20th Chess Olympiad

Šahovska olimpijada), organized by FIDE and comprising an open[1] team tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 18 and October 13, 1972, in Skopje, Yugoslavia (present-day North Macedonia).

Since Bobby Fischer had beaten Spassky earlier in the year, the team wasn't led by the current world champion – also a first.

The team still lived up to expectations, though, and won their eleventh consecutive gold medal, with Hungary and Yugoslavia taking the silver and bronze, respectively.

At this Olympiad, sealed moves were written on a separate piece of paper, not the player's score sheet.

The Bulgarian team captain instituted protest proceedings but an arbitration committee upheld the arbiter's ruling.

The Best Game prize went to Werner Hug (Switzerland) - Vlastimil Hort (Czechoslovakia) from Final A. Twenty-three nations took part in the women's Olympiad.