West Germany (Unzicker, Schmid, Pfeiffer, Rellstab and Staudte) were third while the United States (Reshevsky, Steiner, Horowitz, Shainswit, Kramer and Evans) finished fourth. There were 16 teams in the finals.
After the event team captain Herman Steiner had some scathing, and according to the Chess Life editor Montgomery Major, ill-advised comments about the US team’s finish.
Steiner stated that there was internal dissension among the team members that prevented them from winning first place. Major labeled Steiner’s allegations as being in “poor taste” and an example of “poor sportsmanship” because Steiner was offering an an alibi for what he considered a failure. In Majors’s opinion alibis for failure were unacceptable. No explanation was give as to the nature of the dissensions.
Major also took umbrage with Steiner’s labeling of the US team’s performance as poor as being unjustified. According to Major, fourth place in such a strong field was not a poor showing. Additionally, the US team had the distinction of being the only team that lost no matches and with exception of US Champion Herman Steiner all team members ended with plus scores.
Major also was of the opinion that in granting the interview (which was given to the New York Times) Steiner violated “the first principle of good publicity.” Feuds and disagreements should not be aired publicly because it was bad for US chess. Instead of the New York Times, Steiner should have, according to Major, saved his words for a chess magazine...that is, Chess Life.
The US team probably suffered somewhat because US Open Champion Arthur Bisguier was not on the team. He was absent because when returning from the Open in Detroit (held in mid-July) he and five other players were involved in a car accident in Batavia, New York.
Their car overturned on a rain-slick road and four were taken to the hospital. Bisguier suffered a broken rib and a rash on his
forehead. Larry Evans was very badly bruised. Walter Shipman had his leg in a cast for an injured ankle. Kit Crittenden of Raleigh, North Carolina suffered a fractured collar bone. Jeremiah Donovan and Eliot Hearst escaped serious injury. All-in-all, not a bad injury report considering that in 1950 airbags and seat belts were safety features of the future.
Lambaste is a verb that means to assault violently, beat or whip, That describes exactly what Lambert did to Puch in the following game.
After World War II Hans Lambert (1928-2020) was one of the leading Austrian players. Yugoslavia’s Stojan Puc (1921-2004) was an IM (awarded in 1950) and an Honorary Grand master (awarded in 1984).
Hans Lambert (Austria)–Stojan Puc (Yugoslavia)1–0B72Olympiad, Dubrovnik30.08.1950Stockfish 16
Sicilian Defense 1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 g6 6.e2 g7 7.0-0 0-0 8.e3 a6 9.f4 White usually plays the positional 9/
a4 here, but Puc is playing more aggressively There is little hope of
launching a successful attack on black's K with pieces alone because the
fianchetto is just too strong. So. Puc plans an all out P assault. c7 10.g4 The beginning of a strong and very dangerous P advance that's not for the
faint of heart. Black is not doomed because the P advance also strips white's
K of its own defenses. 10.d5 is a god move and it's preferred by those
seeking a less adventurous path. xd5 11.exd5 d7 12.c4 f6 13.c1
White has a solid, but boring, position. Kindermann,S (2500)-Miles,A (2585)
Bath 1983 10...e6 10...c6 serves better. 11.f5 11.g5 g4 12.xg4 xg4 13.xg4 xd4 14.d5 xe3+ 15.xe3 is completely equal. 11...d5 12.exd5 e5 13.f2 xd5 14.xd5 xd4 15.xd4 xd4+ 16.xd4 xd4+ lead to a
quick draw in Klundt,K (2398)-Colovic,A (2414) Mogliano Veneto 2000 10...e5 This is an OK move, too. 11.b3 Black only has one move jere and that's 11.
..exf4. Watch what happens if he omits it. e6 It's hard to believe that
this loses. 12.f5 c4 13.g5 xe2 14.xe2 h5 15.d5 d8 16.f6 h8 17.e7+ 1-0 (17) Kerecki,L (2174)-Vulin,M (2092) Belgrade 2008 11.g5 fd7 12.f5 White wastes no time in forcing the breakthrough. Continuing the P buld uo
with 12.h4 is too slow. 12.h4 b5 13.a3 b7 14.h5 c6 Black has completed
his development and the chances are equal. 12...e5 12...exf5±
was a better defense. After 13.exf5 e8 14.d5 a5 15.c4 e5 Black's
position is holding together, but he must defend carefully. 13.f6 A fine
move. Opening the f-file by capturing on e6 or g6 would be wrong because black
would bw able to use the open f-file in his defense. By playing 13.f6 white
intends to attack on the h-file and it will prove impossible for black to
defend against it...there will be no way to get his pieces to the defense
because of the cramped position his K is caught in. h8 14.e1 h6 Opening
up the Ks position is the wirst thing he could have done. Attempting a
diversion with 14...b5 was worth a try. 15.h4 15.gxh6 is less good
because white would then be unable to operate on the h-file. h7 White is
better, but there is no effective way to continue. 15...h5 Puc's thinking
was probably now no possible P moves on white's part can open the K-side. In
such a case white must sacrifice a piece to achieve the breakthrough. 16.ad1 This over-preparation was not really necessay. 16.xh5 gxh5 17.xh5 bc6 18.f3 Another sacrifice! xf3+ Else the R goes to the h-file ending the
game. 19.xf3 e5 20.h4 e6 21.f1 21.g6 and black has a defense in fxg6 22.xg6+ g7 23.fxg7 xg7 24.xg7+ xg7 and here it's black who is
better. 21...d4 In this situation as soon as white can play Nf5 the game
will be over. 22.xd4 exd4 23.d5 23.f5 at once is also playable. xf5 24.d5 d7 25.xf5 xf5 26.e7# 23...xd5 24.exd5 xc2 25.f5 wins 16...b5 Black has no viable defense and suggested improvements would be moot.
17.xh5 Black's unmoved Q-side pieces provide sufficient
strategic justification for this sacrifice. b4 17...gxh5 18.xh5 e8 19.f4 g6 20.f3 d7 21.h3 df8 Black looks to have defended himself rather
nicely, but there is nothing he can do except watch white bring up some more
pieces. 22.ce2 c5 23.f1 d7 24.h6 c4 25.f4 e5 26.xg6 Now the
best black has is... xf1+ 27.xf1 xh3+ 28.xh3 fxg6 29.f5 gxf5 30.exf5 ad8 31.h5 d7 31...c8 32.f7+ g7 33.f6# 32.xe8 and wins 18.ce2 Another piece will be added to the attack. gxh5 This hastens the end, but
he no longer hs any defense. 18...e8 This holds out longer, but that is
the only thing that can be said for it. 19.f4 bd7 20.df1 f8 21.g4 xg4 22.4f3 e5 22...xf6 23.gxf6 e5 24.f5 xf5 25.exf5 xf6 26.xf6 e7 27.fxg6 xf6 28.gxf7+ xf7 29.xf7 and white is winning. 23.h3
leads to mate 19.xh5 The breakthrough has been successful. bc6 20.f4
As soon as this R gets behind the Q it will be all over. xd4 21.xd4 g6 22.f3 e5 23.f5 White mates. xf5 24.exf5 f4 25.xf4 exf4 26.h3
Success! There is no defense against mate so black throws in a couple of spite
checks. c5+ 27.f1 c4+ 28.dd3 Black resigned 1–0
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