16th Chess Olympiad
The 16th 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 November 2 and November 25, 1964, in Tel Aviv, Israel.
The Soviet team with 6 GMs, led by world champion Petrosian, lived up to expectations and won their seventh consecutive gold medals, with Yugoslavia and West Germany taking the silver and bronze, respectively.
Results
Preliminaries
A total of 50 teams entered the competition and were divided into seven preliminary groups of seven or eight teams each. The top two from each group advanced to Final A, the teams placed 3rd-4th to Final B, no. 5-6 to Final C, and the rest to Final D. All preliminary groups and finals were played as round-robin tournaments. The preliminary results were as follows:
- Group 1: 1. Soviet Union, 2. Spain, 3. Philippines, 4. Chile, 5. Switzerland, 6. Venezuela, 7. South Africa.
- Group 2: 1. Yugoslavia, 2. Netherlands, 3. Mongolia, 4. Austria, 5. Mexico, 6. India, 7. Bolivia.
- Group 3: 1. Hungary, 2. Israel, 3. Sweden, 4. Scotland, 5. France, 6. Ireland, 7. Luxembourg.
- Group 4: 1. United States, 2. Poland, 3. England, 4. Norway, 5. Turkey, 6. Iran, 7. Portugal.
- Group 5: 1. Romania, 2. Czechoslovakia, 3. Cuba, 4. Paraguay, 5.Colombia, 6. Puerto Rico, 7. Australia.
- Group 6: 1. Argentina, 2. Canada, 3. East Germany, 4. Ecuador, 5. Monaco, 6. Ireland, 7. Uruguay.
- Group 7: 1. Bulgaria, 2. West Germany, 3. Denmark, 4. Peru, 5. Finland, 6. Greece, 7. Dominican Republic, 8. Cyprus.
With Australia making its debut, this was the first Olympiad where all six continents were represented.
Final
Final A # Country Players Points MP Head-
to-head1 Soviet Union Petrosian, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Keres, Stein, Spassky 36½ 2 Yugoslavia Gligorić, Ivkov, Matanović, Parma, Udovčić, Matulović 32 3 West Germany Unzicker, Darga, Schmid, Pfleger, Mohrlok, Bialas 30½ 4 Hungary Portisch, Szabó, Bilek, Lengyel, Forintos, Flesch 30 5 Czechoslovakia Pachman, Filip, Hort, Kaválek, Jansa, Blatný 28½ 6 United States Reshevsky, Benko, Saidy, Bisguier, Byrne, Addison 27½ 7 Bulgaria Padevsky, Tringov, Bobotsov, Popov, Milev, Spiridonov 27 13 3 8 Romania Ghițescu, Gheorghiu, Ciocâltea, Radovici, Mititelu, Botez 27 13 1 9 Argentina Eliskases, García, Schweber, Wexler, Cruz 26 10 Poland Doda, Bednarski, Śliwa, Filipowicz, Balcerowski, Schmidt 24 11 Netherlands Kuijpers, Bouwmeester, Langeweg, Zuidema, Prins 21 12 Canada Yanofsky, Anderson, Vranesic, Macskasy, Suttles, Witt 19 13 Spain Pomar, Medina García, Saborido, Menvielle Lacourrelle, Mora, Pérez Gonsalves 17½ 5 14 Israel Porath, Kraidman, Domnitz, Aloni, Guthi, Stepak 17½ 3
Final B # Country Points MP 15 East Germany 38½ 16 Sweden 32 17 Denmark 31½ 18 England 31 19 Peru 27½ 15 20 Austria 27½ 14 21 Cuba 26 22 Norway 25½ 14 23 Mongolia 25½ 13 24 Chile 24 25 Philippines 22½ 26 Ecuador 18 27 Paraguay 17½ 28 Scotland 17
Final C # Country Points MP 29 Iceland 37½ 30 Switzerland 36½ 31 Colombia 35 24 32 Finland 35 19 33 Venezuela 30½ 34 France 29½ 35 Greece 27½ 36 Iran 23½ 37 India 22 38 Puerto Rico 21½ 39 Turkey 20½ 40 Mexico 20 41 Ireland 13 42 Monaco 12
Final D # Country Points 43 Australia 22½ 44 South Africa 18 45 Bolivia 15½ 46 Uruguay 14½ 47 Portugal 14 48 Luxembourg 12 49 Dominican Republic 10½ 50 Cyprus 5
Individual medals
- Board 1: Wolfgang Uhlmann 15 / 18 = 83.3%
- Board 2: Tudev Ujtumen 13½ / 17 = 79.4%
- Board 3: Vassily Smyslov 11 / 13 = 84.6%
- Board 4: Paul Keres (10/12), Helmut Pfleger (12½/15), and David Friedgood (10/12) = 83.3%
- 1st reserve: Leonid Stein 10 / 13 = 76.9%
- 2nd reserve: Milan Matulović and Günther Möhring 11 / 13 = 84.6%
At the other end of the spectrum, Milton Ioannidis of Cyprus lost all of his 4 games, giving him a total score at the Olympiads of 0 / 24 = 0.0%.
References
- Although commonly referred to as the men's division, this section is open to both male and female players.
- 16th Chess Olympiad: Tel Aviv 1964 OlimpBase