The 10th Chess Olympiad (; ), organized by the FIDE and comprising a team tournament, took place between August 9 and August 31, 1952, in Helsinki, Finland.
The Olympiad was especially notable for the debut of the Soviet team, who 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
Preliminaries
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 3½ 3½ 3½ 3½ 3½ 4 6 0 2 25½ «A» West Germany 2
2 2½ 2½ 3½ 2½ 4 4 6 0 2 23 «A» Czechoslovakia 2 2
2½ 3 3½ 2½ 3 4 6 0 2 22½ «B» England ½ 1½ 1½
2 2 2½ 4 4 3 3 2 18 «B» Denmark ½ 1½ 1 2
2 1½ 3 4 2 4 2 15½ «B» Cuba ½ ½ ½ 2 2
2½ 2½ 3½ 3 3 2 14 «C» Iceland ½ 1½ 1½ 1½ 2½ 1½
1½ 2 1 6 1 12½ «C» Saar ½ 0 1 0 1 1½ 2½
4 2 6 0 10½ «C» Luxembourg 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 2 0
0 7 1 2½
Group 2 Final Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 + −
Points «A» Sweden
2 2 3½ 2 3½ 4 4 4 0 3 21 «A» Hungary 2
2½ 2½ 4 3 4 2½ 6 0 1 20½ «A» Yugoslavia 2 1½
3 2½ 3 3 3½ 5 1 1 18½ «B» East Germany ½ 1½ 1
3 1½ 2½ 3½ 3 4 0 13½ «B» Austria 2 0 1½ 1
2½ 2 2½ 2 3 2 11½ «B» Italy ½ 1 1 2½ 1½
1 3½ 2 5 0 11 «C» Brazil 0 0 1 1½ 2 3
3 2 4 1 10½ «C» Norway 0 1½ ½ ½ 1½ ½ 1
0 7 0 5½
Group 3 Final Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 + −
Points «A» Soviet Union
3 2½ 3 3½ 4 3½ 4 7 0 0 23½ «A» United States 1
1½ 4 1½ 2 4 4 3 3 1 18 «A» Finland 1½ 2½
1½ 1½ 3 4 3 4 3 0 17 «B» Israel 1 0 2½
2½ 2 4 4 4 2 1 16 «B» Netherlands ½ 2½ 2½ 1½
1½ 1½ 3½ 3 4 0 13½ «B» Poland 0 2 1 2 2½
2½ 2½ 3 2 2 12½ «C» Switzerland ½ 0 0 0 2½ 1½
3 2 5 0 7½ «C» Greece 0 0 1 0 ½ ½ 1
0 7 0 4
Final
{| class="wikitable" |+ Final A ! # !!Country !! Players !! Points |- | style="background:gold;"|1 || || Keres, Smyslov, Bronstein, Geller, Boleslavsky, Kotov || 21 |- | style="background:silver;"|2 || || Najdorf, J. Bolbochán, Eliskases, Pilnik, Rossetto || 19½ |- | style="background:#cc9966;"|3 || || Gligorić, Rabar, Trifunović, Pirc, Fuderer, Milić || 19 |- | 4 || || Filip, Pachman, Šajtar, Kottnauer, Zíta, Pithart || 18 |- | 5 || || Reshevsky, Evans, Robert Byrne, Bisguier, Koltanowski, Berliner || 17 |- | 6 || || Szabó, Barcza, Szily, Flórián, Pogáts, Molnár || 16 |- | 7 || || Ståhlberg, Stoltz, Lundin, Sköld, Johansson, Danielsson || 13 |- | 8 || || Teschner, Schmid, Pfeiffer, Heinicke, Lange, Rellstab || 10½ |- | 9 || || Böök, Ojanen, Kaila, Salo, Fred, Niemelä || 10
{| class="wikitable" |+ Final B ! # !!Country !! Players !! Points !! MP |- | 10 || || Van Scheltinga, Prins, Donner, Cortlever, Kramer, Barendregt || 21 || |- | 11 || || Czerniak, Oren, Porath, Aloni, Mandelbaum || 19½ || |- | 12 || || Tarnowski, Pytlakowski, Plater, Śliwa, Litmanowicz, Grynfeld || 16½ || 10 |- | 13 || || Koch, Pietzsch, Platz, Müller || 16½ || 7 |- | 14 || || Enevoldsen J., Poulsen, Nielsen, Pedersen, Enevoldsen H. || 16 || |- | 15 || || Alemán, Planas, Gonzáles, Cobo Arteaga, Ortega || 15 || |- | 16 || || Golombek, Penrose, Milner-Barry, Barden, Horne, Hooper || 14 || |- | 17 || || Lokvenc, Poschauko, Beni, Auer, Palda, Keller || 13 || |- | 18 || || Porreca, Nestler, Scafarelli, Calà, Primavera || 12½ ||
{| class="wikitable" |+ Final C ! # !!Country !! Players !! Points !! MP !! Head-to-head |- | 19 || || German, Souza Mendes, Mangini, Carvalho jr., Cruz Filho, Vasconcellos || 18½ || || |- | 20 || || Gaitanaros, Tsiknopoulos, Mastihiadis, Anagnostou, Sakellaropoulos, Zografakis || 13½ || || |- | 21 || || Vestøl, Myhre, Morcken, Rojahn, Ramm, Madsen E. || 13 || 6 || 2½ |- | 22 || || Grob, Müller, Morel, Bachmann P., Bhend || 13 || 6 || 1½ |- | 23 || || Gilfer, Ólafsson, Johnsen, Sigurðsson, Gíslason, Arnlaugsson || 12½ || 8 || |- | 24 || || Lorson, Benkner, Weichselbaumer, Jost F., Jacob || 12½ || 5 || |- | 25 || || Doerner, Levy, Lambert H., Kremer, Barbier || 1 || ||
Final A Place Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + −
Points 1 Soviet Union
2½ 2 2 2 2½ 3 3½ 3½ 5 0 3 21 2 Argentina 1½
2½ 1½ 1½ 3 3½ 2½ 3½ 5 3 0 19½ 3 Yugoslavia 2 1½
2½ 2 3 2½ 3 2½ 5 1 2 19 4 Czechoslovakia 2 2½ 1½
2 1½ 2 3 3½ 3 2 3 18 5 United States 2 2½ 2 2
2 1½ 3 2 2 1 5 17 6 Hungary 1½ 1 1 2½ 2
2½ 2 3½ 3 3 2 16 7 Sweden 1 ½ 1½ 2 2½ 1½
2 2 1 4 3 13 8 West Germany ½ 1½ 1 1 1 2 2
1½ 0 6 2 10½ 9 Finland ½ ½ 1½ ½ 2 ½ 2 2½
1 5 2 10
Final B Place Country 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 + −
Points 10 Netherlands
2 1½ 2½ 2½ 3½ 3 3 3 6 1 1 21 11 Israel 2
2 3 2½ 3 2½ 2 2½ 5 0 3 19½ 12 Poland 2½ 2
2½ 1½ 2½ 1 2 2½ 4 2 2 16½ 13 East Germany 1½ 1 1½
2 3 1½ 3 3 3 4 1 16½ 14 Denmark 1½ 1½ 2½ 2
1½ 2½ 3 1½ 3 4 1 16 15 Cuba ½ 1 1½ 1 2½
3 3½ 2 3 4 1 15 16 England 1 1½ 3 2½ 1½ 1
1½ 2 2 5 1 14 17 Austria 1 2 2 1 1 ½ 2½
3 2 4 2 13 18 Italy 1 1½ 1½ 1 2½ 2 2 1
1 5 2 12½
Final C Place Country 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 + −
Points 19 Brazil
2½ 2 2½ 4 3½ 4 5 0 1 18½ 20 Greece 1½
2½ 1½ 1½ 2½ 4 3 0 3 13½ 21 Norway 2 1½
2½ 1½ 2 3½ 2 2 2 13 22 Switzerland 1½ 2½ 1½
1½ 2½ 3½ 3 3 0 13 23 Iceland 0 2½ 2½ 2½
1 4 4 2 0 12½ 24 Saar ½ 1½ 2 1½ 3
4 2 3 1 12½ 25 Luxembourg 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0
0 6 0 1
Individual medals
Board 1: Miguel Najdorf 12½ / 16 = 78.1% Board 2: Vassily Smyslov 10½ / 13 = 80.8% Board 3: David Bronstein 8 / 10 = 80.0% Board 4: Čeněk Kottnauer 12½ / 15 = 83.3% 1st reserve: Héctor Rossetto 8 / 10 = 80.0% 2nd reserve: Ludwig Rellstab 6½ / 9 = 72.2%
References
10th Chess Olympiad: Helsinki 1952 OlimpBase