At the Olympiad that was held in Munich in
1958 the USA team (Samuel Reshevsky, William Lombardy, Arthur Bisguier, Larry
Evans and Nicolas Rossolimo) finished fourth behind the USSR (Botvinnik,
Smyslov, Keres, Bronstein, Tal and Petrosian), Yugoslavia and Argentina. As a
sidelight, the total expenses for the US team to attend in Munich was $6,600
which amounts to slightly less that $65,000 today.
The West Germans chose
Munich as the setting because it was the eight-hundredth anniversary of the
founding of the city. A total of 36 countries entered.
The Interzonal
Tournament at Portoroz had finished just a few days before and Tal went
straight on to the Olympiad, but Fischer and Benko were unable to participate for the US. Also, the US team only had one reserve player because for whatever
reason Isaac Kashdan never showed up.
Reshevsky only managed to win two games
and because he was a strict Orthodox Jew he could not play on the Sabbath and
so missed some crucial matches. His final score was a disappointing +2 -1 =5.
Arthur Bisguier (+3 -4 =3) and Larry Evans (+2 -1 =4) were also in
disappointing form. Reserve Nicolas Rossoimo did well, scoring +3 -1 =6.
On
second board World Junior Champion William Lombardy, then an International
Master, scored only +2 -1 =6, but one of his draws was against World Champion
Botvinnik.
Reshevsky could not play from sundown Friday until after
sundown on Saturday. The games started at 4pm, but he could not play on
Fridays because sundown was at 7pm. Saturday games would have to be postponed
until 7pm. As a result, the session would last until midnight. In case of
adjournment they would have to meet Sunday from 10am to noon then be ready to
play the regular round at 4 pm. Team captains were unwilling to allow their
first board to play under those conditions.
When William Lombardy started playing chess in 1951, Capablanca and Nimzovich were his favorite players, but
then he began playing over the games in Botvinnik's 100 Selected Games and
from the 1948 World Championship. After he saw those games, Botvinnik became
his favorite player and he dreamed of the time he would get to play him.
Against the Russians, Lombardy initially expected to meet Smyslov on second
board, a great player to be sure, but he was not Lombardy's hero. As luck
would have it, in the first round of the Finals the US played the USSR and the
match took place on Saturday. Reshevsky could not play, so Lombardy was on
board 1 where he met Botvinnik, a dream come true, and played him to a draw.
At adjournment Lombardy wanted to play on because the believed he had the
advantage, but team captain Jerry Spann insisted Lombardy offer draw because
it gave the US team a tie match. Botvinnik, who was under some pressure in the
position, immediately accepted the offer.
Mikhail Botvinnik–William Lombardy½–½A42Final A Olympid, Munich1Munich FRG1958Stockfish 14.1
1.c4 g6 2.e4 g7 3.d4 d6 4.c3 e5 5.dxe5 This move came as a surprise to
Lombardy because he was entertaining the idea of struggling in a complicated
middlegame. Hence, the thought of entering an immediate ending never occurred
to him. He added that this strategy is often employed by veterans against
young opposition. dxe5 6.xd8+ xd8 7.g5+ f6 8.0-0-0+ d7 9.e3
Lombardy wrote that Botvinnik must have considered thls position and weighed
its possibilities before exchanging Queens. In exchange for superior
development and a more aggressive position white gets a slight black square
weakness, but the game is approximately equal. c6 An automatic move but not
the best. Correct was B-R3 exchanging white's valuable defender of the black
squares. 9...h6 10.d5 xe3+ 11.xe3 and now c6 but here, too, the
position is completely equal. 10.g3 Preparing f4 and at the same time ...
Bh6 will not force white to part with his dark squared B. c7 11.f4 h6 12.h3 f7 13.f3 h6 Black begins an attack on the center where white's Pawns
are particularly vulnerable because he has a hanging Pawn formation. Black
would like to obtain the square e5 for his pieces, but is unable to do so. 14.e1 e8 14...exf4 Lombardy rejected this because of some incorrect analysis
that gave white the advantage. After 15.gxf4 f8 16.d4 e6 17.xe6+ xe6
the position is equal. 15.h2 f8 16.f2 exf4 17.gxf4 e6 18.h2 f5
Forcing a decision in the center. 19.e5 g7 Clearing the way for the
development of his pieces. Black now intends to apply pressure against the
f-Pawn. 20.f3 h5 21.d4 e6 22.c2 d8 23.e2 g3 24.d3 f7 25.g1 h5 The threat is 26...Rxe5 26.d2 26.b1 This is a pass to demonstrate
the threat. xe5 27.f3 27.fxe5 xe3 and wins. 27...e8 and black has
not only swiped a P, he has a strategically won position. 26...f8 27.e3 h6 28.f3 f8 Botvinnik was in slight time difficulty and is just trying to
gain time on his clock. Lombardy realized what Botvinnik was doing and was
anticipating white's next move. 29.ce2 29.e2 forcing black to move his
N was Lombardy's suggestion, but the position remains even after g7 30.d1 de6 31.d5+ cxd5 32.b5+ b8 33.cxd5 c5 34.d6 e4 29...b5 With things
at a standstill on the Q-side and in the center Lombardy switches his
attention to the Q-side with this move which gains spaces there. Even so,
white has sufficient defensive resources. 30.cxb5 Lombardy gave this move a
harsh two question marks incorrectly stating that white must lose at least two
pieces for R. Actually, the chances remain about equal. c5 31.b6+ This move
is incorrect and should have resulted in black getting an advantage. 31.xf5 This surprising reply was overlooked by Lombardy...a forgivable mistake! d5 32.h4 c4 32...xf3 33.xf3 would be winning for white. 33.xg6 hxg6 34.f2 e4+ 35.c3 e6 36.xg6 h6 with a wild and unclear position. Five
Shootouts from this position were drawn. 31...axb6 This recapture is a
simple reflex that misses the chance to gain the advantage. 31...b7
Lombardy discovered this, the correct move, after the game. 32.b5 c6 33.bxa7 c4 The B is trapped. 34.xf5 gxf5 and black with a B for 3Ps, won the
Shootouts. 32.b5+ b7 33.ec3 c6 Here white can keep things dead even
with either 34.Kb1 or 34. Bf1. Instead, his next move resulted in black
getting a very slight advantage. 34.a3 ed8 35.c1 g7 36.b1 With his
next move Lombardy lets his small edge slip. e6 36...b3 This leaves
white groping for a reasonable move. For example, after 37.h4 d7 38.h3 ad8 39.e2 d4 40.xd4 cxd4 41.f3+ a6 Stockfish gives black a slight
advantage here but couldn't prove it in five Shootouts all of which were drawn.
37.f1 ed4 38.f2 ac8 39.h4 a5 40.g3 ab3 Lombardy stated that
black stll stands slightly better (only a half a Pawn according to Stockfish
and Komodo), but the team wanted to Insure a 2-2 match with Russla so team
Captain Jerry Spann asked him to offer a draw. Lombardy added that with this
drawn match the US team "began with a great success but finished a flop." ½–½
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