15th Chess Olympiad

The 15th Chess Olympiad (Bulgarian: 15-ата Шахматна олимпиада, 15-ata Shahmatna olimpiada), organized by FIDE and comprising an open^[1] team tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 15 and October 10, 1962, in Varna, Bulgaria.

The Soviet team with six GMs, led by world champion Botvinnik, lived up to expectations and won their sixth consecutive gold medals, with Yugoslavia and Argentina taking the silver and bronze, respectively.

A total of 37 teams entered the competition and were divided into four preliminary groups of eight to ten teams each. The top three from each group advanced to Final A, the teams placed 4th-6th to Final B, and the rest to Final C, where they were joined by a Bulgarian "B" team that played outside the contest. All preliminary groups as well as Finals A and B were played as round-robin tournaments, while Final C with 14 teams was played as an 11-round Swiss system tournament.

The Soviet Union took first place in group 1, well ahead of the two German teams, East with half a point more than West. Sweden, Belgium, and Spain took the places 4–6, while Norway, Turkey, and Greece finished at the bottom of the group.

Group 2 was won by the United States, while the Bulgarian hosts and Romania were tied for second place. Israel, Mongolia, and Switzerland made up the middle part of the group, while Puerto Rico and Tunisia had to settle for Final C.

Yugoslavia clinched group 3, ahead of the Netherlands and Czechoslovakia. Poland, Iceland, and Finland had to settle for Final B. Meanwhile, France, Uruguay, Luxembourg, and Cyprus finished at the bottom of the group.

Group 4 was won by Argentina, ahead of Hungary and Austria. Denmark, Cuba, and England made up the middle part of the group, while Albania, India, Iran, and Ireland completed the field.

• Group 1:

• Group 2:

• Group 3:

• Group 4:

Final A

#	Country	Players	Points	MP
1	Soviet Union	Botvinnik, Petrosian, Spassky, Keres, Geller, Tal	311⁄2
2	Yugoslavia	Gligorić, Trifunović, Matanović, Ivkov, Parma, Minić	28
3	Argentina	Najdorf, Bolbochán, Panno, Sanguineti, Rossetto, Foguelman	26
4	United States	Fischer, Benko, Evans, R. Byrne, D. Byrne, Mednis	25
5	Hungary	Portisch, Szabó, Bilek, Barcza, Lengyel, Honfi	23
6	Bulgaria	Padevsky, Tringov, Minev, Kolarov, Milev, Popov	211⁄2
7	West Germany	Unzicker, Darga, Schmid, Tröger, Hecht, Mohrlok	21
8	East Germany	Uhlmann, Pietzsch, Malich, Zinn, Fuchs, Liebert	201⁄2	10
9	Romania	Ciocâltea, Ghițescu, Gheorghiu, Soós, Radovici, Günsberger	201⁄2	9
10	Czechoslovakia	Filip, Pachman, Hort, Fichtl, Blatný, Trapl	181⁄2
11	Netherlands	Euwe, Donner, Bouwmeester, Langeweg, Prins, Kramer	18
12	Austria	Robatsch, Dückstein, Beni, Gragger, Kinzel, Lokvenc	101⁄2

Final B

#	Country	Players	Points	MP	MW	HTH
13	Spain	Pomar, del Corral, Puig Pulido, Franco Raymundo, Ridameya Tatche, Serra Olives	261⁄2	16
14	England	Penrose, Clarke, Golombek, Littlewood, Barden, Wade	261⁄2	14
15	Israel	Porat, Aloni, Czerniak, Kraidman, Domnitz, Szapiro	25
16	Cuba	Jiménez, Cobo Arteaga, García, Ortega, Calero	221⁄2	12
17	Sweden	Johansson, Sköld, Nilsson, Buskenström, Olsson, Söderborg	221⁄2	11	4	21⁄2
18	Poland	Śliwa, Balcerowski, Doda, Tarnowski, Schmidt, Filipowicz	221⁄2	11	4	11⁄2
19	Belgium	O'Kelly, Dunkelblum, Limbos, Boey, De Rijcke	22
20	Finland	Ojanen, Raisa, Rantanen, Niemelä, Westerinen, Fred	201⁄2
21	Mongolia	Purevzhav, Möömöö, Myagmarsuren, Chalkhasuren, Tsagan T., Namzhil	20	9	3
22	Switzerland	Blau, Castagna, Roth, Gebauer, Luginbühl	20	9	2
23	Iceland	Ólafsson, Guðmundsson, Pálsson, Thorsteinsson, Torvaldsson, Kristinsson	19
24	Denmark	Kølvig, Holm, From, Søby, Korning, Brinck-Claussen	17

Final C

#	Country	Players	Points	MP
25	Norway	Johannessen, Lindblom, Hoen, Vinje-Gulbrandsen, Zwaig, Stensholt	321⁄2
-	Bulgaria "B"	Filipov, Karastoichev, Daskalov, Bogdanov, Chipev, Burkhanlarsky	291⁄2
26	Albania	Pustina, Duraku, Konçi, Veizaj, Siliqi, Omari	281⁄2	17
27	Tunisia	Belkadi, Lagha, Kchouk, Kahia, Mohsen, Ennigrou	281⁄2	16
28	India	Aaron, Sakhalkar, Ali, Hassan, Nawab, Shukla	261⁄2
29	Iran	Hemmasian, Farboud, Parniani, Safvat, Zandifar	25
30	France	Boutteville, Bergraser, Thiellement, Noradounguian, Ferry, Ravinet P.	231⁄2
31	Puerto Rico	Colón Romero A., Rivera D., Navas, Reissmann, Colón Romero M., Prieto Azúar, Rabell Méndez [2]	221⁄2
32	Uruguay	Estrada Degrandi, Etcheverry, Alvarez del Monte, Bauzá, Silva Nazzari	22
33	Greece	Kokkoris, Anastasopoulos, Papapostolou, Vizantiadis, Paidousis, Hadziotis	181⁄2
34	Luxembourg	Conrady, Philippe, Schneider, Zeyen, Aloyse Neu, Leners	18
35	Turkey	Süer, Boysan, Akakinci, Günsav	17
36	Ireland	Reid, Murphy P., Reilly, Loughrey, O'Hare, Cassidy	141⁄2
37	Cyprus	Kleopas, Lantsias, Ioannidis, Fieros	11⁄2

• Board 1: Iceland Friðrik Ólafsson 14 / 18 = 77.8%
• Board 2: Soviet Union Tigran Petrosian 10 / 12 = 83.3%
• Board 3: Soviet Union Boris Spassky 11 / 14 = 78.6%
• Board 4: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Borislav Ivkov and Argentina Raúl Sanguineti 131⁄2 / 16 = 84.4%
• 1st reserve: Soviet Union Efim Geller 101⁄2 / 12 = 87.5%
• 2nd reserve: Soviet Union Mikhail Tal 10 / 13 = 76.9%

At the other end of the spectrum, Milton Ioannidis of Cyprus lost all of his 20 games, the worst score ever of any player at any Olympiad.

• 15th Chess Olympiad: Varna 1962 OlimpBase

• Chess Olympiads
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