The 1987/88 season was the first season of the newly founded Elitserien . At the start were the top three from Division I Norra ( Wasa SK , SK Rockaden Stockholm and Upsala ASS ), Division I Södra ( Schacksällskapet Manhem , SK Kamraterna and Malmö Schacksällskap ) as well as with Schack 08 and Limhamns SK, the winners of two qualifying tournaments. The defending champion Wasa SK won all competitions and was five points ahead of the champions. Malmö Schacksällskap (who were defeated in the last round by local rivals and direct competitors in the relegation battle Limhamns SK) and SK Kamraterna, who had qualified for the final tournament for the Swedish team championship in 1987, had to relegate. For the reported team squads of the participating clubs see team squad of the Elitserien (chess) 1987/88 .
The competitions took place on October 25, November 15, December 6, 1987, January 17, February 7 and 28 and March 20, 1988. To reduce travel costs, a third round competition was held on February 6 and a fourth round competition was postponed to February 27, so that SK Kamraterna played both away games in Malmö on one weekend, as did the Malmö SS their away competitions in Uppsala and Stockholm .