13th Chess Olympiad
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The 13th Chess Olympiad, 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 30 and October 23, 1958, in Munich, West Germany.
The Soviet team with 6 GMs, led by world champion Botvinnik, lived up to expectations and won their fourth gold medals in a row, with Yugoslavia and Argentina taking the silver and bronze, respectively. The West German hosts finished 7th, right behind rivals East Germany. The two neighbouring nations were tied on both game and match points, but the East Germans had won the match between the two.
Results
Preliminaries
A total of 36 teams entered the competition and were divided into four preliminary groups of nine teams each. The top three from each group advanced to Final A, the teams placed 4th-6th to Final B, and no. 7-9 to Final C. All groups and finals were played as round-robin tournaments.
Group 1 was won by the Soviet hosts, well ahead of Bulgaria and Austria. The Netherlands, Denmark, and France took the places 4-6, while Italy, Puerto Rico, and Ireland finished at the bottom of the group.
Spain caused a small surprise by taking first place in group 2, ahead of the resurrected US team and the host nation. Finland, Iceland, and Israel made up the middle part of the group, while Norway, South Africa, and Iran had to settle for the bottom.
Group 3 was won by Argentina, ahead of East Germany and England. Traditional chess power Hungary surprisingly had to settle for Final B, along with Poland and Colombia. Meanwhile, The Philippines, Scotland, and Lebanon finished at the bottom of the group.
Czechoslovakia clinched group 4, ahead of Yugoslavia and Switzerland. Canada, Sweden, and Belgium made up the middle part of the group, while Portugal, Tunisia, and Greece completed the field.
Final
Final A # Country Players Points MP Head-to-head 1 Soviet Union
Botvinnik, Smyslov, Keres, Bronstein, Tal, Petrosian 34½ 2 Yugoslavia
Gligorić, Matanović, Ivkov, Trifunović, Đurašević, Fuderer 29 3 Argentina
Pilnik, Panno, Eliskases, Redolfi, Sanguineti, Emma 25½ 4 USA
Reshevsky, Lombardy, Bisguier, Evans, Rossolimo 24 5 Czechoslovakia
Pachman, Filip, Fichtl, Kozma, Rejfíř, Šefc 22 12 6 East Germany
Uhlmann, Malich, Dittmann, Bertholdt, Fuchs, Pietzsch 22 11 3½ 7 West Germany
Unzicker, Tröger, Schmid, Darga, Pfeiffer, Lehmann 22 11 ½ 8 Switzerland
Kupper, Blau, Keller, Walther, Nievergelt, Bhend 19 9 Spain
Pomar, Pérez, Torán Albero, Farre, Albareda, Lladó Lumbera 17½ 10 Bulgaria
Neikirch, Bobotsov, Minev, Milev, Tringov, Padevsky 17 11 England
Alexander, Penrose, Golombek, Clarke, Wade 16 12 Austria
Dückstein, Prameshuber, Stöckl, Beni, Lokvenc 15½ Final B # Country Points MP 13 Hungary
31 14 Netherlands
28 15 Canada
24½ 17 16 Colombia
24½ 13 17 Israel
23½ 18 Denmark
23 19 Poland
22½ 20 Sweden
21 21 Finland
19 22 Iceland
18 23 France
15 24 Belgium
13½ Final C # Country Points MP Head-to-head 25 Norway
30 26 Philippines
29½ 27 South Africa
28 28 Italy
26½ 29 Scotland
25½ 30 Greece
25 31 Portugal
23 32 Iran
20 33 Puerto Rico
14½ 4 2½ 34 Ireland
14½ 4 1½ 35 Tunisia
14 36 Lebanon
13½
Individual medals
- Board 1:
Svetozar Gligorić 12 / 15 = 80.0%
- Board 2:
Frank Anderson 10½ / 13 = 80.8%
- Board 3:
Paul Keres 9½ / 12 = 79.2%
- Board 4:
David Bronstein 9½ / 12 = 79.2%
- 1st reserve:
Mikhail Tal 13½ / 15 = 90.0%
- 2nd reserve:
Tigran Petrosian and
Győző Forintos 10½ / 13 = 80.8%
References
- ↑ Although commonly referred to as the men's division, this section is open to both male and female players.
- 13th Chess Olympiad: Munich 1958 OlimpBase