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11th Chess Olympiad

The official logo of the Olympiad.

The 11th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open team tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 4 and September 25, 1954, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

30 teams had applied, but only 26 eventually took part. The most notable absentees were the United States, who couldn't afford the travelling expenses due to financial difficulties in the USCF.

The Soviet team once again won the event, followed by Argentina and Yugoslavia. Unlike the previous Olympiad, however, they dominated this one completely and crushed all opposition, winning the final by an astounding 7 points. Keres' amazing score of 96.4% was an all-time record; he drew his first game (against Nilsson of Sweden) and won the rest.

Results

Preliminaries

A total of 26 teams entered the competition and were divided into four preliminary groups of six or seven7 teams. The top three from each group advanced to Final A, and the rest to Final B. All groups and finals were played as round-robin tournaments.

Group 1 was won by the Soviet Union, well ahead of the Dutch hosts and Iceland. Austria, Finland, and Greece finished in the bottom half.

Argentina took first place in group 2, ahead of Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia. Canada, Italy, and Ireland made up the rest of the group.

Group 3 was won by Israel, ahead of Yugoslavia and Sweden. Denmark, Norway, France, and Saar had to settle for a place in the consolation final.

Hungary cliched group 4, ahead of West Germany and England. Switzerland, Colombia, Belgium, and Luxembourg rounded up the group.

Final

Final A
# Country Players Points MP
1 Soviet Union Botvinnik, Smyslov, Bronstein, Keres, Geller, Kotov 34
2 Argentina Najdorf, J. Bolbochán, Panno, Guimard, Rossetto, Pilnik 27
3 Yugoslavia Pirc, Gligorić, Trifunović, Rabar, Fuderer, Matanović 26½
4 Czechoslovakia Pachman, Filip, Zíta, Šajtar, Fichtl, Ujtelky 24½
5 West Germany Unzicker, Schmid, Pfeiffer, Rellstab, Darga, Joppen 23½
6 Hungary Szabó, Kluger, Barcza, Sándor, Gereben 23
7 Israel Porath, Czerniak, Oren, Aloni, I. Kniazer 22
8 Netherlands Euwe, Donner, Cortlever, Prins, Kramer, Van Scheltinga 21
9 England Alexander, Penrose, Golombek, Wade, Barden, Clarke 17 7
10 Bulgaria Minev, Neikirch, Milev, Tsvetkov, Bobotsov, Bobekov 17 6
11 Sweden Ståhlberg, Lundin, Stoltz, Hörberg, Nilsson, Goode 15
12 Iceland Friðrik Ólafsson, Guðmundur Guðmundsson, Guðmundur Pálmason,
Guðmundur Ágústsson, Ingi Randver Jóhannsson, Guðmundur Arnlaugsson		 13½
Final B
# Country Points MP Head-to-head
13 Switzerland 37
14 Canada 36 21 3
15 Austria 36 21 1
16 Denmark 34½
17 Italy 28½
18 Colombia 27½
19 Belgium 27
20 Finland 26½
21 France 26
22 Saar 24
23 Norway 22
24 Greece 21
25 Ireland 11
26 Luxembourg 7

Individual medals

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