CHESS OLYMPIADS
Jan van Reek
Pgn Chess Olympiads (selected annotated games)
The success of the Olympic Summer Games in Paris 1924 had a great appeal to chess organizers. National federations came to Paris in 1924 and FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) was proclaimed by fifteen nations. Alexander Rueb became the first president.
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| Golmayo, Vajda,
Tschepurnoff, Apsenieks, Euwe, Colle, Matisons, Palau Finalists of Paris 1924 (Havasi is missing) |
Hamilton Russell Cup |
Four usual characteristics of
chess Olympiads were present in London 1927: 1. The team tournament was
the main event. 2. National teams of four players met. 3. Professionals
were allowed. 4. Challenge trophy became the golden Hamilton Russell
Cup. Hungary won the first official Olympiad.
The second one became The Hague 1928. The FIDE
wanted to participate in the Olympic Games and invited only amateurs.
Although the Games took place in the Netherlands, chess did not even
become a demonstration sport. FIDE seemed to be an amateurish family.
But thereafter, a biannual team event of professionals and amateurs
became a great success! Hamburg 1930 was the first full event. The USA
won gold in 1931, 1933, 1935 and 1937. FIDE survived an economic
crisis.
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| Fine, Kupchik, officer, Horowitz, Frank & Carrie Marshall and Dake on a boat to Warsaw 1935 |
Germany had been excluded in 1933, 1935 and 1937 due to the Aryan paragraph. Although the ban of Jews had remained, a German team was allowed in 1939. Preliminaries were organised, because more than twenty countries participated. The start of the finals in Buenos Aires coincided with the invasion of Poland by Germany. England withdrew. Some teams refused to play Germany, the future winners. Eventually, many chess players stayed in Argentina.
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| Copacabana transported European players from Buenos Aires to Antwerp in 1939 | Kotov, Geller, Smyslov, Bronstein, Keres, Botvinnik and Bondarevsky (captain) in Amsterdam 1954 |
The Olympiads were resumed in Dubrovnik 1950. A new era started, when the Soviet Union took part in Helsinki 1952. They dominated many Olympiads. Preliminaries occurred from 1952 until 1974.
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| Sheraton Hotel Playing Hall of Tel Aviv 1964 |
Fischer and
Spassky have drawn in Havana 1966. Tal and Polugaevsky are watching. |
The Swiss System was applied from 1976. Haifa 1976 became deviant, because it was boycotted by many countries. Hungary won Buenos Aires 1978. The Soviet Union triumphed from 1980 until 1990. The number of participating countries rose above one-hundred.
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| Jan Timman and Robert Byrne
in Haifa 1976 |
Stamps show the success of William Hook in 1980 | Thessaloniki 1984 |
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| The Hungarian women celebrate in 1988 | Elista 1998 | Dresden 2008 |
Team champions of Chess Olympiads
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Paris 1924 (unofficial):
Czechoslovakia 4. Prague 1931: USA 5. Folkestone 1933: USA 6. Warsaw 1935: USA Munich 1936 (unofficial): Hungary 7. Stockholm 1937: USA 8. Buenos Aires 1939: Germany
9. Dubrovnik 1950: Yugoslavia 10. Helsinki 1952: Soviet Union |
11. Amsterdam 1954: Soviet Union 12. Moscow 1956: Soviet Union 13. Munich 1958: Soviet Union 14. Leipzig 1960: Soviet Union 15. Varna 1962: Soviet Union 16. Tel Aviv 1964: Soviet Union 17. Havana 1966: Soviet Union 18. Lugano 1968: Soviet Union 19. Siegen 1970: Soviet Union 20. Skopje 1972: Soviet Union 21. Nice 1974: Soviet Union 22. Haifa 1976: USA Tripoli 1976 (unofficial): El Salvador 23. Buenos Aires 1978: Hungary |
24. Valletta 1980: Soviet Union 25. Luzern 1982: Soviet Union 26. Thessaloniki 1984: Soviet Union 27. Dubai 1986: Soviet Union 28. Thessaloniki 1988: Soviet Union 29. Novi Sad 1990: Soviet Union
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