Canada, on 19 February 1988. The event was a 32-player single-elimination tournament, with pairings determined by best-of-four matches. The field was headlined by long-time rivals Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, with the former considered the favorite to win the tournament. Notable participants included:

# , 2750
# , 2715
# , 2630
# , 2625
# , 2625
# , 2620
# , 2595
# , 2595
# , 2595
# , 2585
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# , 2560
# , 2560
# , 2550
# , 2540
# , 2535
# , 2530