Lajos Portisch - Team Chess Legend

Team Chess Legend

Portisch represented Hungary four times at Student Olympiads, steadily improving his results, and winning three medals. His totals are: (+19 =11 -8), his detailed record follows:

  • Uppsala 1956: board 2, 3/6 (+2 =2 -2), team silver;
  • Reykjavík 1957: board 2, 6/11 (+5 =2 -4), Hungary fourth;
  • Varna 1958: board 1, 5/9 (+3 =4 -2), Hungary fifth;
  • Budapest 1959: board 1, 10.5/12 (+9 =3 -0), board gold, team bronze.

He also led the Hungarian chess team to the gold medal in the 23rd Chess Olympiad held in Buenos Aires in 1978 with a personal score of 10/14. This was the only Olympiad not to be won by the Soviet Union between 1952 and 1990 (except in 1976 when Soviet Union boycotted the competition). He participated in a record 20 Olympiads from 1956 until 2000, playing a record 260 games, over a record six decades, and won 11 medals. His total Olympiad score is: (+121 =113 -26), for 68.3 per cent. His detailed Olympiad data follows:

  • Moscow 1956: second reserve, 6/8 (+4 =4 -0), team bronze;
  • Munich 1958: board 3, 10.5/15 (+7 =7 -1);
  • Leipzig 1960: board 2, 11/17 (+7 =8 -2);
  • Varna 1962: board 1, 9.5/16 (+6 =7 -3);
  • Tel Aviv 1964: board 1, 12/16 (+9 =6 -1), board bronze;
  • Havana 1966: board 1, 11.5/16 (+8 =7 -1), team bronze;
  • Lugano 1968: board 1, 11/15 (+8 =6 -1);
  • Siegen 1970: board 1, 11/16 (+7 =8 -1), team silver;
  • Skopje 1972: board 1, 12/17 (+8 =8 -1), team silver;
  • Nice 1974: board 1, 10/16 (+6 =8 -2);
  • Buenos Aires 1978: board 1, 10/14 (+8 =4 -2), team gold;
  • Valletta 1980: board 1, 9.5/13 (+6 =7 -0), team silver;
  • Lucerne 1982: board 1, 7.5/12 (+6 =3 -3);
  • Thessaloniki 1984: board 1, 7.5/12 (+5 =5 -2);
  • Dubai 1986: board 1, 6/10 (+4 =4 -2);
  • Thessaloniki 1988, board 1, 8.5/11 (+6 =5 -0), board silver, rating bronze;
  • Manila 1992, board 2, 4.5/9 (+3 =3 -3);
  • Moscow 1994, board 2, 7/9 (+5 =4 -0), board silver, rating bronze;
  • Yerevan 1996, board 2, 5.5/9 (+4 =3 -2);
  • Istanbul 2000, board 4, 6/9 (+4 =4 -1).

Portisch has also represented Hungary at eight European Team Championships, winning a total of nine medals. He has scored (+16 =39 -4). His detailed European teams data follows:

  • Oberhausen 1961: board 2, 6.5/10 (+4 =5 -1), board gold, team silver;
  • Hamburg 1965: board 1, 5/9 (+1 =8 -0), team bronze;
  • Kapfenberg 1970: board 1, 4/7 (+1 =6 -0), team silver;
  • Bath, Somerset 1973: board 1, 3.5/5 (+2 =3 -0), team bronze;
  • Moscow 1977: board 1, 4.5/7 (+3 =3 -1), team silver;
  • Skara 1980: board 1, 3.5/6 (+1 =5 -0), team silver;
  • Plovdiv 1983: board 1, 4.5/7 (+3 =3 -1), board gold, team bronze;
  • Debrecen 1992: board 1, 4/8 (+1 =6 -1).

Portisch played board one for Hungary at the inaugural World Team Championship, Lucerne 1985. He scored 5.5/9 (+2 =7 -0), as Hungary won the team silver medals.

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Famous quotes containing the words team, chess and/or legend:

    “Is my team ploughing,
    That I was used to drive
    And hear the harness jingle
    When I was man alive?”
    —A.E. (Alfred Edward)

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    “We should burn all libraries and allow to remain only that which everyone knows by heart. A beautiful age of the legend would then begin.”
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