Sixteen players gathered in the lagoon city in the autumn of 1949 for the third Venice international tournament. László Szabó — runner-up to Bronstein at the Saltsjöbaden Interzonal the year before — finished a full point clear of the field on 11½/15, and the event was preserved in a tournament book annotated by Hans Müller, who also sat at the boards.
The third tournament of the lagoon
Venice staged a run of increasingly strong internationals in the years after the war, and the 1949 edition — the third — opened on 29 September with a field that mixed the international circuit with the Italian masters. Hungary sent Szabó and Gedeon Barcza; France was represented by Nicolas Rossolimo and the 62-year-old Savielly Tartakower; Czechoslovakia by Jan Foltys and Čeněk Kottnauer; and they were joined by Lodewijk Prins of the Netherlands, Harry Golombek of England, the young Yugoslav Svetozar Gligorić, the Peruvian-born Esteban Canal, and Austria's Hans Müller.
The home contingent was led by Enrico Paoli and Eugenio Szabados, alongside Gino Fletzer and Giuseppe Stalda, with Switzerland's Otto Zimmermann completing the sixteen.
A point clear
Szabó scored eleven and a half from fifteen — nine wins, five draws, and a single defeat, which fell to Enrico Paoli, the leading Italian, in 61 moves. Rossolimo took second on 10½ and Prins third on 10, while four players — Golombek, Foltys, Barcza, and Gligorić — shared the next places on 9½. Paoli's 8½ made him best of the home players by a distance.
Tartakower, one of the great names of the interwar era, could manage only 7 points in tenth place, a point and a half ahead of Canal.
A book from Venice
The tournament was recorded in III° torneo internazionale di scacchi, Venezia 1949, published by Fantoni & C. of Venice in 1950 in an edition of a thousand copies, with annotations by Hans Müller and a foreword by Giuseppe Turcato. The city's series kept growing in strength: the following year the fourth Venice international drew Kotov and Smyslov from the Soviet Union, with Kotov narrowly edging out Smyslov for first and Rossolimo returning to finish third.
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Szabo, Laszlo | 11½/15 | +9 -1 =5 | games |
| 2 | Rossolimo, Nicolas | 10½/15 | +8 -2 =5 | games |
| 3 | Prins, Lodewijk | 10/15 | +6 -1 =8 | games |
| =4 | Golombek, Harry | 9½/15 | +7 -3 =5 | games |
| =4 | Barcza, Gedeon | 9½/15 | +6 -2 =7 | games |
| =4 | Gligoric, Svetozar | 9½/15 | +6 -2 =7 | games |
| =4 | Foltys, Jan | 9½/15 | +5 -1 =9 | games |
| 8 | Paoli, Enrico | 8½/15 | +5 -3 =7 | games |
| 9 | Kottnauer, Cenek | 8/15 | +4 -3 =8 | games |
| 10 | Tartakower, Saviely | 7/15 | +3 -4 =8 | games |
| =11 | Canal, Esteban | 6/15 | +4 -7 =4 | games |
| =11 | Zimmermann, Otto | 6/15 | +3 -6 =6 | games |
| 13 | Szabados, Eugenio | 5½/15 | +0 -4 =11 | games |
| 14 | Mueller, Hans | 5/15 | +1 -6 =8 | games |
| 15 | Fletzer, Gino | 2½/15 | +0 -10 =5 | games |
| 16 | Stalda, Giuseppe | 1½/15 | +0 -12 =3 | games |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Szabo, Laszlo | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Rossolimo, Nicolas | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Prins, Lodewijk | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | Golombek, Harry | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Barcza, Gedeon | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | Gligoric, Svetozar | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | Foltys, Jan | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 8 | Paoli, Enrico | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 9 | Kottnauer, Cenek | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 10 | Tartakower, Saviely | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 11 | Canal, Esteban | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 12 | Zimmermann, Otto | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 13 | Szabados, Eugenio | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 14 | Mueller, Hans | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 15 | Fletzer, Gino | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 16 | Stalda, Giuseppe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.