Zurich 1953 was a chess tournament won by Vasily Smyslov. It was a Candidates Tournament for the 1954 World Chess Championship, which led to the match between Smyslov and Mikhail Botvinnik. The tournament is famous for the strength of the players, the high quality of the games, and books on the tournament by David Bronstein and Miguel Najdorf that are regarded as among the best tournament books ever written. In May 2022 Yuri Averbakh died at the age of 100, having been the last living player to have played in the tournament.
The tournament was a double Round-robin event. Players were assigned one point for every win and a half-point for each draw. In later years, Bronstein claimed that the Soviet players were accompanied by KGB agents. According to Bronstein, during the tournament, the KGB handlers started to worry that the American candidate, Samuel Reshevsky, would win, and began pressuring some of the Soviet players to throw their games against Smyslov, who was leading the other Soviet players in points.[1]
#
Player
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Total
1
Vasily Smyslov (USSR)
Does not appear
½ ½
1 1
½ 1
½ ½
1 1
½ ½
½ 0
½ ½
½ ½
½ ½
½ ½
1 ½
1 1
1 ½
18
2
David Bronstein (USSR)
½ ½
Does not appear
1 ½
1 1
½ ½
½ 0
½ ½
½ ½
1 ½
½ ½
½ ½
0 1
1 ½
½ ½
½ ½
16
3
Paul Keres (USSR)
0 0
0 ½
Does not appear
½ ½
½ 1
½ 1
½ ½
½ ½
½ ½
0 ½
1 1
1 ½
½ 1
½ ½
1 1
16
4
Samuel Reshevsky (USA)
½ 0
0 0
½ ½
Does not appear
½ ½
½ ½
½ ½
1 0
½ ½
½ 1
½1
1½
½ 1
1 1
1 ½
16
5
Tigran Petrosian (USSR)
½ ½
½ ½
½ 0
½ ½
Does not appear
½ ½
0 ½
½ ½
0 0
½ ½
½ ½
1 1
½ 1
1 ½
1 1
15
6
Efim Geller (USSR)
0 0
½ 1
½ 0
½ ½
½ ½
Does not appear
1 1
½ 0
0 1
½ ½
0 1
1 ½
½ 1
0 1
½ ½
14½
7
Miguel Najdorf (Argentina)
½ ½
½ ½
½ ½
½ ½
1 ½
0 0
Does not appear
1 ½
1 ½
½ 0
½ ½
½½
½ ½
0 ½
1 1
14½
8
Alexander Kotov (USSR)
½ 1
½ ½
½ ½
0 1
½ ½
½ 1
0 ½
Does not appear
1 0
1 ½
0 0
1 0
1 ½
0 ½
0 1
14
9
Mark Taimanov (USSR)
½ ½
0 ½
½ ½
½ ½
1 1
1 0
0 ½
0 1
Does not appear
1 0
½ ½
½ ½
½ 0
0 ½
1 1
14
10
Yuri Averbakh (USSR)
½ ½
½ ½
1 ½
0 ½
½ ½
½ ½
1 ½
0 ½
0 1
Does not appear
½ ½
½ ½
0 ½
1 1
0 0
13½
11
Isaac Boleslavsky (USSR)
½ ½
½ ½
0 0
½ 0
½ ½
1 0
½ ½
1 1
½ ½
½ ½
Does not appear
½ 0
½ ½
½ 1
½ ½
13½
12
László Szabó (Hungary)
½ ½
1 0
0 ½
0 ½
0 0
0 ½
½ ½
0 1
½ ½
½ ½
½ 1
Does not appear
1 ½
½ ½
1 ½
13
13
Svetozar Gligorić (Yugoslavia)
0 ½
0 ½
½ 0
½ 0
½ 0
½ 0
½ ½
0 ½
½ 1
1 ½
½ ½
0 ½
Does not appear
½ 1
1 1
12½
14
Max Euwe (Netherlands)
0 0
½ ½
½ ½
0 0
0 ½
1 0
1 ½
1 ½
1 ½
0 0
½ 0
½ ½
½ 0
Does not appear
1 ½
11½
15
Gideon Ståhlberg (Sweden)
0 ½
½ ½
0 0
0 ½
0 0
½ ½
0 0
1 0
0 0
1 1
½ ½
0 ½
0 0
0 ½
Does not appear
8
^Bronstein, David. "Soviet cheating in FIDE competition: Zurich 1953". chess.com. chess.com. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
and 25 Related for: Candidates Tournament 1953 information
Zurich 1953 was a chess tournament won by Vasily Smyslov. It was a CandidatesTournament for the 1954 World Chess Championship, which led to the match...
2020 CandidatesTournament was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was only played in April 2021. The next tournament, the 2022 Candidates Tournament...
winning the 1953Candidatestournament. The match was drawn 12–12, meaning Botvinnik retained the world title. An interzonal tournament was held at Saltsjöbaden...
Paul Keres, Budapest CandidatesTournament 1950". Chessgames.com. "Yuri Averbakh vs. Alexander Kotov, Zurich CandidatesTournament1953". Chessgames.com....
Smyslov, Zurich Candidates' Tournament1953, English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense. Hedgehog System (A17) 0–1 In a vital late-tournament encounter, Smyslov...
Keres (runner-up at the 1959 Candidates) in the eight player CandidatesTournament in 1962. The winner of the Candidates would qualify to play a World...
World War II in 1939. Keres was runner-up in the CandidatesTournament on four consecutive occasions in 1953–1962. Due to these and other strong results,...
place in the 1948 World Chess Championship tournament, and tied for second in the 1953Candidatestournament. He was an eight-time winner of the US Chess...
won a very strong tournament at Zürich, Switzerland. Following the Interzonal, the top players carried on to the Candidates' Tournament, Yugoslavia, 1959...
books on the market". His other books include World Championship CandidatesTournament1953 (Sutton Coldfield 1954) and 100 Victorian Chess Problems (1972)...
officially permitted in Moscow. Bronstein challenged throughout at the 1953CandidatesTournament in Switzerland and finished tied for second-through-fourth places...
dollars' worth of damage. 1953 United Nations Secretary-General selection: In the first round of voting, all three candidates were rejected. Died: Johan...
neither did he qualify for the 1988-90 Candidatestournament nor the 1994-95 PCA Candidatestournament. In tournaments, he was first equal at Baden bei Wien...
Register. Clark led her team to a 19–5 record and the Class 5A state tournament, where they lost to eventual champions Valley High School in the first...
presidential candidates and the media's coverage of them. Her reporter friend Merriman Smith arranged for her to travel with both major-party candidates in the...
place with 11/20 at Gothenburg, Spassky qualified for the 1956 Candidates' Tournament, held in Amsterdam, automatically gaining the grandmaster title...
years 1857–1859. The games at the 2020–21 Candidates averaged 2777, and those at the 2019 Women's Candidates averaged 2530. The level of the reference...
(1946, 1947 and 1950). After winning in 1952 the Women's CandidatesTournament in Moscow, in 1953 she defeated in Leningrad the reigning champion Lyudmila...
warrants further analysis. Candidates Match A knockout match in the CandidatesTournament. CandidatesTournament A tournament organised by the FIDE, the...
The tournament was held from 12 to 28 May 2023, organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). As in the 2022 edition, the tournament saw...
announces it has acquired the rights to the UEFA Champions League soccer tournament, beginning with the 2018–19 competition, with the intention of streaming...
Averbakh's other major tournament victories included Vienna 1961 and Moscow 1962. He qualified for the 1953Candidates' Tournament (the last stage to determine...