AVRO tournament

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Finale: Paul Keres-Reuben Fine (November 27, 1938)

The AVRO tournament was a chess - double round-robin tournament and took place in the year 1938 Netherlands instead. It was named after the sponsor, the Dutch broadcasting company AVRO . Eight players took part who were considered to be the strongest players in the world at the time: world chess champion Alexander Alekhine , former world champions José Raúl Capablanca and Max Euwe , future world champion Michail Botwinnik as well as the master players Paul Keres , Reuben Fine , Samuel Reshevsky and Salo Flohr . Keres and Fine won together, with Keres winning the direct comparison with 1.5: 0.5. Capablanca, who had lost only 26 tournament games in the previous 29 years, lost four games in that tournament. This is due to a minor stroke he suffered during the tournament.

The AVRO tournament was the busiest chess tournament that had ever taken place. It was organized in the hope of identifying a challenger to world champion Alekhine. It did not have official candidate tournament status, however , and the outbreak of World War II prevented a world championship fight for more than a decade. However, when the world chess federation FIDE organized the world championship in 1948 as a result of Alekhine's death in 1946, five of the participants in the AVRO tournament were invited, only Capablanca, who had already died, and Flohr, who was replaced by Vasily Smyslow , were absent.

organization

The opening ceremony took place on November 4, 1938 in Amsterdam. The game was played from November 6th to 27th in the following cities:

round place date
1 Amsterdam November 6th
2 The hague November 8th
3 Rotterdam November 10th
4th Groningen November 12th
5 Zwolle November 13th
6th Haarlem 14th November
7th Amsterdam 15th of November
8th Utrecht November 17th
9 Arnhem November 19th
10 Breda 20th November
11 Rotterdam 22nd of November
12 The hague November 24th
13 Suffer 25. November
14th Amsterdam November 27th

The main means of transport was the railroad, while the participants traveled to Groningen by plane. The hanging games were played in Amsterdam.

Botvinnik later complained that the constant trips to the different venues were very exhausting. Alekhine also declared that she would never play again under these conditions.

Tournament course

In the first half of the tournament, Reuben Fine dominated, starting with 5.5 points from 6 games. But then he lost with White to Keres, who at that point had 4 points. In the second half, Fine only won one game, but suffered two more defeats. Keres played all remaining games after his win against Fine.

Closing table

rank Surname country 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th total
1 Paul Keres EstoniaEstonia Estonia xx 1½ ½½ ½½ 1½ ½½ 1½ ½½ 8½
2 Reuben Fine United StatesUnited States United States 0½ xx 1½ 10 10 11 ½½ 1½ 8½
3 Mikhail Botvinnik Soviet UnionSoviet Union Soviet Union ½½ 0½ xx ½0 1½ 1½ ½1 ½½ 7½
4th Max Euwe NetherlandsNetherlands Netherlands ½½ 01 ½1 xx 0½ 0½ 01 1½ 7th
5 Samuel Reshevsky United StatesUnited States United States 0½ 01 0½ 1½ xx ½½ ½½ 1½ 7th
6th Alexander Alekhine FranceFrance France ½½ 00 0½ 1½ ½½ xx ½1 ½1 7th
7th José Raúl Capablanca CubaCuba Cuba 0½ ½½ ½0 10 ½½ ½0 xx ½1 6th
8th Salo Flohr CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ½½ 0½ ½½ 0½ 0½ ½0 ½0 xx 4½

Others

Capablanca suffered a minor stroke during the tournament.

The game Botvinnik - Capablanca , played in the eleventh round in Rotterdam, is the most famous game of Botvinnik, its final combination became world-famous and printed in many chess books.

statistics

  • Longest game: Alekhine - Fine (0: 1): 68 moves
  • Shortest game: Flohr - Fine (½: ½): 19 moves
  • Games won by:
    • White: 17
    • Black: 7
    • Draw: 32

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Report on chessgames.com (English)