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

• Board 1: Svetozar Gligorić 12 / 15 = 80.0%
• Board 2: Frank Anderson 10½ / 13 = 80.8%
• Board 3: Paul Keres 9½ / 12 = 79.2%
• Board 4: David Bronstein 9½ / 12 = 79.2%
• 1st reserve: Mikhail Tal 13½ / 15 = 90.0%
• 2nd reserve: Tigran Petrosian and Győző Forintos 10½ / 13 = 80.8%

References

• 13th Chess Olympiad: Munich 1958 OlimpBase