European team championship in chess 1961
The 2nd European team championship in chess took place from June 20 to July 2, 1961 in Oberhausen and was a team competition of the strongest national teams from Europe.
The USSR reported the following crew: Botvinnik, Tal, Keres, Petrosyan, Korchnoij, Geller, Smyslow, Polugayevsky, Taimanov, Furman, Kotow and Tolush.
qualification
A total of 15 teams had registered for the competition. The first two winners of the 1957 European Team Championship, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, were directly eligible for the finals, the other teams were divided into four qualifying groups, the winners of which qualified for the finals.
Group 1
In Group 1, Spain, Switzerland and Norway should play. However, since the Norwegians withdrew, Switzerland and Spain met in Geneva on April 15 and 16, 1960 . The Spaniards won the first leg 6: 4, lost in the second leg 4½: 5½ and thus prevailed in the overall standings with 10½: 9½.
Group 2
In group 2, the Federal Republic of Germany, Sweden and Finland met. The competitions took place from January 10th to 15th, 1960 in Lidingö and saw the German team victorious.
| country | team | GER | SWE | FIN | Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER | BR Germany | 6th | 5 | 5½ | 7th | 23.5 | ||
| SWE | Sweden | 4th | 5 | 4th | 6½ | 19.5 | ||
| FIN | Finland | 4½ | 3 | 6th | 3½ | 17th | ||
Group 3
In group 3 the teams of Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Poland and Austria played. The competitions took place in Halle (Saale) in August 1960 , and Czechoslovakia was the winner.
| country | team | CSR | GDR | POLE | AUT | Points | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSR | Czechoslovakia | 5½ | 5 | 7th | 6½ | 7½ | 6th | 37.5 | ||
| GDR | German Democratic Republic | 4½ | 5 | 7½ | 5½ | 5 | 7½ | 35 | ||
| POLE | Poland | 3 | 3½ | 2½ | 4½ | 7½ | 7½ | 28.5 | ||
| AUT | Austria | 2½ | 4th | 5 | 2½ | 2½ | 2½ | 19th | ||
Group 4
Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania played in group 4. In contrast to the other qualification groups, the competitions took place decentrally. The competitions between Hungary and Bulgaria were played in Budapest on October 11-12, 1959 , the competitions between Romania and Hungary from April 10-12, 1960 in Bucharest, and the competitions between Bulgaria and Romania from April 23-25 in Sofia . The Hungarian team prevailed against both competitors and qualified for the finals.
| country | team | HUN | BUL | ROME | Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HUN | Hungary | 8th | 5 | 5½ | 7th | 25.5 | ||
| BUL | Bulgaria | 2 | 5 | 5 | 6th | 18th | ||
| ROME | Romania | 4½ | 3 | 5 | 4th | 16.5 | ||
General
The European team championship in chess took place for the second time after the tournament in Baden near Vienna in 1957 . The venue in Oberhausen was the Protestant parish hall, the organizer was Alfred Schlya . Alois Nagler and Wilhelm Pohl acted as referees .
The six qualified teams of ten held a double-round tournament. Board points counted for the ranking list. The reflection time was 150 minutes for 40 trains, then one hour for 16 trains.
The Soviet Union team won all ten fights and was thus European champions, while the German team lost nine fights and could only keep one in a draw. A well-known game was the victory of Wolfgang Unzicker against Michail Botwinnik , who shortly before had regained the world title in the revenge competition against Michail Tal .
In the fight for the coveted second place, the Hungarians had led to the last round, but then lost heavily against Yugoslavia.
The chess echo brought a glimpse of the championship.
Final result as a cross table
| country | team | URS | YUG | HUN | CSR | GER | ESP | Points | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| URS | Soviet Union | 6½ | 7th | 6½ | 7th | 7½ | 8½ | 7th | 8th | 9 | 7½ | 74.5 | ||
| YUG | Yugoslavia | 3½ | 3 | 5 | 8th | 6th | 5½ | 6½ | 6½ | 7½ | 7th | 58.5 | ||
| HUN | Hungary | 3½ | 3 | 5 | 2 | 8½ | 4½ | 6½ | 5½ | 8th | 6½ | 53.0 | ||
| CSR | Czechoslovakia | 2½ | 1½ | 4th | 4½ | 1½ | 5½ | 6th | 5 | 6½ | 4th | 41.0 | ||
| GER | BR Germany | 3 | 2 | 3½ | 3½ | 3½ | 4½ | 4th | 5 | 4½ | 4th | 37.5 | ||
| ESP | Spain | 1 | 2½ | 2½ | 3 | 2 | 3½ | 3½ | 6th | 5½ | 6th | 35.5 | ||
Best board results
| Br | player | country | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mikhail Botvinnik | URS | 6 out of 9 |
| 2 | Lajos Portisch | HUN | 6½ out of 10 |
| 3 | Paul Keres | URS | 6 out of 8 |
| 4th | Tigran Petrosian | URS | 6 out of 8 |
| 5 | Vasily Smyslow | URS | 8 out of 9 |
| 6th | Viktor Korchnoi | URS | 8½ out of 9 |
| 7th | Dragoljub Ćirić | YUG | 6½ out of 9 |
| 7th | Efim Geller | URS | 6½ out of 9 |
| 8th | Mark Taimanow | URS | 7½ out of 9 |
| 9 | Lev Polugayevsky | URS | 6½ out of 9 |
| 10 | Jindrich Trapl | ČSSR | 6½ out of 9 |
| 1r | Francisco Ballbé Anglada | ESP | 6½ out of 8 |
| 2r | Božidar Duraševic | YUG | 6 out of 8 |
Soviet Union players
| Br | player | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mikhail Botvinnik | 6 out of 9 |
| 2 | Mikhail Tal | 5½ out of 9 |
| 3 | Paul Keres | 6 out of 8 |
| 4th | Tigran Petrosian | 6 out of 8 |
| 5 | Vasily Smyslow | 8 out of 9 |
| 6th | Viktor Korchnoi | 8½ out of 9 |
| 7th | Efim Geller | 6½ out of 9 |
| 8th | Mark Taimanow | 7½ out of 9 |
| 9 | Lev Polugayevsky | 6½ out of 9 |
| 10 | Semyon Furman | 4 out of 7 |
| 1r | Alexander Tolush | 4½ out of 6 |
| 2r | Vladimir Bagirov | 5½ out of 8 |
German players
| Br | player | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wolfgang Unzicker | 6 out of 10 |
| 2 | Lothar Schmid | 4½ out of 7 |
| 3 | Klaus Darga | 3½ out of 5 |
| 4th | Rudolf Teschner | 4 out of 10 |
| 5 | Paul Tröger | 2½ out of 8 |
| 6th | Gerhard Pfeiffer | 5 out of 10 |
| 7th | Theo Schuster | 1½ out of 9 |
| 8th | Max Eisinger | 2 out of 9 |
| 9 | Walter Niephaus | 3 out of 9 |
| 10 | Christian Clemens | 1½ out of 8 |
| 1r | Werner Pesch | 2 of 7 |
| 2r | Dieter Weise | 2 out of 8 |
Individual evidence
- ^ Alfred Brinckmann : European team championship in Oberhausen . Schach-Echo 1961, issue 9, title page
- ^ Alfred Brinckmann: world elite in Oberhausen . Schach-Echo 1961, issue 12, title page
- ^ The game of Unzicker against Botwinnik with comments by Alfred Brinckmann . Schach-Echo 1961, issue 13, page 200
- ^ Alfred Brinckmann: II. European team championship in Oberhausen . Schach-Echo 1961, issue 13, title page
- ^ Alfred Brinckmann, Kiel: Review of Oberhausen . Schach-Echo 1961, issue 14, title pages 1 and 2
Web links
- "2nd European Team Chess Championship: Oberhausen 1961" report and games at Olimpbase (English)