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Amsterdam (1950) In the winter of 1950 Lodewijk Prins, backed by a committee presided over by Hendrik Jan van Steenis, organized an international chess tournament that was held at the stock exchange in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Invitations went out to all the strongest chess masters of the day, whether they reside in Europe, the Soviet Union, or the Americas. The Soviet Chess Federation declined the invitations sent to their masters (they would refrain from entering international competitions until late 1952), as did Laszlo Szabo. Nevertheless, the eventual line-up was still one of the finest selections to be found of the best, active Western chess masters of the day. The field was notable also for the healthy mix of both early century chess mastery and post-war talent emerging for the next generation. All of the best Dutch masters were present, including former world champion Max Euwe and the recent Hoogovens champion, 23 year old Jan Hein Donner. Another example of the generational split among the players was the presence of Savielly Tartakower, who had played against all the greats of the early 20th century, and his former pupil Miguel Najdorf who journeyed from Argentina to attend the event. Other notable participants both young and old were Samuel Reshevsky from the United States, Swedish champion Gideon Ståhlberg, Yugoslavian players Svetozar Gligoric and Vasja Pirc, and Belgium's strongest master Alberic O'Kelly de Galway. All twenty players participated in the round robin event from November 11th to December 9th. G. van Harten served as wedstrijdleider (chief arbiter). The tournament saw some interesting stories and turns as international events before the war often had: Eugenio Szabados attended the event considering it his vacation (a true chess tourist! though his draws against the tournament first and second place were well earned). British champion Harry Golombek was the victim of a practical joke wherein a particular opponent was suspected of ordering Golombek a glass of milk to be delivered before dawn of their encounter. Anecdotes aside, the event was a spectacular run for Najdorf, who won clear first undefeated with 15 points out of 19 rounds. He earned wins against half the field, further cementing his status as one of the best players in the world at the time (there had been controversy surrounding his absence from the 1948 world championship tournament). However, Najdorf only finished one point ahead of clear second place Reshevsky who also finished undefeated, scoring an impressive 9 wins in the process. Ståhlberg also had 9 wins, but tragically could not share second place with Reshevsky by a measly half point (a half point he failed to win in his draw with Tartakower where the good doctor blundered a pawn in an opening experiment but then tenaciously defended). Other masters who placed in the top standings were Pirc and Gligoric as shared 4th and Euwe and Herman Pilnik as shared 6th. The brilliancy prize of the tournament went to Nicolas Rossolimo from France in his sixth round win against Dutch player Theo Daniel van Scheltinga. Rossolimo manuevered for 55 moves in a Caro-Kann, achieving a won endgame with a pushed passed pawn and a temporary queen sac in the finale. The tournament can be seen as a transitional gem, when the austere mastery of the pre-War years would soon give way (but not this year!) to the competitive talents of next generation and the Soviet Chess Machine of the 1950s. Amsterdam, Netherlands, 11 November - 9 December 1950 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Pts 1 Najdorf * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 15 2 Reshevsky ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 14 3 Ståhlberg 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 13½ =4 Pirc ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 12 =4 Gligoric ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 12 =6 Euwe ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 11½ =6 Pilnik 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 * 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 11½ 8 Rossolimo ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 11 9 Trifunovic ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 0 1 ½ ½ 1 10½ 10 O'Kelly de Galway 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 9½ =11 Tartakower 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 0 * 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 8½ =11 Donner 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 * 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 8½ 13 Foltys 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 8 =14 Van Scheltinga ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 7½ =14 Gudmundsson 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 * 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 7½ 16 Van den Berg 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 0 7 17 Kottnauer 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ 6 =18 Szabados ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 * 0 ½ 5½ =18 Kramer 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 * ½ 5½ =18 Golombek 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ * 5½ Thanks go to <nescio> who inspired this collection and was invaluable to its completion. Original collection: Game Collection: Amsterdam 1950, by User: suenteus po 147.  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 190  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Pirc vs Euwe ½-½ 27 1950 Amsterdam D30 Queen's Gambit Declined 2. Reshevsky vs Najdorf ½-½ 47 1950 Amsterdam B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb (Fianchetto) Variation 3. H Kramer vs O'Kelly   ½-½ 48 1950 Amsterdam B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation 4. Tartakower vs Rossolimo 0-1 48 1950 Amsterdam E17 Queen's Indian 5. G S Gudmundsson vs Golombek   ½-½ 13 1950 Amsterdam A47 Queen's Indian 6. Pilnik vs Foltys 1-0 41 1950 Amsterdam B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb (Fianchetto) Variation 7. Stahlberg vs C Kottnauer 1-0 36 1950 Amsterdam A14 English 8. Szabados vs Gligoric 0-1 44 1950 Amsterdam D49 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, Meran 9. P Trifunovic vs C van den Berg   0-1 42 1950 Amsterdam D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 10. T van Scheltinga vs J H Donner   ½-½ 55 1950 Amsterdam E56 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line with 7...Nc6 11. Euwe vs Stahlberg   ½-½ 41 1950 Amsterdam D50 Queen's Gambit Declined 12. Najdorf vs G S Gudmundsson 1-0 30 1950 Amsterdam D45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 13. O'Kelly vs Gligoric 0-1 41 1950 Amsterdam E64 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav System 14. Rossolimo vs Pilnik 1-0 35 1950 Amsterdam B84 Sicilian, Scheveningen 15. J H Donner vs Reshevsky 0-1 29 1950 Amsterdam E33 Nimzo-Indian, Classical 16. Foltys vs Pirc   ½-½ 19 1950 Amsterdam A33 English, Symmetrical 17. Golombek vs Szabados   ½-½ 40 1950 Amsterdam E08 Catalan, Closed 18. C Kottnauer vs P Trifunovic 0-1 20 1950 Amsterdam D40 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch 19. H Kramer vs Tartakower   0-1 40 1950 Amsterdam E64 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav System 20. C van den Berg vs T van Scheltinga   ½-½ 36 1950 Amsterdam D45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 21. P Trifunovic vs Euwe   ½-½ 21 1950 Amsterdam D69 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Classical, 13.de 22. Szabados vs Najdorf   ½-½ 32 1950 Amsterdam D80 Grunfeld 23. Tartakower vs O'Kelly 0-1 40 1950 Amsterdam E17 Queen's Indian 24. Gligoric vs Golombek 1-0 54 1950 Amsterdam E38 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, 4...c5 25. G S Gudmundsson vs J H Donner 0-1 28 1950 Amsterdam A83 Dutch, Staunton Gambit  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 190    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   May-21-16    sachistu: The player listed as G H Gudmundsson is actually Gudmunder S. Gudmundsson. See the Dutch tournament book "Wereldschaak - Toernooi Amsterdam 1950" by Euwe and Prins. Page 13 has the player list. The name is also confirmed in the individual games headers (e.g. G.S.). I have submitted a correction slip. 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. 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