Zurich 1953

The Zurich ChessChallenge 2013 tournament marks the sixtieth anniversary of the legendary Candidates' Tournament in Zurich and Neuhausen, won by Vassily Smyslov

«The Candidates' Tournament was the last qualification step for the 1954 world championship match against Mikhail Botvinnik. It is still rightly remembered as one of the magical moments in the history of chess: one of the most illustrious and fertile tournaments ever held.

 

  • Vasily Smyslov
  • David Bronstein
  • Paul Keres
  • Samuel Reshevsky
  • Tigran Petrosian
  • Efim Geller
  • Miguel Najdorf
  • Alexander Kotov
  • Mark Taimanov
  • Juri Averbakh
  • Isaac Boleslavsky
  • szabo
  • Svetozar Gligorić
  • Max Euwe
  • Gideon Ståhlberg
Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pts.
1. Link Vasily Smyslov * ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 18
2. Link David Bronstein ½ ½ * 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 16
3. Link Paul Keres 0 0 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 16
4. Link Samuel Reshevsky ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 16
5. Link Tigran Petrosian ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 15
6. Link Efim Geller 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 1 ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ ½ 14½
7. Link Miguel Najdorf ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 0 * 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 14½
8. Link Alexander Kotov ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ * 1 0 1 ½ 0 0 1 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 14
9. Link Mark Taimanov ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 0 0 ½ 0 1 * 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 1 14
10. Link Juri Averbakh ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 0 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 0 0 13½
11. Link Isaac Boleslavsky ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 13½
12. Link Laszlo Szabo ½ ½ 1 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 13
13. Link Svetozar Gligoric 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 1 1 12½
14. Link Max Euwe 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ 11½
15. Link Gideon Stahlberg 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ * 8

The Zurich ChessChallenge 2013 tournament marks the sixtieth anniversary of the legendary Candidates' Tournament, won by Vassily Smyslov

«The Candidates' Tournament was the last qualification step for the 1954 world championship match against Mikhail Botvinnik. It is still rightly remembered as one of the magical moments in the history of chess: one of the most illustrious and fertile tournaments ever held.»

«The field comprised the entire elite of the day (except, of course, Botvinnik), and the 15 grandmasters faced each other in a grueling double round robin, spanning two full months in mid and late summer 1953...»

«It was the Zurich Chess Club and its president Alois Nagler who assumed the organizational responsibilities...»

Excerpts from
«The Zurich Chess Club, 1809 - 2009» by Richard Forster (Foreword by Vladimir Kramnik)

Visit the ZURICH CHESS CHALLENGE 2013 tournament

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