The 11th Chess Olympiad (), organized by the FIDE and comprising a team tournament, took place between September 4 and September 25, 1954, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
30 teams had applied, but only 26 took part. The most notable absentees were the United States, who could not 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 seven 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 seven 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 clinched group 4, ahead of West Germany and England. Switzerland, Colombia, Belgium, and Luxembourg rounded up the group.
Group 1 Final Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 + −
Points «A» Soviet Union
2 3½ 3 4 4 4 0 1 16½ «A» Netherlands 2
2½ 3 3 2½ 4 0 1 13 «A» Iceland ½ 1½
3 3½ 2½ 3 2 0 11 «B» Austria 1 1 1
3 3½ 2 3 0 9½ «B» Finland 0 1 ½ 1
3 1 4 0 5½ «B» Greece 0 1½ 1½ ½ 1
0 5 0 4½
Group 2 Final Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 + −
Points «A» Argentina
2 2 3 3 4 3 0 2 14 «A» Bulgaria 2
2 2½ 3½ 3½ 3 0 2 13½ «A» Czechoslovakia 2 2
2½ 3 4 3 0 2 13½ «B» Canada 1 1½ 1½
2½ 3½ 2 3 0 10 «B» Italy 1 ½ 1 1½
3½ 1 4 0 7½ «B» Ireland 0 ½ 0 ½ ½
0 5 0 1½
Group 3 Final Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 + −
Points «A» Israel
1½ 3 2½ 3 3 3 5 1 0 16 «A» Yugoslavia 2½
2 3 2½ 2½ 1½ 4 1 1 14 «A» Sweden 1 2
2 2½ 2½ 4 3 1 2 14 «B» Denmark 1½ 1 2
1½ 3½ 2 1 3 2 11½ «B» Norway 1 1½ 1½ 2½
2 2½ 2 3 1 11 «B» France 1 1½ 1½ ½ 2
3 1 4 1 9½ «B» Saar 1 2½ 0 2 1½ 1
1 4 1 8
Group 4 Final Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 + −
Points «A» Hungary
2½ 1½ 3 4 3 4 5 1 0 18 «A» West Germany 1½
2½ 3 2 3½ 4 4 1 1 16½ «A» England 2½ 1½
2½ 1½ 1½ 4 3 3 0 13½ «B» Switzerland 1 1 1½
2½ 3½ 4 3 3 0 13½ «B» Colombia 0 2 2½ 1½
2½ 4 3 2 1 12½ «B» Belgium 1 ½ 2½ ½ 1½
3 2 4 0 9 «B» Luxembourg 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 6 0 1
Final
{| class="wikitable" |+ Final A ! # !!Country !! Players !! Points !! MP |- | style="background:gold;"|1 || || Botvinnik, Smyslov, Bronstein, Keres, Geller, Kotov || 34 || |- | style="background:silver;"|2 || || Najdorf, J. Bolbochán, Panno, Guimard, Rossetto, Pilnik || 27 || |- | style="background:#cc9966;"|3 || || Pirc, Gligorić, Trifunović, Rabar, Fuderer, Matanović || 26½ || |- | 4 || || Pachman, Filip, Zíta, Šajtar, Fichtl, Ujtelky || 24½ || |- | 5 || || Unzicker, Schmid, Pfeiffer, Rellstab, Darga, Joppen || 23½ || |- | 6 || || Szabó, Kluger, Barcza, Sándor, Gereben || 23 || |- | 7 || || Porath, Czerniak, Oren, Aloni, Kniazer || 22 || |- | 8 || || Euwe, Donner, Cortlever, Prins, Kramer, Van Scheltinga || 21 || |- | 9 || || Alexander, Penrose, Golombek, Wade, Barden, Clarke || 17 || 7 |- | 10 || || Minev, Neikirch, Milev, Tsvetkov, Bobotsov, Bobekov || 17 || 6 |- | 11 || || Ståhlberg, Lundin, Stoltz, Hörberg, Nilsson, Goode || 15 || |- | 12 || || Friðrik Ólafsson, Guðmundur Guðmundsson, Guðmundur Pálmason,Guðmundur Ágústsson, Ingi Randver Jóhannsson, Guðmundur Arnlaugsson || 13½ ||
{| class="wikitable" |+ Final B ! # !!Country !! Players !! Points !! MP !! Head-to-head |- | 13 || || Kupper, Blau, Nievergelt, Bhend, Zimmermann, Walther || 37 || || |- | 14 || || Yanofsky, Anderson, Vaitonis, Bohatyrchuk, Fox, Divinsky || 36 || 21 || 3 |- | 15 || || Robatsch, Beni, Prameshuber, Lokvenc, Kovács || 36 || 21 || 1 |- | 16 || || Larsen, Nielsen A., Nielsen P., Nielsen V., Enevoldsen, Andersen B. || 34½ || || |- | 17 || || Paoli, Porreca, Norcia, Scafarelli, Calà || 28½ || || |- | 18 || || Cuéllar, de Greiff, Sánchez, Rivera, Tejada H., Hernández G. || 27½ || || |- | 19 || || O'Kelly, Dunkelblum, Gobert, Lemaire, Franck, Thibaut || 27 || || |- | 20 || || Salo, Vesterinen, Katajisto, Fred, Rantanen || 26½ || || |- | 21 || || Bernstein, Raizman, Thiellement, Bergraser, Noradounguian, Burstein || 26 || || |- | 22 || || Benkner, Lorson, Morena, Kastel, Weichselbaumer, Haas || 24 || || |- | 23 || || Morcken, Vestøl, Lindblom, Støre, Flater, Ramm || 22 || || |- | 24 || || Parliaros, Anagnostou, Panagopoulos, Papapavlou || 21 || || |- | 25 || || Reilly, Kelly, Maher, Walsh, Nash, Rohan || 11 || || |- | 26 || || Doerner, Neu, Philippe, Schneider, Kremer, Jerolim J. || 7 || ||
Final A Place Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 + −
Points 1 Soviet Union
3½ 2½ 2½ 3 3 2 3½ 3½ 3 3½ 4 10 0 1 34 2 Argentina ½
1½ 3 2½ 2 3 2½ 3 2½ 3 3½ 8 2 1 27 3 Yugoslavia 1½ 2½
2 2½ 1½ 3 3 3½ 2 2½ 2½ 7 2 2 26½ 4 Czechoslovakia 1½ 1 2
3 2 1½ 2 3 2½ 3½ 2½ 5 3 3 24½ 5 West Germany 1 1½ 1½ 1
2 2½ ½ 2½ 4 4 3 5 5 1 23½ 6 Hungary 1 2 2½ 2 2
1 3 2 2 2 3½ 3 2 6 23 7 Israel 2 1 1 2½ 1½ 3
3 ½ 3 2 2½ 5 4 2 22 8 Netherlands ½ 1½ 1 2 3½ 1 1
3 2½ 3 2 4 5 2 21 9 England ½ 1 ½ 1 1½ 2 3½ 1
2½ 1 2½ 3 7 1 17 10 Bulgaria 1 1½ 2 1½ 0 2 1 1½ 1½
2½ 2½ 2 7 2 17 11 Sweden ½ 1 1½ ½ 0 2 2 1 3 1½
2 1 7 3 15 12 Iceland 0 ½ 1½ 1½ 1 ½ 1½ 2 1½ 1½ 2
0 9 2 13½
Final B Place Country 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 + −
Points 13 Switzerland
3 3 2 3 3½ 2½ 2½ 3 2½ 4 1 3½ 3½ 11 1 1 37 14 Canada 1
3 2 3 3½ 2 2½ 3½ 3 3½ 2 3 4 9 1 3 36 15 Austria 1 1
3 3 3 2 3 2½ 3 3 3½ 4 4 10 2 1 36 16 Denmark 2 2 1
2 1½ 3 3½ 3 2 3½ 3½ 4 3½ 7 2 4 34½ 17 Italy 1 1 1 2
2 3 1½ 1 2 3½ 3½ 4 3 5 5 3 28½ 18 Colombia ½ ½ 1 2½ 2
2 2½ 1 3½ 3 2½ 2½ 4 7 4 2 27½ 19 Belgium 1½ 2 2 1 1 2
1½ 3 2½ 2 2 2½ 4 4 4 5 27 20 Finland 1½ 1½ 1 ½ 2½ 1½ 2½
2½ 2 2½ 1½ 4 3 6 6 1 26½ 21 France 1 ½ 1½ 1 3 3 1 1½
3 1½ 3 2½ 3½ 6 7 0 26 22 Saar 1½ 1 1 2 2 ½ 1½ 2 1
1 2½ 4 4 3 7 3 24 23 Norway 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 2 1½ 2½ 3
2½ 4 3 5 7 1 22 24 Greece 3 2 ½ ½ ½ 1½ 2 2½ 1 1½ 1½
1½ 3 3 8 2 21 25 Ireland ½ 1 0 0 0 1½ 1½ 0 1½ 0 0 2½
2½ 2 11 0 11 26 Luxembourg ½ 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 1 ½ 0 1 1 1½
0 13 0 7
Individual medals
Board 1: Mikhail Botvinnik 8½ / 11 = 77.3% Board 2: Frank Anderson 14 / 17 = 82.4% Board 3: Gedeon Barcza 12½ / 16 = 78.1% Board 4: Paul Keres 13½ / 14 = 96.4% 1st reserve: Efim Geller 5 / 7 = 71.4% 2nd reserve: Sylvain Burstein 8½ / 11 = 77.3%
Notes and references
External links
11th Chess Olympiad: Amsterdam 1954 OlimpBase