2nd Chess Olympiad — The Hague 1928

Incomplete record. This archive holds 265 games of this event; the others are missing, and the number played is not established.

The second Chess Olympiad was staged in the historic Ridderzaal of the Binnenhof, the seat of the Dutch parliament in The Hague. Conceived as a championship for amateurs — the era's leading professionals stayed away — it still produced a fierce contest, and Hungary retained its title in commanding style with 44 board points, four and a half clear of the fast-rising United States.

◇An Olympiad for amateurs

FIDE framed the 1928 event as a world team championship for amateurs, held in parallel with an individual Amateur World Championship that Max Euwe won for the Netherlands. Seventeen nations entered the team competition, again a four-board round robin scored on total board points. The amateur restriction kept many established masters out of the hall, but it opened the door for a new generation.

Chief among the newcomers was Isaac Kashdan of the United States, who took the best individual result of the whole tournament with 13/15, a first glimpse of the American strength that would define the coming decade of Olympiads.

◇Hungary again

Hungary proved too strong for the field, finishing on 44 points to defend the crown it had won in London. The United States claimed silver on 39½, with Poland third on 37, Austria fourth on 36½, and Denmark and Switzerland tied on 34 for fifth and sixth. These are the official final standings.

Behind Kashdan's leading 13/15, France's André Muffang (12½/16) and Poland's Teodor Regedziński (10/13) rounded out the top individual scorers, a spread of results that showed how evenly the strongest boards were matched even without the professionals present.