14th Chess Olympiad

The official poster of the Olympiad

The 14th 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 October 26 and November 9, 1960, in Leipzig, East Germany.

The Soviet team with six grandmasters, led by world champion Mikhail Tal, lived up to expectations and won their fifth consecutive gold medals, with the United States and Yugoslavia taking the silver and bronze, respectively. In a reversal of fortune from the previous Olympiad, the East German hosts finished 9th, right behind rivals West Germany. Unlike the last time, however, the match between the two was a tight affair that ended in a 2–2 draw.

Results

Preliminaries

A total of 40 teams entered the competition and were divided into four preliminary groups of 10 teams each. The top three from each group advanced to Final A, the teams placed 4th-6th to Final B, and the rest to Final C. All preliminary groups as well as Finals A and B were played as round-robin tournaments, while Final C with 16 teams was played as an 11 round Swiss system tournament.

Group 1 was won by the Bulgaria, ahead of Yugoslavia and the host nation. Norway, Finland, and Israel took the places 4-6, while Indonesia, France, Albania, and Malta finished at the bottom of the group.

The Soviet Union took first place in group 2, well ahead of Argentina and the Netherlands. Poland, Austria, and India made up the middle part of the group, while Portugal, the Philippines, Italy, and Monaco had to settle for the bottom.

Group 3 was won by England, ahead of Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The three Nordic nations Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland had to settle for Final B. Meanwhile, Mongolia, Tunisia, Greece, and Bolivia finished at the bottom of the group.

The United States clinched group 4, ahead of West Germany and Romania. Spain, Chile, and Cuba made up the middle part of the group, while Belgium, Ecuador, Ireland, and Lebanon completed the field.

Final

Bobby Fischer and Mikhail Tal at the Olympiad
Final A
# Country Players Points MP
1  Soviet Union Tal, Botvinnik, Keres, Korchnoi, Smyslov, Petrosian 34
2  United States Fischer, Lombardy, Byrne, Bisguier, Rossolimo, Weinstein 29
3  Yugoslavia Gligorić, Matanović, Ivkov, Bertok, Damjanović, Vukčević 27
4  Hungary Szabó, Portisch, Barcza, Bilek, Lengyel, Kluger, 22½
5  Czechoslovakia Pachman, Filip, Fichtl, Hort, Kozma, Ujtelky 21½
6  Bulgaria Bobotsov, Padevsky, Neikirch, Kolarov, Minev, Milev 21
7  Argentina Najdorf, Eliskases, Wexler, Bazán, Schweber, Foguelman 20½
8  West Germany Unzicker, Schmid, Darga, Lehmann, Bialas, Pfeiffer 19½
9  East Germany Uhlmann, Pietzsch, Malich, Dittmann, Fuchs, Golz 19
10  Netherlands Euwe, Donner, Bouwmeester, Prins, Kramer, Langeweg 17
11  Romania Ghiţescu, Drimer, Radovici, Mititelu, Troianescu, Szabó 16½ 7
12  England Penrose, Golombek, Clarke, Haygarth, Barden, Wade 16½ 4

Individual medals

References

  1. ↑ Although commonly referred to as the men's division, this section is open to both male and female players.

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