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 6 GMs, led by world champion 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

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

A future and a current World Champion battle it out. 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

Final B

#	Country	Points	MP	Head-to-head
13	Sweden	27½
14	Israel	26½
15	Austria	24½
16	Denmark	23½	13	3
17	Finland	23½	13	1
18	Cuba	23	11
19	Norway	23	10
20	Spain	22½
21	Poland	22
22	Chile	19½
23	Iceland	16½
24	India	12

Final C

#	Country	Points	MP
25	Philippines	28½
26	Indonesia	27½	17
27	Mongolia	27½	15
28	Albania	26½
29	Ecuador	26
30	Portugal	25	15
31	France	25	13
32	Italy	24
33	Belgium	23½
34	Tunisia	21½
35	Greece	20½
36	Bolivia	19½
37	Monaco	17½
38	Ireland	17
39	Malta	14
40	Lebanon	8½

Individual medals

• Board 1: Karl Robatsch 13½ / 16 = 84.4 %
• Board 2: Mikhail Botvinnik 10½ / 13 = 80.8 %
• Board 3: Paul Keres 10½ / 13 = 80.8 %
• Board 4: Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren and Tan Hoan Liong 16½ / 20 = 82.5 %
• 1st reserve: Vassily Smyslov 11½ / 13 = 88.5 %
• 2nd reserve: Tigran Petrosian 12 / 13 = 92.3 %

References

• 14th Chess Olympiad: Leipzig 1960 OlimpBase

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