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Saltsjobaden Interzonal (1948) The system of zonal and interzonal tournaments was not yet firmly established, and the participants of this first interzonal were selected by FIDE based on 'zonal performances'. From Budapest (1948) came Szabó and Gligorić. From Hilversum (1947) arrived Pachman and Trifunovic (but not the winner Alberic O'Kelly de Galway). From Helsinki (1947) came the co-winners Böök and Stoltz. From Quebec (1947) came the winner Yanofsky, and from Mar del Plata (1948) arrived Najdorf and Ståhlberg (but not Erich Eliskases). From New York (1946) came none (all declined or could not come). The Soviet players were also selected by FIDE, partly based on Moscow (1947). Steiner was chosen to represent Australia, and O'Kelly and Eliskases were replaced by Pirc and Lundin. The plan was that the top five from Saltsjöbaden and the five (or as it turned out, four) losers of the FIDE World Championship Tournament (1948) would compete in the Budapest Candidates (1950). But on 12 August, before the penultimate round, FIDE decided that nine players could go to the Candidates. But Bondarevsky got sick, and when Reuben Fine, Max Euwe and Samuel Reshevsky also withdrew, eight players from Saltsjöbaden ended up against Paul Keres and Vasily Smyslov in the Budapest Candidates (1950). Sweden was relatively well off after the War. They also had a well organized chess life (much thanks to the efforts of Ludvig Collijn), three world class players, and the FIDE Vice President, Folke Rogard. In addition to the interzonal tournament, the program consisted of a competition between the Nordic countries Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway (10-14 August), and the FIDE Congress (11-14 August). The opening ceremony took place in Stockholm City Hall, on 15 July, after which the players went to luxurious Grand Hotel* in Saltsjöbaden, 12 km east of Stockholm where play started the next day at 6 pm. Thinking time was 40 moves in 2½ hours then 16 moves every hour. Any time during play, the participants could have fresh air (or a cigarette) on a nearby balcony with a view to the Baltic Sea. The Hungarian Szabó held the lead during rounds 7-17, but in the last round he unexpectedly lost to Lundin whereas Bronstein defeated Tartakower. Thus the only Soviet who did not have the Russian GM title won the tournament. He was also the only player who went undefeated. Grand Hotel Saltsjöbaden, Stockholm, Sweden, 16 July - 14 August 1948 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Pts SEK# 1 Bronstein * 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 13½ 2000 2 Szabo 0 * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 0 12½ 1000 3 Boleslavsky ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 12 700 4 Kotov 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 11½ 500 5 Lilienthal ½ 0 ½ ½ * 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 11 300 =6 Bondarevsky ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 10½ 210 =6 Najdorf ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 10½ 210 =6 Stahlberg ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 10½ 210 =6 Flohr ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 10½ 210 10 Trifunovic ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ * ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 10 200 =11 Pirc 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 9½ 190 =11 Gligoric ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 9½ 190 =11 Book ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 9½ 190 =14 Ragozin 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ * 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 8½ 170 =14 Yanofsky ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 * 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 8½ 170 16 Tartakower 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 * 0 ½ ½ ½ 8 160 17 Pachman ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 * 1 ½ 1 7½ 150 18 Stoltz 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 6½ 130 19 Steiner 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 5½ 110 20 Lundin 0 1 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ * 4½ 90 Tournament controller: Fritz Andersson, assisted by Herman Söderborg and John Collett (among others). Appeals committee: Fritz Andersson plus four of the players. The banquet was attended by 125 people. Speeches were made by heavyweights such as Gustaf Collijn, Erik Olson, Carl Oscar Hovind, and David Bronstein! Prizes were awarded by FIDE President Alexander Rueb. First Brilliancy Prize went to Lilienthal, for Lilienthal vs Najdorf, 1948. Tournament books: Interzonala Schackturneringen Saltsjöbaden 1948 by Gideon Ståhlberg (Sveriges Schackförbunds Forlag, Örebro 1949. 359 pp.) and Meduzonski Turnir Saltsjöbaden, 1948 by Vasja Pirc (Tipografija Graficko-Nakladini Zavod, Zagreb 1949. 301 pp). The tournament program and a report afterwards in Tidskrift för Schack are available online at https://tfsarkiv.schack.se/pdf/1948... and https://tfsarkiv.schack.se/pdf/1948... (both in Swedish). Harry Golombek wrote a report for the September 1948 issue of the British Chess Magazine. Round dates (rounds 9-12 and 18-19 did not follow the program) are from reports in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. The event was a success and the next of its kind was the Stockholm Interzonal (1952). Original collections: Game Collection: 1948 Saltsjöbaden interzonal by User: jww and Game Collection: Saltsjöbaden Interzonal 1948 by User: Tabanus. *http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped... #Players behind the top 5 received 10 Swedish Kroner (SEK) for each half point.  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 190  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Najdorf vs Bronstein ½-½ 32 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal A90 Dutch 2. Lilienthal vs Flohr   ½-½ 29 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal C90 Ruy Lopez, Closed 3. Kotov vs P Trifunovic   ½-½ 25 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal D48 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, Meran 4. Pachman vs Szabo   ½-½ 40 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal C15 French, Winawer 5. Bondarevsky vs Ragozin 0-1 54 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal D99 Grunfeld Defense, Smyslov 6. Yanofsky vs Pirc   0-1 67 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal B58 Sicilian 7. Boleslavsky vs E Book 1-0 25 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal B85 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Classical 8. E Lundin vs Stahlberg 0-1 65 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 9. G Stoltz vs Gligoric   ½-½ 46 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal E09 Catalan, Closed 10. Tartakower vs L Steiner   ½-½ 29 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal B40 Sicilian 11. Bronstein vs Kotov 1-0 59 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal D87 Grunfeld, Exchange 12. Flohr vs Boleslavsky   ½-½ 76 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal B07 Pirc 13. P Trifunovic vs Lilienthal ½-½ 108 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal E67 King's Indian, Fianchetto 14. Tartakower vs Najdorf 0-1 57 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal B21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4 15. Stahlberg vs Pachman   ½-½ 54 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal D97 Grunfeld, Russian 16. Ragozin vs Yanofsky 0-1 43 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal C13 French 17. L Steiner vs Szabo 0-1 39 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal C97 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin 18. E Book vs Bondarevsky ½-½ 41 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal C09 French, Tarrasch, Open Variation, Main line 19. Gligoric vs E Lundin 1-0 63 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal D47 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 20. Pirc vs G Stoltz   1-0 47 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal A06 Reti Opening 21. Lilienthal vs Bronstein ½-½ 25 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal D98 Grunfeld, Russian 22. Bondarevsky vs Flohr 1-0 38 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal D99 Grunfeld Defense, Smyslov 23. Kotov vs Tartakower 1-0 81 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal D07 Queen's Gambit Declined, Chigorin Defense 24. Najdorf vs L Steiner   1-0 37 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal D16 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 25. Pachman vs Gligoric 0-1 83 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 190    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Jun-16-14    offramp: A really well-written and comprehensive introduction. They get better and better. My thanks to the writer! Mar-17-17    MissScarlett: <The banquet was attended by 125 people. Talks were held by heavyweights such as Gustaf Collijn, Erik Olson, Carl Oscar Hovind, and Bronstein!> Were talks held or speeches made? May-25-17    cunctatorg: GM Szabo's last round Benko Gambit tragedy... Nov-25-22    Baxer: There is an interesting and dubious story that I read on Bill Wall's website. Alleging that the great David Bronstein had an assassination attempt made on him during this tournament?! I have yet to find any evidence or reference to this anywhere else, and I presume it is simply made up as a result - however, that also begs the question of where that information came from for Bill to post it. If this were to be true, I would imagine this would have been big news! I have copied the relevant line here. "In 1948, grandmaster David Bronstein (1924-2006) survived an assassination attack during the first chess Interzonal in Saltsjobaden, Sweden. On the last day, Bronstein was playing Tartakower when, suddenly, a Lithuanian made a lunge at Bronstein to kill him. Several spectators grabbed the would-be assassin. The attempted killer wanted to murder a Russian because he claimed the Russians were responsible for sending his sister to Siberia and murdering her." http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/a... Any information regarding this would be great. Nov-25-22    Olavi: <Baxer> It wasn't quite so dramatic according to Bronstein in The Sorcerer's Apprentice. He says that he was walking around the playing hall watching the games of Szabo and Boleslawsky, when a drunken spectator came to his and Tartakower's board and wiped the pieces and clock on the floor. It turned out to be a Lithuanian protesting against "the Russians" for his sisters fate. Bronstein says the incident was widely discussed in the press. Boleslavsky wondered why the man made his protest at the board of Bronstein and not Kotov... Nov-26-22    Baxer: Olavi. Thanks for the response and info. Good to hear there's info in 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' as I'll be getting that book soon. Might I ask why 'should' it have been done to/at Kotov's board over Bronstein's? Is it because Bronstein was Ukrainian by birth? It seems this drunkard couldn't choose between which Russian to inconvenience and decided on a Ukrainian! Nov-26-22    Olavi: I suppose that's it. Although it's widely rumoured that Kotov was with the NKVD/KGB. (But the Lithuanian wouldn't have known that.) Nov-27-22    Baxer: Ah yes, I have heard these rumors. I have also heard that Tigran Petrosian and Anatoly Karpov were Agents as well. Are there any grounds for these claims by any chance (I somehow doubt it.) Nov-28-22    perfidious: When did it become clear that the first eight players would play in Budapest for the right to challenge Botvinnik, rather than the five prize winners? Nov-28-22    Olavi: <Baxer> Hard to believe. In their position it was surely unnecessary, while they had their great privileges by position. Of course every GM had to write a report to 'the authorities' after a tournament abroad etc. no matter what they belonged to or not. Nov-28-22    Baxer: <Olavi> I concur. But did they have to write a report? Is there evidence for that? I'm starting to sound like MissScarlett now. Also, this is another random and open question I just pondered and thought I would throw out into the Chessgames world. Were there any/how many homosexual players were there in the 19th century/early 20th century? Have there been cases of homophobia in the chess world? Especially against particular players? I'm not sure if this question is relevant here or what but I thought I should write it down before it goes. Nov-28-22    Olavi: <Baxer> Yes, it's routinely referred to... one place I can point to from memory is Sosonko's portrait of Baturinsky in New in Chess on the occasion of the great man's 80th. Not to hand right now... Nov-28-22    Olavi: And well Korchnoi mentions these reports a few times in his autobiography Chess is my Life, the 70's version at least. Nov-28-22    Baxer: Of Course, Korchnoi mentions it. I'm sure they are real. However, I do wonder what they would contain. Is there any first-hand evidence, however? Have any of these such reports been made public rather than a defector mentioning it in the 70s? Nov-30-22    wwall: another source on the attack: https://www.theguardian.com/news/20... Mar-06-25    stone free or die: The bio introduction above is basically plagiarised from the tb without an acknowledging attribution. I think it would easily fall into the "fair use" category if properly quoted and source cited. https://chesscollectorshop.com/prod... Mar-07-25    stone free or die: Graeme has some info in addition to his xtab from this tournament here: http://graeme.50webs.com/chesschamp... . Mar-07-25    Olavi: <stone free or die> It states that Trifunovic was uninvited, but that is wrong. The number qualifying from Saltsjöbaden was nine, plus five from Hague-Moscow, that is an even number. Four of them then withdrew. Thus writes also Rogard in the Budapest 1950 tb. So Graeme has it wrong on the Budapest 1950 page too. Mar-07-25    stone free or die: <Olavi> as always, thanks for your comments. Finding online references/resources is easy (what I'm doing), synthesizing the info is harder (what you're doing). I stumbled on the topic after doing a quick search on the net and finding the tb on <chesscollectorshop>. Much as I appreciate Graeme's efforts in putting together his assembly, I know there's been other cases where a grain of salt was needed too. Might I ask, since you have the tb, if the text on the <chesscollector> site (and also <CG>) comes from it? https://chesscollectorshop.com/prod... Mar-07-25    Alan McGowan: From the BCM 1948: May, p163 The following have been invited to take part in the Interzonal Tournament at Stockholm, on 15th July, in addition to the winners of the zone tournaments (I. Kashdan, A Yanofsky, E. Book and O'Kelly de Galway). M. Najdorf, I. Boleslavsky, G. Stahlberg, S. Flohr, L. Szabo, A. Kotov, V. Ragosin, L. Pachmann, A Denker, I. Bondarevsky, L. Steiner, E. Eliskases, D. Bronstein, P. Trifunovic, S. Gligoric, S. Tartakower. July, p238 (abridged) The FIDE very wisely nominated a large number of reserves from lists compiled by FIDE directors from every part of the world. The reserves are: Lilienthal, Stoltz, Horowitz, Lundin, Ekstrom, Dr Bernstein, CHO'D Alexander, Pirc, Tolush, Foltys, Julio Bolbochan, Pilnik, Canal, Novotelnov, Barda, J. Enevoldsen, Miguel Aleman. The five leaders in this tournament will earn the right to play in a "final tournament" in 1949 with Smyslov, Keres, Reshevsky, Dr Euwe and Fine, the winner of which will be the official challenger in a championship match with the holder, M. Botvinnik. August, p268 The report on the tournament lists the 20 players, followed by: 'Lundin and Pirc were reserves put in to fill the gaps left by the non-appearance of O'Kelly and Eliskases from whom no word was received.' Mar-07-25    Olavi: <stone free or die> You saw my comment here Hilversum Zonal (1947) Lilienthal writes in his 1976 memoirs that he was informed by the FIDE at the end of May that he has a spot, so very late; and as we see in <Alan McGowan>'s post he was one of the reserves. Mar-08-25    stone free or die: Yes, excellent guidance on the timeline provided by <Alan>. <Olavi> - please don't think I'm supporting Graem's version of events, though I do think it's easy to get a little confused in the matter. Again, my only real input at the moment is to question the source of <CG>'s tournament description above, ie. did it come from the tb? Mar-08-25    Olavi: <stone free or die>: <Again, my only real input at the moment is to question the source of <CG>'s tournament description above, ie. did it come from the tb?> No, all information is structured very differently in the book and in particular there is nothing about how the players qualified. In the Budapest tb by Stahlberg also there is a foreword by the new FIDE president Rogard and he outlines the qualification process (not really a process except for the four zonal winners), but just roughly. Stahlberg wrote nice books on all Interzonals, Candidates' and WC matches 1948-56 and the Botvinnik-Tal matches, but they are not strong on such information, it's fairly general. Well the target audience was supposed to know I guess... These days it's not so arduous a job to find contemporaneous magazine sources, but one must careful, not everything is always accurate. Mar-08-25    stone free or die: Thanks for clearing that up for me <Olavi>. (It's likely the book seller copied <CG> at this point) It's unfortunate that tb's are often not as complete as we'd like them to be. It's easy to understand how their historical role can be overlooked. I agree wholeheartedly with your final comment, caution always being a good keyword. Cheers. 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. 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