IBM Amsterdam 1966
The sixth IBM international, held in Amsterdam from 5 to 16 July 1966, belonged to Mikhail Botvinnik. Three years after losing the world title, the 55-year-old former champion swept the ten-player field with seven wins and a single loss, finishing two full points clear in a commanding display of late-career form.
◈The IBM series
The IBM international ran in Amsterdam from 1961 to 1981 under the sponsorship of IBM's Dutch arm, IBM Nederland, and became one of Western Europe's most prestigious invitational events. It was staged as a large summer festival, with a grandmaster main group topping a pyramid of masters' and reserve sections. The 1966 tournament was the sixth edition, a ten-player round-robin over nine rounds.
Its main-group winners over the years included five world champions, and in 1966 the field was headed by one of them.
◈A late-career triumph
Mikhail Botvinnik, who had held the world championship on and off from 1948 until losing it to Tigran Petrosian in 1963, was by 1966 a pure tournament player — and still one of the strongest on earth. He tore through the field with seven wins, one draw and a lone loss for 7½ out of 9.
Spain's Arturo Pomar finished a distant second on 5½, with the veteran Salo Flohr third on 5 and Coenraad Zuidema fourth. It stands among the finest results of Botvinnik's final playing years before he retired from competition at the end of the decade.
◈Final Standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Botvinnik, Mikhail | 7½/9 | +7 -1 =1 | games → |
| 2 | Pomar Salamanca, Arturo | 5½/9 | +3 -1 =5 | games → |
| 3 | Flohr, Salo | 5/9 | +1 -0 =8 | games → |
| 4 | Zuidema, Coen | 4½/9 | +2 -2 =5 | games → |
| =5 | Szabo, Laszlo | 4/9 | +3 -4 =2 | games → |
| =5 | Van Scheltinga, Theo D | 4/9 | +3 -4 =2 | games → |
| =7 | Barendregt, Johan | 4/9 | +2 -3 =4 | games → |
| =7 | Kuijpers, Frans | 4/9 | +2 -3 =4 | games → |
| 9 | Robatsch, Karl | 3½/9 | +1 -3 =5 | games → |
| 10 | Szilagyi, Gyorgy | 3/9 | +2 -5 =2 | games → |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Botvinnik, Mikhail | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Pomar Salamanca, Arturo | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 3 | Flohr, Salo | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 4 | Zuidema, Coen | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | |
| 5 | Szabo, Laszlo | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | |
| 6 | Van Scheltinga, Theo D | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | Barendregt, Johan | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | |
| 8 | Kuijpers, Frans | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | |
| 9 | Robatsch, Karl | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | |
| 10 | Szilagyi, Gyorgy | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.