| Groningen (1946) |
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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.
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| page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 60 |
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| Game |
| Result | Moves |
Year | Event/Locale | Opening |
| 1. Botvinnik vs Szabo |
  | 1-0 | 31 | 1946 | Groningen | D41 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch |
| 2. Euwe vs Yanofsky |
| 1-0 | 46 | 1946 | Groningen | E40 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 |
| 3. O'Kelly vs M Christoffel |
| 1-0 | 41 | 1946 | Groningen | B81 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Keres Attack |
| 4. Smyslov vs Vidmar |
| 1-0 | 43 | 1946 | Groningen | C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical |
| 5. Smyslov vs H Steiner |
| 1-0 | 34 | 1946 | Groningen | A51 Budapest Gambit |
| 6. Kotov vs Flohr |
| 1-0 | 40 | 1946 | Groningen | D96 Grunfeld, Russian Variation |
| 7. M Christoffel vs O Bernstein |
| 1-0 | 39 | 1946 | Groningen | C97 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin |
| 8. Najdorf vs Boleslavsky |
| 1-0 | 37 | 1946 | Groningen | A54 Old Indian, Ukrainian Variation, 4.Nf3 |
| 9. Botvinnik vs Smyslov |
| 1-0 | 50 | 1946 | Groningen | D98 Grunfeld, Russian |
| 10. Stoltz vs C Kottnauer |
| 1-0 | 49 | 1946 | Groningen | D45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav |
| 11. Euwe vs M Christoffel |
| 1-0 | 34 | 1946 | Groningen | D13 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Exchange Variation |
| 12. Denker vs E Lundin |
| 1-0 | 42 | 1946 | Groningen | D22 Queen's Gambit Accepted |
| 13. Flohr vs Yanofsky |
| 1-0 | 52 | 1946 | Groningen | D19 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Dutch |
| 14. Szabo vs O'Kelly |
| 1-0 | 16 | 1946 | Groningen | D06 Queen's Gambit Declined |
| 15. Stoltz vs Guimard |
| 1-0 | 41 | 1946 | Groningen | D37 Queen's Gambit Declined |
| 16. Denker vs H Steiner |
| 1-0 | 40 | 1946 | Groningen | D37 Queen's Gambit Declined |
| 17. Flohr vs M Christoffel |
| 1-0 | 29 | 1946 | Groningen | D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav |
| 18. Botvinnik vs Vidmar |
| 1-0 | 60 | 1946 | Groningen | D02 Queen's Pawn Game |
| 19. Tartakower vs C Kottnauer |
| 1-0 | 44 | 1946 | Groningen | D02 Queen's Pawn Game |
| 20. C Kottnauer vs Kotov |
| 1-0 | 55 | 1946 | Groningen | D49 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, Meran |
| 21. Smyslov vs O'Kelly |
| 1-0 | 41 | 1946 | Groningen | E03 Catalan, Open |
| 22. Tartakower vs Guimard |
| 1-0 | 43 | 1946 | Groningen | C04 French, Tarrasch, Guimard Main line |
| 23. Smyslov vs Euwe |
| 1-0 | 49 | 1946 | Groningen | C77 Ruy Lopez |
| 24. Botvinnik vs O'Kelly |
| 1-0 | 36 | 1946 | Groningen | E44 Nimzo-Indian, Fischer Variation, 5.Ne2 |
| 25. Euwe vs H Steiner |
| 1-0 | 38 | 1946 | Groningen | E49 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Botvinnik System |
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| page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 60 |
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Dec-20-12
 | | Benzol: Blessed be the <cg librarian> indeed. The two missing games are now part of the collection. :) |
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| 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. |
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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). |
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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. |
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Apr-20-14
 | | plang: Kotov was a lot stronger player than Dus-Chotimirsky |
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Apr-20-14
| | FSR: <plang> It's true, he did win the Stockholm Interzonal (1952) by 3.5 points, then a record. |
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Apr-21-14
| | FSR: Er, make that three points. Counting is FUN-damental. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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