16th Chess Olympiad
The 16th Chess Olympiad, 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 November 2 and November 25, 1964, in Tel Aviv, Israel.



The Soviet team with 6 GMs, led by world champion Petrosian, lived up to expectations and won their seventh consecutive gold medals, with Yugoslavia and West Germany taking the silver and bronze, respectively.
Results
Preliminaries
A total of 50 teams entered the competition and were divided into seven preliminary groups of seven or eight teams each. The top two from each group advanced to Final A, the teams placed 3rd-4th to Final B, no. 5-6 to Final C, and the rest to Final D. All preliminary groups and finals were played as round-robin tournaments. The preliminary results were as follows:
- Group 1: 1. Soviet Union, 2. Spain, 3. Philippines, 4. Chile, 5. Switzerland, 6. Venezuela, 7. South Africa.
- Group 2: 1. Yugoslavia, 2. Netherlands, 3. Mongolia, 4. Austria, 5. Mexico, 6. India, 7. Bolivia.
- Group 3: 1. Hungary, 2. Israel, 3. Sweden, 4. Scotland, 5. France, 6. Ireland, 7. Luxembourg.
- Group 4: 1. United States, 2. Poland, 3. England, 4. Norway, 5. Turkey, 6. Iran, 7. Portugal.
- Group 5: 1. Romania, 2. Czechoslovakia, 3. Cuba, 4. Paraguay, 5.Colombia, 6. Puerto Rico, 7. Australia.
- Group 6: 1. Argentina, 2. Canada, 3. East Germany, 4. Ecuador, 5. Monaco, 6. Ireland, 7. Uruguay.
- Group 7: 1. Bulgaria, 2. West Germany, 3. Denmark, 4. Peru, 5. Finland, 6. Greece, 7. Dominican Republic, 8. Cyprus.
With Australia making its debut, this was the first Olympiad where all six continents were represented.
Final
Final A # Country Players Points MP Head-
to-head1 Soviet Union
Petrosian, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Keres, Stein, Spassky 36½ 2 Yugoslavia
Gligorić, Ivkov, Matanović, Parma, Udovčić, Matulović 32 3 West Germany
Unzicker, Darga, Schmid, Pfleger, Mohrlok, Bialas 30½ 4 Hungary
Portisch, Szabó, Bilek, Lengyel, Forintos, Flesch 30 5 Czechoslovakia
Pachman, Filip, Hort, Kaválek, Jansa, Blatný 28½ 6 United States
Reshevsky, Benko, Saidy, Bisguier, Byrne, Addison 27½ 7 Bulgaria
Padevsky, Tringov, Bobotsov, Popov, Milev, Spiridonov 27 13 3 8 Romania
Ghițescu, Gheorghiu, Ciocâltea, Radovici, Mititelu, Botez 27 13 1 9 Argentina
Eliskases, García, Schweber, Wexler, Cruz 26 10 Poland
Doda, Bednarski, Śliwa, Filipowicz, Balcerowski, Schmidt 24 11 Netherlands
Kuijpers, Bouwmeester, Langeweg, Zuidema, Prins 21 12 Canada
Yanofsky, Anderson, Vranesic, Macskasy, Suttles, Witt 19 13 Spain
Pomar, Medina García, Saborido, Menvielle Lacourrelle, Mora, Pérez Gonsalves 17½ 5 14 Israel
Porath, Kraidman, Domnitz, Aloni, Guthi, Stepak 17½ 3
Final B # Country Points MP 15 East Germany
38½ 16 Sweden
32 17 Denmark
31½ 18 England
31 19 Peru
27½ 15 20 Austria
27½ 14 21 Cuba
26 22 Norway
25½ 14 23 Mongolia
25½ 13 24 Chile
24 25 Philippines
22½ 26 Ecuador
18 27 Paraguay
17½ 28 Scotland
17
Final C # Country Points MP 29 Iceland
37½ 30 Switzerland
36½ 31 Colombia
35 24 32 Finland
35 19 33 Venezuela
30½ 34 France
29½ 35 Greece
27½ 36 Iran
23½ 37 India
22 38 Puerto Rico
21½ 39 Turkey
20½ 40 Mexico
20 41 Ireland
13 42 Monaco
12
Final D # Country Points 43 Australia
22½ 44 South Africa
18 45 Bolivia
15½ 46 Uruguay
14½ 47 Portugal
14 48 Luxembourg
12 49 Dominican Republic
10½ 50 Cyprus
5
Individual medals
- Board 1:
Wolfgang Uhlmann 15 / 18 = 83.3%
- Board 2:
Tudev Ujtumen 13½ / 17 = 79.4%
- Board 3:
Vassily Smyslov 11 / 13 = 84.6%
- Board 4:
Paul Keres (10/12),
Helmut Pfleger (12½/15), and
David Friedgood (10/12) = 83.3%
- 1st reserve:
Leonid Stein 10 / 13 = 76.9%
- 2nd reserve:
Milan Matulović and
Günther Möhring 11 / 13 = 84.6%
At the other end of the spectrum, Milton Ioannidis of Cyprus lost all of his 4 games, giving him a total score at the Olympiads of 0 / 24 = 0.0%.
References
- Although commonly referred to as the men's division, this section is open to both male and female players.
- 16th Chess Olympiad: Tel Aviv 1964 OlimpBase