The 6th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez "Ciudad de Linares" was organized under the direction of Luis Rentero Suarez. No tournament was held in 1986, and Linares hosted the Karpov - Sokolov Candidates Final (1987) instead of the regular event, so three years had passed. Eleven grandmasters and one IM competed in the round robin: Jan Timman (Elo rated #3), Alexander Beliavsky (#4), Predrag Nikolic (#6), Artur Yusupov (#12), John Nunn (#14), Ljubomir Ljubojevic (#15), Lajos Portisch (#16), Kiril Georgiev (#23), Murray Chandler (#25), Johann Hjartarson (#26), Maia Chiburdanidze (#48) and Miguel Illescas (#149). Nikolic, Ljubojevic and Georgiev had played in Hoogovens (1988), which ended 24 January. Timman, Yusupov, Portisch and Hjartarson came from the Candidates preliminary matches in Saint John (Canada) which ended in the beginning of February. The twelve participants stayed at the newly constructed Hotel Anibal. Rentero would eventually buy this hotel, to host players for the annual tournament. Anatoly Karpov (#2) was meant to play, but withdrew. He was replaced by Chiburdanidze, the Women's World Champion. Rentero sent a note to the players threatening them not to be invited again if they "confused the stay with a vacation". The games were played in Hotel Anibal. Time control: 40 moves in 2½ hours.

Timman scored 6.5 points in the first seven rounds, and cruised to victory with 8.5/11. He did lose one game, to Chandler in Round 9. Beliavsky delivered as expected, and lost only to Timman. Yusupov was third, with two wins and nine draws. Nikolic disappointed this time. Illescas had Francisco Javier Ochoa De Echaguen as coach and assistant, and took 5.5/11, which was enough to secure him his second GM norm. Because the opposition was so strong, two norms were enough to earn him the grandmaster title. He became the youngest GM in the history of Spain. He received a standing ovation from the audience, and was congratulated by Karpov, who had just finished an exhibition.

Hotel Anibal, Linares, Spain, 23 February - 7 March 1988

                 Age Elo   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
 1 Timman         36 2676  * 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1  8½
 2 Beliavsky      34 2645  0 * ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1  7
 3 Yusupov        28 2620  ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½  6½
 4 Chandler       27 2590  1 0 ½ * 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1  6
 5 Ljubojevic     37 2610  0 ½ ½ 1 * ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1  6
 6 Portisch       50 2610  ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 0  5½
 7 Illescas       22 2495  0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½  5½
 8 Georgiev       22 2595  0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ 1  5½
 9 Nunn           32 2615  0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * 1 ½ 1  5½
10 Hjartarson     25 2590  ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1  4
11 Nikolic        27 2630  0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½  3½
12 Chiburdanidze  27 2560  0 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 0 0 ½ *  2½

Timman and Ljubojevic immediately went to the 2nd Euwe Memorial (1988) which started March 10th.

There is a tournament book: Miguel Illescas et al. (eds), Supertorneo Internacional Linares 1988. Ediciones Eseuve, Madrid 1988. 189 pp.

Sources

FIDE rating list January 1988 (http://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/Elo198...)
La Vanguardia, 9 March 1988, p. 44 (http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/...)
Jaque 237 (1 April 1988), pp. 162-171 (http://www.bartelski.pl/olimpbase/l...)
Leontxo García in El País, 8 March 1988 (https://elpais.com/diario/1988/03/0...)
Leontxo García in El País, 9 March 1988 (https://elpais.com/diario/1988/03/0...)
Jaque 236 (15 March 1988), pp. 135-139 (http://www.bartelski.pl/olimpbase/l...)
Leontxo García in El País, 23 February 1988 (https://elpais.com/diario/1988/02/2...)
Roman Toran Albero in ABC (Madrid), 8 March 1988, p. 82 (http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Naviga...)
Gunnar Johansson in Tidskrift för Schack, April 1988, pp. 113-115 (http://www.schack.se/tfsarkiv/histo...)
Javier Cordero Fernández in Ajedrez de Ataque, 18 January 2006 (http://www.ajedrezdeataque.com/05%2...)

Previous edition: Linares (1985). Next: Linares (1989)

Original collections: Game Collection: Linares 1988 by User: suenteus po 147 and Game Collection: Linares 1988 by User: Tabanus. Round dates (from El Mundo Deportivo): February 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, March 1, 3, 4, 5, 7.