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'''Zurich 1953''' was a chess tournament won by [[Vasily Smyslov]]. It was a [[Candidates Tournament]] for the [[World Chess Championship 1954|1954 World Chess Championship]], which led to the match between Smyslov and [[Mikhail Botvinnik]]. The tournament is famous for the strength of the players, the high quality of the games, and books on the tournament by [[David Bronstein]] and [[Miguel Najdorf]] that are regarded as among the best tournament books ever written. In May 2022 [[Yuri Averbakh]] died at the age of 100, having been the last living player to have played in the tournament.
'''Zurich 1953''' was a chess tournament won by [[Vasily Smyslov]]. It was a [[Candidates Tournament]] for the [[World Chess Championship 1954|1954 World Chess Championship]], which led to the match between Smyslov and [[Mikhail Botvinnik]]. The tournament is famous for the strength of the players, the high quality of the games, and books on the tournament by [[David Bronstein]] and [[Miguel Najdorf]] that are regarded as among the best tournament books ever written. In May 2022 [[Yuri Averbakh]] died at the age of 100, having been the last living player to have played in the tournament.


The tournament was a double [[Round-robin tournament|Round-robin ]] event. Players were assigned one point for every win and a half-point for each draw. In later, years,Bronstein claimed that the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] players were accompanied by [[KGB]] agents. According to Bronstein, during the tournament, the KGB handlers started to worry that the American candidate, [[Samuel Reshevsky]], would win, and began pressuring some of the Soviet players to throw their games against Smyslov, who was leading the other Soviet players in points.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bronstein |first1=David |title=Soviet cheating in FIDE competition: Zurich 1953 |url=https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/soviet-cheating-in-fide-competition-zurich-1953 |website=chess.com |publisher=chess.com |access-date=16 June 2022}}</ref>
The tournament was a double [[Round-robin tournament|Round-robin ]] event. Players were assigned one point for every win and a half-point for each draw. In later years, Bronstein claimed that the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] players were accompanied by [[KGB]] agents. According to Bronstein, during the tournament, the KGB handlers started to worry that the American candidate, [[Samuel Reshevsky]], would win, and began pressuring some of the Soviet players to throw their games against Smyslov, who was leading the other Soviet players in points.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bronstein |first1=David |title=Soviet cheating in FIDE competition: Zurich 1953 |url=https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/soviet-cheating-in-fide-competition-zurich-1953 |website=chess.com |publisher=chess.com |access-date=16 June 2022}}</ref>


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Revision as of 21:22, 2 November 2022

Zurich 1953 was a chess tournament won by Vasily Smyslov. It was a Candidates Tournament for the 1954 World Chess Championship, which led to the match between Smyslov and Mikhail Botvinnik. The tournament is famous for the strength of the players, the high quality of the games, and books on the tournament by David Bronstein and Miguel Najdorf that are regarded as among the best tournament books ever written. In May 2022 Yuri Averbakh died at the age of 100, having been the last living player to have played in the tournament.

The tournament was a double Round-robin event. Players were assigned one point for every win and a half-point for each draw. In later years, Bronstein claimed that the Soviet players were accompanied by KGB agents. According to Bronstein, during the tournament, the KGB handlers started to worry that the American candidate, Samuel Reshevsky, would win, and began pressuring some of the Soviet players to throw their games against Smyslov, who was leading the other Soviet players in points.[1]

# Player 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Total
1  Vasily Smyslov (USSR) xx ½½ 11 ½1 ½½ 11 ½½ ½0 ½½ ½½ ½½ ½½ 11 18
2  David Bronstein (USSR) ½½ xx 11 ½½ ½0 ½½ ½½ ½½ ½½ 01 ½½ ½½ 16
3  Paul Keres (USSR) 00 xx ½½ ½1 ½1 ½½ ½½ ½½ 11 ½1 ½½ 11 16
4  Samuel Reshevsky (USA) ½0 00 ½½ xx ½½ ½½ ½½ 10 ½½ ½1 ½1 ½1 11 16
5  Tigran Petrosian (USSR) ½½ ½½ ½0 ½½ xx ½½ ½½ 00 ½½ ½½ 11 ½1 11 15
6  Efim Geller (USSR) 00 ½1 ½0 ½½ ½½ xx 11 ½0 01 ½½ 01 ½1 01 ½½ 14½
7  Miguel Najdorf (Argentina) ½½ ½½ ½½ ½½ 00 xx ½0 ½½ ½½ ½½ 11 14½
8  Alexander Kotov (USSR) ½1 ½½ ½½ 01 ½½ ½1 xx 10 00 10 01 14
9  Mark Taimanov (USSR) ½½ ½½ ½½ 11 10 01 xx 10 ½½ ½½ ½0 11 14
10  Yuri Averbakh (USSR) ½½ ½½ ½½ ½½ 01 xx ½½ ½½ 11 00 13½
11  Isaac Boleslavsky (USSR) ½½ ½½ 00 ½0 ½½ 10 ½½ 11 ½½ ½½ xx ½0 ½½ ½1 ½½ 13½
12  László Szabó (Hungary) ½½ 10 00 ½½ 01 ½½ ½½ ½1 xx ½½ 13
13  Svetozar Gligorić (Yugoslavia) ½0 ½0 ½0 ½0 ½½ ½1 ½½ xx ½1 11 12½
14  Max Euwe (Netherlands) 00 ½½ ½½ 00 10 00 ½0 ½½ ½0 xx 11½
15  Gideon Ståhlberg (Sweden) ½½ 00 00 ½½ 00 10 00 11 ½½ 00 xx 8

See also

References

Bronstein, David (1979) [1960], Zurich International chess tournament, 1953 (2nd ed.), Dover Publications, ISBN 0-486-23800-8

  1. ^ Bronstein, David. "Soviet cheating in FIDE competition: Zurich 1953". chess.com. chess.com. Retrieved 16 June 2022.

Moves and Annotations for every game played during the tournament.