Silver medal of the 1972 Chess Olympiad
Curious fact
For the first time in the Open event, the Soviet team was composed of five Grandmasters and one International Master, Savon, and for the first time, it was not led by the reigning world champion, following Bobby Fischer’s victory over Spassky earlier that year
The 20th Chess Olympiad was held from September 18 to October 13, 1972, in Skopje, then part of Yugoslavia. Concurrently, the 5th Women’s Chess Olympiad occurred, marking the first instance of both events being held simultaneously at the same location. The Open category featured 63 teams, while the Women’s category had 23. The Soviet Union emerged victorious in both, with Hungary and Yugoslavia securing second and third places in the Open, and Romania and Hungary taking silver and bronze in the Women’s.
