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13th Chess Olympiad

The official poster of the Olympiad.

The 13th Chess Olympiad, organized by FIDE and comprising an open 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

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