10th Chess Olympiad

(Redirected from 1952 Chess Olympiad)

The 10th Chess Olympiad (Finnish: 10. Shakkiolympialaiset; Swedish: Den 10:e Schackolympiad), organized by the FIDE and comprising an open[1] team tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between August 9 and August 31, 1952, in Helsinki, Finland.

Finnish stamp dedicated to the 1952 Chess Olympiad

The Olympiad was especially notable for the debut of the Soviet team, who instantly won their first gold medals and went on to completely dominate the Olympiads for the next four decades.

After the tournament, it was generally agreed that the small preliminary and final groups of only 8–9 teams left too much open to chance, since a single blunder would have an impact too big on the final standings. Consequently, FIDE decided that in the future, no final should have less than 12 participants.

Results

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Preliminaries

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Twenty-five teams entered the competition and were divided into three preliminary groups of eight or nine teams. The top three from each group advanced to Final A, the teams placed fourth-sixth to Final B, and the rest to Final C. All groups and finals were played as round-robin tournaments.

Group 1 was won by Argentina, ahead of West Germany and Czechoslovakia. England, Denmark, and Cuba took the following places, while Iceland, Saar, and Luxembourg finished in the bottom third.

Sweden took first place in group 2, ahead of Hungary and Yugoslavia. East Germany, Austria, and Italy took places four through six, while Brazil and Norway finished seventh and eighth.

Group 3 was won by the Soviet Union, well ahead of the United States and the Finnish hosts. Israel, the Netherlands, and Poland took the following places, while Switzerland and Greece finished at the bottom.

Group 1

Final Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + = Points
«A» Argentina - 2 2 4 6 0 2 25½
«A» West Germany 2 - 2 4 4 6 0 2 23
«A» Czechoslovakia 2 2 - 3 3 4 6 0 2 22½
«B» England ½ - 2 2 4 4 3 3 2 18
«B» Denmark ½ 1 2 - 2 3 4 2 4 2 15½
«B» Cuba ½ ½ ½ 2 2 - 3 3 2 14
«C» Iceland ½ - 2 1 6 1 12½
«C» Saar ½ 0 1 0 1 - 4 2 6 0 10½
«C» Luxembourg 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 2 0 - 0 7 1

Group 2

Final Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 + = Points
«A» Sweden - 2 2 2 4 4 4 0 3 21
«A» Hungary 2 - 4 3 4 6 0 1 20½
«A» Yugoslavia 2 - 3 3 3 5 1 1 18½
«B» East Germany ½ 1 - 3 3 4 0 13½
«B» Austria 2 0 1 - 2 2 3 2 11½
«B» Italy ½ 1 1 - 1 2 5 0 11
«C» Brazil 0 0 1 2 3 - 3 2 4 1 10½
«C» Norway 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 - 0 7 0

Group 3

Final Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 + = Points
«A» Soviet Union - 3 3 4 4 7 0 0 23½
«A» United States 1 - 4 2 4 4 3 3 1 18
«A» Finland - 3 4 3 4 3 0 17
«B» Israel 1 0 - 2 4 4 4 2 1 16
«B» Netherlands ½ - 3 4 0 13½
«B» Poland 0 2 1 2 - 3 2 2 12½
«C» Switzerland ½ 0 0 0 - 3 2 5 0
«C» Greece 0 0 1 0 ½ ½ 1 - 0 7 0 4

Final

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Final A
# Country Players Points
1   Soviet Union Keres, Smyslov, Bronstein, Geller, Boleslavsky, Kotov 21
2   Argentina Najdorf, J. Bolbochán, Eliskases, Pilnik, Rossetto 19½
3   Yugoslavia Gligorić, Rabar, Trifunović, Pirc, Fuderer, Milić 19
4   Czechoslovakia Filip, Pachman, Šajtar, Kottnauer, Zíta, Pithart 18
5   United States Reshevsky, Evans, Robert Byrne, Bisguier, Koltanowski, Berliner 17
6   Hungary Szabó, Barcza, Szily, Flórián, Pogáts, Molnár 16
7   Sweden Ståhlberg, Stoltz, Lundin, Sköld, Johansson, Danielsson 13
8   West Germany Teschner, Schmid, Pfeiffer, Heinicke, Lange, Rellstab 10½
9   Finland Böök, Ojanen, Kaila, Salo, Fred, Niemelä 10
Final B
# Country Players Points MP
10   Netherlands Van Scheltinga, Prins, Donner, Cortlever, Kramer, Barendregt 21
11   Israel Czerniak, Oren, Porath, Aloni, Mandelbaum 19½
12   Poland Tarnowski, Pytlakowski, Plater, Śliwa, Litmanowicz, Grynfeld 16½ 10
13   East Germany Koch, Pietzsch, Platz, Müller 16½ 7
14   Denmark Enevoldsen J., Poulsen, Nielsen, Pedersen, Enevoldsen H. 16
15   Cuba Alemán, Planas, Gonzáles, Cobo Arteaga, Ortega 15
16   England Golombek, Penrose, Milner-Barry, Barden, Horne, Hooper 14
17   Austria Lokvenc, Poschauko, Beni, Auer, Palda, Keller 13
18   Italy Porreca, Nestler, Scafarelli, Calà, Primavera 12½
Final C
# Country Players Points MP Head-to-head
19   Brazil German, Souza Mendes, Mangini, Carvalho jr., Cruz Filho, Vasconcellos 18½
20   Greece Gaitanaros, Tsiknopoulos, Mastihiadis, Anagnostou, Sakellaropoulos, Zografakis 13½
21   Norway Vestøl, Myhre, Morcken, Rojahn, Ramm, Madsen E. 13 6
22    Switzerland Grob, Müller, Morel, Bachmann P., Bhend 13 6
23   Iceland Gilfer, Ólafsson, Johnsen, Sigurðsson, Gíslason, Arnlaugsson 12½ 8
24   Saar Lorson, Benkner, Weichselbaumer, Jost F., Jacob 12½ 5
25   Luxembourg Doerner, Levy, Lambert H., Kremer, Barbier 1

Final A

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Place Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + = Points
1 Soviet Union - 2 2 2 3 5 0 3 21
2 Argentina - 3 5 3 0 19½
3 Yugoslavia 2 - 2 3 3 5 1 2 19
4 Czechoslovakia 2 - 2 2 3 3 2 3 18
5 United States 2 2 2 - 2 3 2 2 1 5 17
6 Hungary 1 1 2 - 2 3 3 2 16
7 Sweden 1 ½ 2 - 2 2 1 4 3 13
8 West Germany ½ 1 1 1 2 2 - 0 6 2 10½
9 Finland ½ ½ ½ 2 ½ 2 - 1 5 2 10

Final B

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Place Country 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 + = Points
10 Netherlands - 2 3 3 3 6 1 1 21
11 Israel 2 - 2 3 3 2 5 0 3 19½
12 Poland 2 - 1 2 4 2 2 16½
13 East Germany 1 - 2 3 3 3 3 4 1 16½
14 Denmark 2 - 3 3 4 1 16
15 Cuba ½ 1 1 - 3 2 3 4 1 15
16 England 1 3 1 - 2 2 5 1 14
17 Austria 1 2 2 1 1 ½ - 3 2 4 2 13
18 Italy 1 1 2 2 1 - 1 5 2 12½

Final C

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Place Country 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 + = Points
19 Brazil - 2 4 4 5 0 1 18½
20 Greece - 4 3 0 3 13½
21 Norway 2 - 2 2 2 2 13
22 Switzerland - 3 3 0 13
23 Iceland 0 - 1 4 4 2 0 12½
24 Saar ½ 2 3 - 4 2 3 1 12½
25 Luxembourg 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 - 0 6 0 1

Individual medals

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References

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