Of all the chess associations, the international team tournament or “Chess Olympiad” is unique. Unlike invitation tournaments which are usually limited to about 20 players, team tournaments organized by the International Chess Federation ( International Link ca des Echecs—FIDE for short) is open to all member states of any chess strength and is held on an annual basis. Each member country is entitled to nominate 6 players (4 players and 2 substitutes) and a manager or a non-competing Captain and, with more than 20 participating countries, there will be approximately 120 players in the front row. chessboard.
Considering the special nature of this year’s Olympic Games in Moscow this month due to India’s first participation, a resume of previous Olympic Games cannot fail to fit. The first team tournament was held in London in 1927 under the auspices of the British Chess Federation and inspired by Hon. Hamilton Russell, congressman, who donated a large trophy for this purpose. It has a small origin with about a dozen countries only participating and even then, no radish talents are available. However, it was quite successful from the start and as the years went on and with the growing strength of FIDE as a representative world chess organization, the competition began to attract more and more people. participating country. In the final Olympic competition in Amsterdam in 1954, no less than 26 countries participated; for this year’s tournament, at least two more people will participate, making a total of 28. The following is a brief summary of events after the 1927 First Congress, showing year, venue, country name winners and, in parentheses, the number of countries that participated:
1928: The Hague: Hungary (17) 1930: Hamburg: Poland (18). 1931: Prague: United States (18) 1933: Folkestone: United States (15) 1935: Warsaw: United States (20). 1937: Stockholm: United States (19). 1939: Buenos Aires: Germany (16). (It was followed by a long period of time due to the Second World War). 1950: Dubrovnik: Jugoslavia (16). 1952: Helsinki: U.SS.R. (25) and 1954: Amsterdam: Soviet Union (26).
It can be seen that the US has won this trophy four times in a row. However, until 1952, the Soviet Union did not participate, although it is well known that this country has many of the highest ranking Masters. Had they joined in the years 1935-39, they, (with Botwinnik, Alatorzeff, Ragozin, Levenfish, Kan Kotov and others selected) would prove to be a strong contender for the principals titles.
As a method of promoting international goodwill and friendship, these team tournaments are unmatched. Unlike other sporting events that are played mainly by a knockout system, chess tournaments are played on a tournament system where every player meets every other player for 3 to 5 hours or more. . Because the duration of the tournament is also long — almost 3 to 4 weeks — there are many good opportunities for players to interact with each other, exchange ideas, renew old friendships or make new ones, and return home with understanding. better about other countries.
In these respects, it is better than the meetings of the UNO, where heated arguments can arise, but here in these meetings there is nothing but “intimate wordless conversation”. speak and act in silence”. It is therefore not surprising that no chess event excites the imagination of chess players and is looked forward to with as much joy and hope as these International team tournaments.
In addition to the advantages mentioned above, these tournaments also serve the purpose of bringing many promising players into the limelight until then more or less unknown, such as Hamburg and Prague for Kashdan (USA) and Sultan Khan (India), Warsaw reveals Paul Keres (Ejthonia). Stockholm gave Najdorf (Poland) and Zabo (Hungary) and Dubrovink to W. Unzicker (West Germany). It can be noted that all accommodation and meals as well as other expenses of the teams will be borne by the host country.
In addition, the host country covers the travel costs of teams coming from outside Europe or from a long distance. For example, in 1939, when the tournament was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina chartered a special steamboat to take the European teams; while small countries (from the point of view of size) like the Netherlands and Finland compete with each other for the role of host — that is the popularity of the game in the West- It can be hoped that the participation of India The degree in this year’s event will stimulate the growth of the game in our country, which brought this Queen of the game to the world, and alas, the game is now in a state of oblivion.
This work was first published in Sport And Pastime on September 1, 1956, by group member S. Venkataraman.
