| Groningen (1946) |
|
The tournament held at Groningen, Netherlands 13 Aug-7 Sept 1946, was a watershed in chess history. Not only was it the first major international tournament after World War II, it marked the first time the Soviet Union sent a team of players to a foreign event. Their results confirmed the growing recognition of the great strength of Soviet players: Smyslov finished third, Boleslavsky and Flohr tied for sixth; though Kotov finished out of the running, he defeated both of the top finishers. These were Mikhail Botvinnik and Max Euwe, who were in a close race to the end. Botvinnik had a lead much of the way, but successive losses to Kotov and Yanofsky in rounds 14-15 let Euwe go ahead by a point. However, Euwe then drew three in a row while Botvinnik won three in a row to pull ahead by a half-point going into the last round. And nerves took over. Botvinnik was outplayed by Najdorf, but Euwe blundered and lost a drawn position against Kotov leaving the final standings unchanged. For Botvinnik, it was his first outright victory outside the Soviet Union, on his road to the World Championship; for Euwe, it was his last great international success. Groningen, Netherlands, 13 August - 7 September 1946
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
1 Botvinnik * ½ 1 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 14.5
2 Euwe ½ * 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14.0
3 Smyslov 0 1 * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 12.5
4 Najdorf 1 ½ ½ * 1 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 11.5
5 Szabo 0 0 ½ 0 * 1 ½ 0 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 11.5
6 Boleslavsky 0 0 0 0 0 * ½ 1 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 11.0
7 Flohr ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 11.0
8 Lundin 0 ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ * ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 10.5
9 Stoltz 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 0 ½ 1 1 10.5
10 Denker ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 0 * 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 9.5
11 Kotov 1 1 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 * ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 0 9.5
12 Tartakower 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 9.5
13 Kottnauer 0 0 0 1 0 ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 0 * 1 1 0 ½ ½ 0 1 9.0
14 Yanofsky 1 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 8.5
15 Bernstein 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 0 7.0
16 Guimard 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 7.0
17 Vidmar 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 * ½ ½ 0 6.5
18 Steiner 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ 6.0
19 O'Kelly 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 * ½ 5.5
20 Christoffel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 ½ 0 * 5.0
Thanks to <suenteus po 147> and <nescio> for round-by-round pairings and the crosstable. See also Wikipedia article: Groningen 1946 chess tournament.Original collection: Game Collection: Groningen 1946, by User: number 23 Nber.
|
|
| page 7 of 8; games 151-175 of 190 |
     |
 |
| Game |
| Result | Moves |
Year | Event/Locale | Opening |
| 151. Botvinnik vs C Kottnauer |
  | 1-0 | 55 | 1946 | Groningen | D35 Queen's Gambit Declined |
| 152. Euwe vs G Stoltz |
| ½-½ | 47 | 1946 | Groningen | B58 Sicilian |
| 153. O Bernstein vs Flohr |
| ½-½ | 57 | 1946 | Groningen | B16 Caro-Kann, Bronstein-Larsen Variation |
| 154. Boleslavsky vs Kotov |
| 1-0 | 57 | 1946 | Groningen | B10 Caro-Kann |
| 155. E Lundin vs Najdorf |
| 1-0 | 28 | 1946 | Groningen | D11 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav |
| 156. O'Kelly vs Tartakower |
| ½-½ | 38 | 1946 | Groningen | B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3 |
| 157. Smyslov vs C Guimard |
| ½-½ | 39 | 1946 | Groningen | E18 Queen's Indian, Old Main line, 7.Nc3 |
| 158. Vidmar vs Szabo |
| ½-½ | 35 | 1946 | Groningen | D75 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.cd Nxd5, 7.O-O c5, 8.dxc5 |
| 159. Denker vs Yanofsky |
| ½-½ | 41 | 1946 | Groningen | D15 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav |
| 160. H Steiner vs M Christoffel |
| ½-½ | 48 | 1946 | Groningen | E94 King's Indian, Orthodox |
| 161. M Christoffel vs Botvinnik |
| 0-1 | 42 | 1946 | Groningen | C17 French, Winawer, Advance |
| 162. Flohr vs Euwe |
| ½-½ | 30 | 1946 | Groningen | D14 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Exchange Variation |
| 163. Kotov vs O'Kelly |
| 1-0 | 31 | 1946 | Groningen | D28 Queen's Gambit Accepted, Classical |
| 164. Najdorf vs Smyslov |
| ½-½ | 60 | 1946 | Groningen | D11 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav |
| 165. Szabo vs E Lundin |
| 0-1 | 38 | 1946 | Groningen | B67 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...a6 Defense, 8...Bd7 |
| 166. G Stoltz vs Vidmar |
| 0-1 | 58 | 1946 | Groningen | D37 Queen's Gambit Declined |
| 167. Yanofsky vs Boleslavsky |
| ½-½ | 44 | 1946 | Groningen | B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3 |
| 168. Tartakower vs O Bernstein |
| ½-½ | 70 | 1946 | Groningen | D45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav |
| 169. C Kottnauer vs Denker |
| 1-0 | 32 | 1946 | Groningen | E19 Queen's Indian, Old Main line, 9.Qxc3 |
| 170. C Guimard vs H Steiner |
| ½-½ | 44 | 1946 | Groningen | D04 Queen's Pawn Game |
| 171. Botvinnik vs C Guimard |
| 1-0 | 57 | 1946 | Groningen | C10 French |
| 172. Euwe vs Tartakower |
| ½-½ | 57 | 1946 | Groningen | D50 Queen's Gambit Declined |
| 173. G Stoltz vs Flohr |
| ½-½ | 26 | 1946 | Groningen | B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange |
| 174. O Bernstein vs Kotov |
| 1-0 | 50 | 1946 | Groningen | B84 Sicilian, Scheveningen |
| 175. H Steiner vs Najdorf |
| 0-1 | 40 | 1946 | Groningen | E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical |
|
| page 7 of 8; games 151-175 of 190 |
|
|
|
| Dec-20-12 | | Benzol: Blessed be the <cg librarian> indeed. The two missing games are now part of the collection. :) |
|
| Aug-30-13 | | nescio: I think it should be mentoned that the organizers of this tournament had a luxury problem before it started. After everyone had arrived (which was by no means a certainty a year after the second world war) it turned out there were 21 participants instead of 20. They could have extended the schedule with 2 extra rounds, even make it a 22-player tournament, for the head of the Soviet delegation was Gavriil Veresov, champion of Belarus. Unfortunately that was impossible, if I remember correctly because the Americans and the Soviets had to leave on schedule to arrive in time for a USSR-USA match. To ask a foreigner to withdraw was out of the question, and Lodewijk Prins didn't want to let go this chance to play against the world's best. When Euwe declared that he was ready to withdraw, the Soviets, in particular Botvinnik and Veresov, convinced Prins to withdraw by promising him an invitation to a tournament in Moscow in the near future. Needless to say, that invitation has still to come. |
|
Feb-03-14
 | | GrahamClayton: Despite finishing only 11th, Kotov was the only player to defeat both the 1st and 2nd place finishers (Botvinnik and Euwe). |
|
Apr-20-14
 | | FSR: <GrahamClayton> Shades of St Petersburg (1909), where Dus-Chotimirsky finished 13th with a -2 result, but beat the joint winners Lasker and Rubinstein. Those two wins were 40% of his five wins in the tournament! Lasker and Rubinstein mauled the field, each scoring 14.5/18. The only other game either lost was Lasker's loss to Rubinstein. |
|
Apr-20-14
 | | plang: Kotov was a lot stronger player than Dus-Chotimirsky |
|
Apr-20-14
| | FSR: <plang> It's true, he did win the Stockholm Interzonal (1952) by 3.5 points, then a record. |
|
Apr-21-14
| | FSR: Er, make that three points. Counting is FUN-damental. |
|
Apr-21-14
 | | perfidious: Pity that fine result availed him naught, come to Zurich Candidates (1953), where Kotov inflicted the only defeat upon Smyslov, the winner, though himself an also-ran. |
|
Apr-02-21
 | | keypusher: Going in to the game against Kotov, Botvinnik had ten wins and three draws. He went 3-3 the rest of the way, and was lucky to win M Christoffel vs Botvinnik, 1946. |
|
Apr-02-21
| | keypusher: Should note that Botvinnik played some great games but had some good luck earlier in the tournament too, viz. Botvinnik vs Szabo, 1946 Botvinnik vs O'Kelly, 1946 (<nescio> called this win "one of the lowest points in his career", see Botvinnik vs Keres, 1948 (kibitz #64)) So the +10=3 stat is a bit misleading. |
|
| Apr-09-24 | | mk volkov: Botvinnik's great storm. |
|
|
|
|
NOTE: Create an account today
to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users.
Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username,
then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.
|
Please observe our posting guidelines:
- No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
- No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
- No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
- Nothing in violation of United States law.
- No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
- No trolling.
- The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
- Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.
Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.
NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic.
This forum is for this specific tournament only. To discuss chess or this site in general,
visit the Kibitzer's Café.
|
Messages posted by Chessgames members
do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration. |
Spot an error? Please suggest your correction and help us eliminate database mistakes!
Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC
|
Kibitzing
