For the first time in the history of the Chess Olympiads since London 1927, teams had to be turned away because the playing schedule in force had reached its maximum limit of 60 countries. Admissions to the FIDE in recent years had led to a total of 64 enrolled nations. It was sheer luck for FIDE that four nations sent in their applications after the deadline. Therefore, their entry could be refused on these grounds. The countries were Argentina, France, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Panama pulled out of the Olympiad, which allowed Argentina to take its place. France, Ecuador, and Venezuela placed their faith in prior years' experience when a few teams always did not turn up and failed to give due notice. But this time, all 60 nations had turned up in Siegen. Their last hope vanished when, on the opening day, the Philippines and Guernsey sent telegrams announcing their arrival on September 6th. France, Ecuador, and Venezuela had to return home without making a single move. No doubt this affair shook up the FIDE Congress to focus its full attention on the future playing schedule of the Olympiad, for it stands to reason that every nation should observe the fixed date of entry.

The 60 nations were divided into six preliminary groups of 10 teams. This was done by a small commission formed by the team captains' meeting presided by FIDE President Folke Rogard on the morning of September 5th. From each group, the first two were to qualify for the final A, the next two for the final B, etc. For the first time since Varna 1962, the finals consisted of 12 teams instead of the usual 14. Would Fischer play? The answer to this question was of hot interest to all chess fans. Finally, he was in, together with Reshevsky. The USA team had these two players on the team for the first time. Fischer was, this time, satisfied with the playing conditions and found them very reasonable. He wanted his table to be moved half a meter further away from the spectators, which can hardly be called a demand since the distances were unusually close. Fischer had reconciled with the US Federation and with his teammates, and a new era began in the USA.

The opening ceremony of the 19th Chess Olympiad took place at the Bühne of the City of Siegen on September 5th. The anthem of FIDE, a 1951 composition by Count Gian Carlo dal Verme, an Italian FIDE delegate, was played under the direction of R. Agop, who had orchestrated the hymn for this occasion. Ludwig Schneider, President of the German Chess Federation, welcomed the guests and players. After addresses by Karl Althaus, the Lord Mayor of Siegen, and Folke Rogard, FIDE President, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Federal Minister of the Interior, opened the Olympiad. Schneider presented Rogard with a FIDE flag, which was handed down from organiser to organiser of the future Olympiads.

In the preliminary rounds, a total of 1,080 games were played. The USSR won Group 1, and Poland and Spain fought for the second spot, with Australia following on their heels. In Round 2, Spain lost to the USSR 1-3, and their only point was won by default when Korchnoi overslept and appeared too late in the playing hall. Poland gave up some points versus Peru and Dominicana. Poland suffered horrible losses in the third round, dropping two points against Tunisia. Yet, they defeated a strong Australian team by 3-1 (IM Kostro drew against GM Browne) the next day. In the fifth round, Poland earned a full point vs the USSR thanks to Bednarski, who beat Geller. Unfortunately for the Poles, Spain was scoring 4-0, day after day. In the penultimate round, Poland played Spain and needed a sizeable win, 3½-½ or something close to that, to retain their chances. It seemed they could achieve this, but finally, they merely drew, and it was all over. USSR and Spain went through to the premier Olympiad final A. Poland sensationally lost to Greece under strange circumstances (two players lost on time), which let the Greeks overtake Peru and qualify for final C. Australia easily went into final B with Poland.

In Group 2, Yugoslavia was far out of reach of anyone else. A fierce battle for second place occurred between England, Canada, Indonesia, and Mongolia. Switzerland was in surprisingly bad form and overtaken by Iran, being relegated as low as to final D. Mongolia started with a dreadful 0-4 vs. Yugoslavia. However, they quickly made up for lost ground by beating Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Iran. England earned 1½ vs Yugoslavia in the second round, and Canada lost sensationally to Indonesia the next day. Mongolia drew against Canada then, but England barely equalised with Iran, making four draws. Mongolia drew again the next day, and Iran unexpectedly took over third place, beating Andorra. In Round 7, Canada won a crucial match against England, and Iran won another match by 4-0, finding themselves up to second place. In the penultimate round, they lost all their chances, beaten by Indonesia, who suddenly was in second place ahead of Canada and Mongolia. England was out of the running since Penrose blundered a piece in his game vs. Ulvestad and fainted at the board. Canada played Andorra in the last round and dropped a priceless point since GM Yanofsky failed to beat Ulvestad. Still, they were the winners since Indonesia lost to Mongolia 1½-2½, missing out on their tremendous chance to take the second spot, and for Mongolia, this was too modest a win to get level on points with the Canadians.

In Group 3, East Germany, the USA, and Holland fought hard for the final. Holland lost 1-3 to East Germany in the early stage of the games and were chasing the top two. In the penultimate round, they faced the USA and needed a win but barely drew the Americans. The USA lost unluckily to East Germany in the last round, but both teams remained in the top two places and went through to the championship final. Apart from Holland, Finland won a final B place. Japan, the long-awaited newcomers, managed to avoid relegation to the bottom section at the cost of Turkey and the Virgin Islands.

In Group 4, Hungary and Romania were the big shots, while Denmark, Sweden, and the Philippines were regarded as potential contenders. Denmark started badly, barely drawing against Ireland, but they soon recovered, outscoring the Philippines and Morocco. Sweden lost to Italy and diminished their chances, which virtually disappeared after their miserable 2-2 draw vs. Ireland in Round 4. Larsen lost badly to Portisch the next day, and Denmark lost modestly to Hungary. The Hungarians beat Romania in their 6th round summit after an exciting battle. However, Denmark was fighting very hard and beat Romania in the penultimate round, although they were fortunate to reach that since Larsen won on time in a lost position. Hungary dropped as many as 3 points vs. Italy and Ireland, and their last-round clash vs. the Philippines looked not much better as they barely drew 2-2 and came through only thanks to Italian master Cosulich, who nicely beat Danish IM Enevoldsen and sent the Danes down to the final B pool. The Philippines, the Lugano finalists, were relegated down to final C.

In Group 5, Argentina and Czechoslovakia gave up numerous points to lower-ranked nations, and Israel was eager to challenge them. They failed, but it was close. Although they lost modestly to Argentina and Czechoslovakia, the Israelis easily beat the rest convincingly. They watched Argentina drop 1½ points vs. Portugal or Czechoslovakia barely draw with Singapore (!!) with GM Hort destroyed by Tan Lian Ann on top board. Israel was just slightly behind Argentina before the last round but dropped three draws vs. Singapore and had to be satisfied with the final B qualification together with Cuba, who outscored Norway.

Group 6 was the least competitive preliminary section since Bulgaria and West Germany dominated the pitch and qualified to final A without problems. Austria and Colombia secured the subsequent places in final B. Iceland was relegated down to final C. We encountered the first of the series of unpleasant incidents on the political stage that broke out in the early 1970s and lasted for a decade, as Albania refused to play South Africa and was forfeited but not expelled from the competition.

The finals began on September 16th. USSR and Hungary took an early lead while Argentina fell down the table. USSR made eight draws vs. Yugoslavia and Hungary. The USA was missing Fischer and barely drew against Canada, but then shut out Bulgaria and took the joint lead with Hungary. In the 6th round, the USSR played the USA and was extremely lucky to win 2½-1½ since it looked like the Americans were on track for a 3-1 win, if not better. Hungary beat West Germany, whose performance worsened considerably this year, and Yugoslavia drew with Czechoslovakia. The leaders lost to Yugoslavia the next day because of Portisch's terrible blunder, and the USSR took the lead after they comfortably beat East Germany. The USA leveled on points with Hungary and Yugoslavia, against whom they drew in the eighth round. The Soviets extended their lead, beating Romania. In the penultimate round, Hungary beat the USA (and it could have even been worse for the Americans!), and the USSR beat Canada by a wide margin, extending their lead to a safe spread of 2 points with one round to go. USSR took the gold, Hungary took the silver with their desperate final sprint, and Yugoslavia finished in the bronze medal position. The USA captured 4th place, which was disappointing since both Fischer and Reshevsky were in the squad. Czechoslovakia finished 5th ahead of West Germany, the hosts. Israel won section B (13th overall) ahead of Poland despite their 0-4 collapse vs. Finland. Led by GM Browne, Australia lost as many as five matches but won the remaining six and finished excellently in 15th place. Mongolia's 16th was highly respectable as well. The Netherlands, down in 19th, must have been thoroughly disappointed, like Austria in 22nd. Indonesia, who narrowly missed the championship final, finished last, so no consolation prize was granted to them. England, unhappy to be down in final C, easily won 25th place ahead of the Philippines and Iceland, both ex-Olympiad finalists discouraged with their relegation to final C. Switzerland won final D (yet not without any problem!) ahead of Albania, despite their 0-4 default vs. South Africa carried over from preliminaries. Finally, New Zealand won the final E section ahead of Rhodesia and Turkey.

The Soviet Union won the Olympiad for the tenth time in a row. Scoring six wins and four matches ending in draws, the Soviet victory was only by one point this time. Two years ago at Lugano, they had 8½ points to spare. This year’s slender margin reflects the strength and competitiveness of the tournament. Only towards the end did the Soviet triumph become apparent when they produced some high scores against weaker teams. Interestingly, the differences between the first four teams correspond precisely to their results against the tailenders. Thus, the one-point lead of the Soviets in front of Hungary is the difference in their scores against Canada and Spain. However, the question remains whether the Russians had any untapped potential left or if they were pushed to their utmost performance. The tournament highlight was the game between Spassky and Fischer, which ended in a win for the World Champion, who snatched the first board prize from Fischer. The Hungarians seized the lead initially and held onto the silver medals, whereas Yugoslavia and the USA, which had been given better chances, only finished third and fourth. The Hungarians confirmed their success at the European Team Championship some months ago at Kapfenberg. The top Yugoslav boards were responsible for the relative failure of their team; this time, their top grandmasters could not show the necessary vigor and conceded too many draws. The United States, for the first time with Fischer and Reshevsky, had real chances for first place but did not even earn a medal. The Czechs regained their former strong position, but the Bulgarians answered the question of whether their third place in 1968 at Lugano had been a success or a coincidence. Especially successful and exciting newcomers to the Olympiad floor were Smejkal for Czechoslovakia with a 13/17 record, Quinteros for Argentina (10/14), and Ribli for Hungary with 4½/7. GM Browne led Australia from first place in final C at Lugano (29th overall) to a proud third in group B at Siegen, finishing an excellent 15th overall.

The finals attracted numerous spectators to the Siegerland Hall at Siegen. Hundreds arrived in special coaches; the playing hall was filled to the utmost capacity. On weekends, the organisers could scarcely manage the crowds that converged at Siegen. That the major attraction of Spassky-Fischer was played on a Sunday led to waves of enthusiasm from the fervent onlookers. The nearly 5,000 fans had the difficult choice between standing on their toes to catch a glimpse of Spassky's or Fischer's head now and then or being somewhat less crammed in the demonstration room, where grandmaster Benko commented on the game, and R. Cardoso translated his explanations into German. During the 41st FIDE Congress, Folke Rogard, who had been FIDE President for 21 years, retired, and Dr. Max Euwe, former World Champion, was elected as his successor.

/ The review was based on "Schach Express" no 18, 19, 20 (1970).
Revised by Philip Jurgens, Ottawa, ON, Canada 30.03.2024 /

The Siegen Olympiad was the first event to exclude some nations from participation (literally, those whose applications came too late). This exclusion happened because the number of applications exceeded the predecided maximum of 60 teams.

For the first time, all 60 teams submitted full squads of six people, thus resulting in a total of 360 players in the tournament. However a few players did not ultimately come to Siegen.

Panno drew 15 of his games. An all-time record.

Only five players scored 80% or better.