| Tournament Name: | World Matchplay |
| Venue: | International Centre |
| Location: | Brentwood |
| Country: | England |
| Format: | Non-ranking event |
| Total Prize Fund: | £250,000 |
| Winners Share: | £100,000 |
| Highest Break: | (135)[1] |
| Winner: | Steve Davis |
| Runner Up: | John Parrott |
| Score: | 9–5 |
| Next: | 1989 |
The 1988 Everest World Matchplay was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 2 and 10 December 1988 in Brentwood, England.[2]
Established by Barry Hearn, this was the first World Matchplay tournament and was an invitation event for the top twelve players on the provisional ranking list. It was the first snooker event to offer a six-figure prize with the winner of the event sponsored by Everest, the double glazing company, receiving £100,000.[3] Of the 12 players, the top eight seeds received a bye into the quarter-finals. Steve Davis won the event, defeating John Parrott 9–5 in the final.[4]
| Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Len Ganley Brentwood Centre, Brentwood, England, 10 December 1988. | |||
| Steve Davis | 9–5 | John Parrott | |
| First session: 120–7 (100), 66–47, 69-6, 61-51, 102–4 (62), 59–41, 25–73 Second session: 18–91 64), 0–139 (135), 77-0 (53), 92–25 (84), 0–86, 1-85, 73-21 | |||
| 100 | Highest break | 135 | |
| 1 | Century breaks | 1 | |
| 4 | 50+ breaks | 2 | |