1st Chess Olympiad

Players and spectators at the Westminster Central Hall
Competing countries (in green) of the 1st Chess Olympiad

The 1st Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open[1] and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between 18 and 30 July, 1927 at the Westminster Central Hall, London, United Kingdom. It was officially known by its current name from 1952. The 1st Women's World Chess Championship also took place during the time of the olympiad.[2]

Teams & Players

16 participating teams constituting a total of 70 players participated in the event. All of the teams except Argentina were from Europe.

Each team had 4 players and some teams even had a reserve player.[2]

Rounds & Games

The event was played in a round robin format. 15 rounds were played throughout the 12-day span of the event, each played at 2:30. Four extra rounds were played on four days at 9:30.

480 games were played in the event between the players of different teams. The teams could choose in which order they would give the board number to the participants unlike today's system of board numbers given by player strength.

The players played in a classical time control of 90 minutes for 30 moves and then 30 minutes for every 10 moves after.[2]

Results

Team standings

# Country Players Points
1  Hungary Maróczy, Nagy, Vajda, Havasi, Steiner E. 40
2  Denmark Krause, Norman-Hansen, Andersen, Ruben 38½
3  Great Britain Atkins, Yates, Thomas, Michell, Spencer 36½
4  Netherlands Euwe, Weenink, Kroone, te Kolsté, Schelfhout 35
5  Czechoslovakia Réti, Gilg, Hromádka, Pokorný, Prokeš 34½
6  Germany Tarrasch, Mieses, Carls, Wagner 34
7  Austria Grünfeld, Lokvenc, Kmoch, Wolf, Gruber 34
8  Switzerland Johner H., Naegeli, Zimmermann, Grob, Michel 32
9  Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kostić, Vuković V., Asztalos, Kalabar 30
10  Italy Rosselli del Turco, Monticelli, Romih, Sacconi 28½
11  Sweden Nilsson, Nyholm, Jakobson, Stoltz 28
12  Argentina Grau, Rivarola, Nogués Acuña, Palau 27
13  France Chéron, Muffang, Renaud, Betbeder 24½
14  Finland Tschepurnoff, Rasmusson, Heilimo, Terho 21½
15  Belgium Koltanowski, Censer I., Louviau, Censer M. 21½
16  Spain Golmayo, Marín y Llovet, Vilardebó, Soler 14½

Team results

Place Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 + = Points
1  Hungary - 1 3 3 3 4 3 3 11 4 0 40
2  Denmark 3 - 2 1 2 3 3 2 4 10 2 3 38½
3  Great Britain - 3 3 2 2 3 3 9 4 2 36½
4  Netherlands 2 1 - 3 2 2 4 2 1 2 7 3 5 35
5  Czechoslovakia 1 ½ 1 - 1 4 3 4 10 5 0 34½
6  Germany 1 2 - 2 3 3 3 3 9 4 2 34
7  Austria 1 2 - 3 3 3 9 5 1 34
8  Switzerland 1 1 - 2 2 3 7 6 2 32
9  Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes 0 3 ½ 2 1 2 - 3 3 2 3 6 6 3 30
10  Italy 1 2 2 ½ - 1 2 3 3 2 5 6 4 28½
11  Sweden ½ 0 3 1 1 3 - 4 3 6 9 0 28
12  Argentina ½ 1 2 0 - 2 3 5 8 2 27
13  France 1 1 3 1 2 ½ 2 0 - 1 3 3 4 9 2 24½
14  Finland ½ 2 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 2 3 - 3 10 2 21½
15  Belgium ½ 2 1 2 ½ ½ 2 1 1 1 - 2 2 9 4 21½
16  Spain ½ 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 2 ½ 1 ½ 2 - 0 13 2 14½

Individual medals

No board order was applied and only top six individual results were awarded with a prize.[2]

# Player Points Percentage
1  George Alan Thomas (England) 12/15 80%
1  Holger Norman-Hansen (Denmark) 12/15 80%
3  Richard Réti (Czechoslovakia) 11½/15 76.7%
4  Géza Maróczy (Hungary) 9/12 75%
5  Ernst Grünfeld (Austria) 9½/13 73.1%
6  Max Euwe (Netherlands) 10½/15 70%

References

  1. ^ Although commonly referred to as the men's division, this section is open to both male and female players.
  2. ^ a b c d OlimpBase :: 1st Chess Olympiad, London 1927, information

See also