 April: The first tournament was held in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and won by Karpov with 11/16, ahead of

Valery Salov Valery Salov (born 26 May 1964) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was ranked third in the world in 1995. Competitive chess career Salov was awarded the International Master title in 1984 and the Grandmaster title in 1986. He was the World u ...

with 10. * 14 June – 3 July: The second tournament was held in

Belfort Belfort (; archaic , ) is a city in northeastern France, situated approximately from the Swiss border. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Territoire de Belfort. Belfort is from Paris and from Basel. The residents of the city ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and won by Kasparov with 11½/15, ahead of Karpov with 10½. * 3 October – 24 October: The third tournament was held in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

and was again won by Kasparov, with 11/17. Beliavsky was second, with 10½/15.

28th Chess Olympiad

The

28th Chess Olympiad The 28th Chess Olympiad (, ''I 28i Skakistikí Olympiáda''), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, was held between 12 November and 30 November. It was won by the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, ahead of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in second and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in third. The gold medal on the first board was won by Kasparov of USSR with 8½/10.

Lajos Portisch Lajos Portisch (born 4 April 1937) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated in twelve c ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

was second, also scoring 8½, but from 11 games. The

Women's Chess Olympiad The Women's Chess Olympiad is an event held by FIDE (the International Chess Federation) since 1957 (every two years since 1972), where national women's teams compete at chess for gold, silver and bronze medals. Since 1976 the Women's Chess Olympia ...

was held alongside the open tournament. The winners were Hungary, ahead of the USSR and

Other major tournaments

*23 February – 8 March: The Linares tournament was won by Timman with 8½/11, ahead of Beliavsky with 7. *6 September – 28 September: The 12th Tilburg tournament was won by Karpov with 10½/14, ahead of Short with 8½. *December 1988 – January 1989: The Reggio Emilia tournament was won by Mikhail Gurevich with 6½/9, ahead of

Kiril Georgiev Kiril Dimitrov Georgiev (; born 28 November 1965 in Petrich) is a Bulgarian and Macedonian chess grandmaster, and seven-time Bulgarian Chess Champion. From 2002 to 2004, he was affiliated to the Macedonian Chess Federation, to which he ret ...

and

Ulf Andersson Ulf Andersson (born 27 June 1951) is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972. Chess career At his peak, Andersson reached number four on the FIDE rating list. ...

Ivanchuk with 5½. * The Wijk aan Zee tournament was won by Karpov with 9/13, ahead of Anderssen with 8½.

Titles awarded

Grandmaster

In 1989,

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

awarded the Grandmaster title to the following 20 players: *

Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion and a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion. ...

(born 1969) *

Zurab Azmaiparashvili Zurab Azmaiparashvili ( ka, ზურაბ აზმაიფარაშვილი; born 16 March 1960) is a chess grandmaster from Georgia. His peak Elo rating was 2702, achieved in July 2003. He is currently, as of 2024, the president of ...

(born 1960) * Emir Dizdarevic (born 1958) * Yury Dokhoian (1964–2021) *

Boris Gelfand Boris Abramovich Gelfand (; born 24 June 1968) is a Belarusian-Israeli chess player. A six-time World Championship candidate (1991, 1994–95, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2013), he won the Chess World Cup 2009 and the 2011 Candidates Tournament, mak ...

(born 1968) * Krum Georgiev (born 1958) * Jörg Hickl (born 1965) *

Julian Hodgson Julian Michael "Jules" Hodgson (born 25 July 1963 in London) is a British chess player, grandmaster, and former British chess champion. Biography He first came to the notice of the chess world for his achievements as a junior, whilst at H ...

(born 1963) *

Miguel Illescas Miguel Illescas Córdoba (born December 3, 1965, in Barcelona) is a Spanish chess grandmaster. Chess career Illescas was a highly skilled player as a youngster and became junior champion of Catalonia at the age of 12. A trained computer scient ...

(born 1963) *

Gregory Kaidanov Gregory Kaidanov (, ; born 11 October 1959) is a Soviet-born American chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, ch ...

(born 1959) / * Stefan Kindermann (born 1959) * Josef Klinger (born 1967) * Bogdan Lalić (born 1964) / * Valentin Lukov (born 1955) *

Gilberto Milos Gilberto Milos (born October 30, 1963) is a Brazilian chess player. He was awarded by FIDE the title of International Master in 1984 and the title of Grandmaster in 1988. Milos competed in the FIDE World Championship five times (1998, 1999, 2000 ...

(born 1963) * Michael Rohde (born 1959) * Harry Schussler (born 1957) *

Elizbar Ubilava Elizbar Ubilava (born August 27, 1950 in Tbilisi) is a Spanish chess Grandmaster (1988) of Georgian origin. He is FIDE Senior Trainer (2004) and worked with Viswanathan Anand for nine years between 1994 and 2005. He achieved his highest Elo rat ...

(born 1950) / *

Reynaldo Vera Reynaldo is a Spanish given name from the German name Reinhold. Notable people with the name include: * Reynaldo Aguado Montealegre (born 1960), Nicaraguan activist * Reynaldo Aimonetti (born 1943), Argentine footballer * Reynaldo Anderson (born ...

(born 1961) *

Michael Wilder Michael Wilder (born August 17, 1962) is an American chess grandmaster and a J.D graduate of the University of Michigan. FIDE awarded him the grandmaster title in 1988. He won the 1988 U.S. Chess Championship. He also tied for third in the 198 ...

(born 1962) In addition

George Koltanowski George Koltanowski (also "Georges"; 17 September 1903 – 5 February 2000) was a Belgian-born American chess player, promoter, and writer. He was informally known as "Kolty". Koltanowski set the world's blindfold record on 20 September 1937 ...

(born 1903) was awarded an honorary Grandmaster title in 1988.

Births

The following chess grandmasters were born in 1988: *9 January

Viktor Láznička Viktor Láznička (born January 9, 1988, in Pardubice) is a Czech chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster. Chess beginnings After learning the game at age six, he progressed quickly to playing junior tournaments and achieved many prize-winning pe ...

*5 February

Markus Ragger Markus Ragger (born 5 February 1988) is an Austrian chess grandmaster. He won the Austrian Chess Championship in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and has played the first board for Austria in the Chess Olympiads since 2008. In October 2016, he became the fi ...

*8 February

Arik Braun Arik Braun (born 8 February 1988) is a German chess grandmaster and the world's first chessboxer of Grandmaster strength. Chess career He won the World Under-18 Chess Championship in 2006 and the German Chess Championship in 2009. Braun was ...

*14 February Evgeny Romanov *14 February Adam Tukhaev *3 March

Timur Gareev Timur Gareyev (sometimes spelled ''Gareev''; born March 3, 1988) is an Uzbekistani and American chess grandmaster. Biography He was born in Tashkent to Tatar parents. Gareyev was a part of the University of Texas at Brownsville's chess team, whe ...

*11 March

Ante Brkić Ante Brkić (born 31 March 1988) is a Croatian chess grandmaster. Chess career He won the Croatian Chess Championship in 2010 and has represented his country in a number of Chess Olympiads, including 2004 (2/4 on board 6), 2006 (3.5/5 on board 6 ...

*11 March

Alexandr Fier Alexandr Hilário Takeda Sakai dos Santos Fier (born 11 March 1988) is a Brazilian chess grandmaster. He competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2023. Career Fier won five gold medals at the Pan American Youth Chess F ...

*14 April Pawel Czarnota *18 April Yuriy Ajrapetjan *20 April

Mark Bluvshtein Mark Bluvshtein (born 20 April 1988) is a Soviet-born Canadian chess player. He became the youngest Canadian ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster in 2004, at the age of 16. He previously achieved the title International Master at the age o ...

*21 April Subramanian Arun Prasad *26 April

Boban Bogosavljević Boban Bogosavljevic (born 26 April 1988) was the Serbian Chess Champion. He obtained FIDE Master title in 2005. In 2008, FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ...

*26 April

Rauf Mamedov Rauf Mamedov (; born 26 April 1988) is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster and a four-time national champion. He competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2015. Career Born in Baku, Mamedov started playing chess at the age of seven. ...

*30 April Denes Boros *13 May Luka Lenič *11 June

Zhou Jianchao Zhou Jianchao (; born June 11, 1988) is a Chinese-American chess player. In 2006, he became China's 21st Grandmaster at the age of 17. Zhou competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2007, 2009 and 2015. Career Zhou Jianchao learned to play chess at t ...

*21 June Alejandro Ramírez *7 July Wen Yang *8 August Marin Bosiočić *23 August Dmitry Kononenko *6 September

Valentin Iotov Valentin Lyubomirov Iotov (, also transliterated Yotov; born 6 September 1988 in Pleven) is a Bulgarian chess player received the FIDE title of Grandmaster in 2008. He has represented his country in Chess Olympiads and was the Bulgarian ches ...

*9 September

Bassem Amin Bassem Amin (; born 9 September 1988) is an Egyptian chess grandmaster and medical doctor. He was awarded the Grandmaster title by FIDE in 2006. Amin is the highest rated Egyptian and African player and the only medical doctor to have a FIDE pea ...

*27 September

David Baramidze David Baramidze ( ka, დავით ბარამიძე, ''Davit' Baramidze''; born September 27, 1988) is a German chess Grandmaster. Baramidze was born in Tbilisi, Georgia. He obtained the title of Grandmaster in 2004, which made him t ...

*11 November

Yuri Vovk Yuri Vovk (; born 11 November 1988) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster from Lviv. He was trained by Vladimir Grabinsky, coach of the Ukrainian youth team. Career In 2007 he was joint winner with Li Chao and G. N. Gopal at the category 12 Lak ...

* Anatoly Bykhovsky * Nikolai Chadaev * Laszlo Gonda * Vitaliy Kiselev * Daniel Alsina Leal *

Wojciech Moranda Wojciech Moranda (born 17 August 1988) is a Polish chess Grandmaster (2009). Chess career Moranda won multiple Polish Junior Chess Championship medals: Two golds (2003 16 2007 20, two silvers (2005 18 2006 18, and one bronze (2002 14. ...

* Ioannis Papadopoulos *

Pavel Ponkratov Pavel Ponkratov (born 15 July 1988) is a Russian chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 2010. Together with 43 other Russian chess players, Ponkratov signed an open letter to Russian president Vladimir Putin, protesting ...

Deep Sengupta Deep Sengupta (born 30 June 1988) is an Indian chess player. He is India's 22nd player to be awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE. Sengupta competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2017. Career Born in Chakradharpur, Sengupta started chess with ...

Deaths

The following leading chess personalities died in 1988: *30 June Bernardo Wexler (born 1925): Argentine International Master who was the 1959 national champion and played in three Olympiads. *27 November

Jan Hein Donner Johannes Hendrikus (Hein) Donner (July 6, 1927 – November 27, 1988) was a Dutch chess grandmaster and writer. He was born in The Hague. His father Jan Donner was a prominent Dutch politician and judge. Donner won the Dutch Championship in 195 ...

(born 1927): Dutch Grandmaster who won the Dutch Championship in 1954, 1957 and 1958.

Other events

*The German chess magazine,

Deutsche Schachzeitung ''Deutsche Schachzeitung'' (English: "''German Chess Magazine''") was the first German chess magazine. Founded in 1846 by Ludwig Bledow under the title ''Schachzeitung der Berliner Schachgesellschaft'' and appearing monthly, it took the name ''Deuts ...

ceased publication in December 1988, having been published regularly since 1846. *The musical

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

premiered on Broadway in April 1988. It closed in June 1988.

References

{{chess 20th century in chess Chess by year