The 1953 Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament that became the decisive stage in the competition for the right to play a match for the 1954 world title against Mikhail Botvinnik. Held in Neuhausen and Zurich (Switzerland) from August 30 to October 24, 1953 with the participation of 15 players in two circles. The tournament was played by the winners of the previous Candidates Tournament (Budapest, 1950) and the 1952 Saltshebadeni Interzonal Tournament. Vasily Smyslov (USSR) became the winner of the Candidates Tournament and the rival of the World Champion.
The tournament brought together all the strongest grandmasters of their time (with the exception of world champion M. Botvinnik) - according to the resource, Chessmetrics in Zurich was played by 14 of the 16 leading grandmasters of the world as of August 1953, and it is one of the most representative tournaments of the 20th century. The candidates' competition confirmed the unconditional dominance of the Soviet chess school after World War II, as the TOP-10 included nine representatives of the Soviet Union.
The collection of games entitled "International Tournament of Grandmasters" by David Bronstein, published at the end of the tournament, is considered one of the best tournament collections of all time. Several generations of chess players improved their skills on it, the book was translated into several European languages. Several games of the tournament have become classic examples of spectacular sacrifices, combinations, positional play and wrestling to the end.
In the post-war decade, international chess tournaments of the highest level were tried to be held in countries that were neutral before World War II (the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland), or countries politically equidistant from the USA and the USSR (Finland, Yugoslavia), since the Cold War was in full swing, and the most powerful chess power in the world was the Soviet Union. The place and time of the Candidates Tournament - Switzerland, 1953 - was determined by the FIDE Congress in Copenhagen in 1950. Switzerland already had the experience of holding international tournaments in the 1930s, when the Bern-1932 and Zurich-1934 tournaments were held here (A. Alekhin, N. Euwe, S. Flor, Yes. Bogolyubov and A. Bernstein played in both).
Organization
The budget of the tournament was 100 thousand Swiss francs (equivalent to ~ 200-400 thousand US dollars as of 2018) of which 5 thousand were received by the winner, the next prize-winner - a little less, then in descending order, and the last three participants received 500 francs each.
On Saturday, August 29th, a draw was held to determine the pairs for all 30 rounds. During the scheduling of the games, we went to meet the wishes of S. Reshevsky, who did not want to play from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday for religious reasons. The American Jewish chess player went to pray in Zurich every Saturday and arrived at nine o'clock, after which the game with his participation began.
The largest delegation - the Soviet one - flew by plane Il-12 to Vienna, and then by train arrived in Zurich, where they took a train to Schaffhausen (the capital of the canton in which Neuhausen is located). In the same place, in Schaffhausen, the FIDE congress was held before the tournament.
Tournament
The opening ceremony and the first 8 rounds took place at the cultural center of the resort town of Neuhausen, famous for its view of the Rhine Falls. During the solemn banquet, welcoming speeches were delivered by FIDE President Folke Ro Рard, as well as by Grandmaster M. Taimanov on behalf of the USSR delegation and M. Najdorf on behalf of the representatives of the West. V. Smyslov, who was famous for his talent for singing, performed an opera aria, and the pianist M. Taimanov played works by Tchaikovsky and Chopin. Players, seconds and other members of the delegations lived at the Bellevue Hotel.
The well-known Swiss watch manufacturer, International Watch Company, has established a special prize for the winner of the Neuhausen part of the tournament (or rather, the first 7 rounds from 8 played in the town) - a gold wrist watch. However, according to the results of seven rounds, Samuel Reshevsky and Vasily Smyslov had equal points, so the sponsors had to urgently order another watch to reward both leaders.
On days free from games, the chess players were shown the cities and nature of Switzerland - Mount Sentis, the city of Lucerne, etc. The grandmasters also agreed to give a session of the simultaneous game.
After the 8th round, the participants moved to Zurich. The rest of the tours took place in the hall of the local Congress House (German: Kongresshaus), designed for 300 people. The press and participants expressed bewilderment about the choice of the tournament room, because the hall was often overcrowded and could not accommodate everyone.
The closing ceremony took place on October 24 in the great hall of the House of Congress. President of the Swiss Chess Federation Karl Loher and Chairman of the Organizing Committee Charles Perret addressed Russian and congratulated the Soviet grandmasters, especially Vasily Smyslov, on the success. Chief arbiter K. Opochenskiy confirmed the final results of the competition and on behalf of FIDE declared V. Smyslov a contender for the title of world champion in the match with the reigning champion M. Botvinnik. On the stage, decorated with the flags of the states represented by the chess players, Opochensky presented Smyslov with a laurel wreath, and FIDE Vice-President Vyacheslav Razogin - an honorary prize. Special awards for the best games were given to Alexander Kotov, Max Euwe, Mark Taimanov and Miguel Najdorf. All participants were presented with memorable watches.
