The 44th Chess Olympiad is about to start in Chennai. The main focus will be undoubtedly on the team results, as every match is a joint effort to earn a match victory. However, individual achievements are also highlighted at Chess Olympiads. Let us recall some of the most remarkable individual results at the Chess Olympiads in the 21st century. | Photo: Niklesh Jain (from the 2018 Batumi Olympiad)
In the third episode of the series "Olympiad stories with Saravanan", IM Sagar Shah and IM Venkata Saravanan discuss Judit Polgar's flabbergasting 12½/13 performance in the 1988 Thessaloniki Olympiad. Judit was rated 2365 FIDE at the time, with rating lists coming out every six months. Not only did Hungary sweep the championship to take gold and defeat the all-powerful Soviet chess team, but Judit had an incredible 2694 performance, and she was barely twelve years old. To better put this in perspective, you need to realize that, in 1988, only two players in the world had 2700+ ratings: Kasparov and Karpov. | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram