1964 Olympiad Tel Aviv

[antichrist]

The 16th Olympiad was the first ever to be held in Asia; it also attracted a new record number of participants. The chosen representatives of fifty countries entered for the event, among them a team from the green continent, Australia. Thus for the first time in the history of the Chess Olympiads players from all five continents were able to take part in a world gathering


I wonder who described OZ as the green continent?

By the look of it we were the lagging continent

http://www.olimpbase.org/1964/1964in.html

[antichrist]

http://www.chessville.com/BillWall/OlympiadTrivia.htm

He has a terrific pic of Arianne in Stars mode.
....
A chess Olympiad was held in Munich in 1936 to coincide with the Summer Olympic Games in Berlin. However, Germany was not a member of FIDE (they had withdrawn from FIDE in 1933), so it was an unofficial Olympiad. Germany had withdrawn their ban on Jews for this event.

This site blurb mentions that OZ team were sponsered but cant find where in the site

[Denis_Jessop]

The 16th Olympiad was the first ever to be held in Asia; it also attracted a new record number of participants. The chosen representatives of fifty countries entered for the event, among them a team from the green continent, Australia. Thus for the first time in the history of the Chess Olympiads players from all five continents were able to take part in a world gathering


I wonder who described OZ as the green continent?

By the look of it we were the lagging continent

http://www.olimpbase.org/1964/1964in.html

You really need to look into the history before making unsubstaniated allegations that we were lagging. I don't know the reasons why we didn't send teams earlier but I think that expense and unavailability of good players were among them. This is confirmed by Cecil Purdy writing in "Chess World" in July 1964. One reason that we and NZ were able to send teams in 1964 was that the israeli Chess Federation paid half the air fares (comparatively a lot of money then) but neither CJS nor John Purdy (then current Australian Champion) was available, the first for business reasons, the second because of exams.

DJ

[antichrist]

Due to Israel's political situation and trying to keep friends is maybe why they sponsered Australia, Australia helped create the State in the UN.

[billross]

An item of Australian chess memorabilia recently purchased from a dealer in Israel.

His description: Australia members are: Koshnitsky Gregory Simon, Hanks John, Geus William, Fuller Maxwell, Hay Trevor, Viner Phillip

austchesscover.jpg

(hope the upload worked)

[jammo]

Nice!

[billross]

I didn't realise - now is the 50th anniversary of Australia's first Olympiad team. Does anyone know how the team would have travelled to Israel, ship?

[MichaelBaron]

a couple of the team members (Viner and Hay) are still around...so pehaps we could ask them share some memories of the trip/event.

[Denis_Jessop]

The team travelled by air after a lot of negotiating took place about who would pay. Some information is to be found in Cecil Purdy's "Chess World" 1964.

DJ

[MichaelBaron]

The team travelled by air after a lot of negotiating took place about who would pay.

DJ

Sadly, 50 years later chess players still have to pay their way to represent Australia

[Kevin Bonham]

Sadly, 50 years later chess players still have to pay their way to represent Australia

Part thereof. I believe the share the players have to pay for 2014 is going to come out at less than 50% when everything is finalised and paid out. Ditto 2012.

[idledim]

I didn't realise - now is the 50th anniversary of Australia's first Olympiad team. Does anyone know how the team would have travelled to Israel, ship?

Alitalia. Israel had brokered a deal with Air France to fly all players from all nations at concession prices. This would have meant Qantas to Hong Kong and Air France to Tel-Aviv. But Qantas and then the Australian govt. refused to match the Israel/Air France deal - and the full fare to Hong Kong then half to Tel-Aviv was more expensive than full fare Sydney to Tel-Aviv via Alitalia. It effectively doubled the cost of travel from 1500 to 3000 pounds. Israel donated 500 and Rothmans 250 - most of the rest came out of the players pockets. Trevor Hay's mum stumped up his share - and he went (aged 18) a couple of months after finishing last in the NSW championships. As Purdy notes, there was probably not much left over after the parliamentarians had just voted themselves a 27% pay rise. Plus ca change....

[idledim]

You really need to look into the history before making unsubstaniated allegations that we were lagging. I don't know the reasons why we didn't send teams earlier but I think that expense and unavailability of good players were among them. This is confirmed by Cecil Purdy writing in "Chess World" in July 1964. One reason that we and NZ were able to send teams in 1964 was that the israeli Chess Federation paid half the air fares (comparatively a lot of money then) but neither CJS nor John Purdy (then current Australian Champion) was available, the first for business reasons, the second because of exams.

DJ

Denis, i believe you are incorrect here. NZ did not go and Israel did not contribute half the fare - it contributed 1/6th of the fare(500 pounds). The August issue of Chess World 1964 mentions New Zealand's withdrawal on page 118 and outlines the funding details on page 117. The September issue carries a report on the tournament - easily won by the USSR from Yugoslavia and West Germany (though the West Germans did defeat the USSR in their match - the first loss in an Olympiad by the Soviet team since 1956, and their first ever by a 3-1 margin). The Aussies won "D" grade. The record will show that the Australians were the only team (of the 50 nations competing) who paid full fare.

[antichrist]

Alitalia. Israel had brokered a deal with Air France to fly all players from all nations at concession prices. This would have meant Qantas to Hong Kong and Air France to Tel-Aviv. But Qantas and then the Australian govt. refused to match the Israel/Air France deal - and the full fare to Hong Kong then half to Tel-Aviv was more expensive than full fare Sydney to Tel-Aviv via Alitalia. It effectively doubled the cost of travel from 1500 to 3000 pounds. Israel donated 500 and Rothmans 250 - most of the rest came out of the players pockets. Trevor Hay's mum stumped up his share - and he went (aged 18) a couple of months after finishing last in the NSW championships. As Purdy notes, there was probably not much left over after the parliamentarians had just voted themselves a 27% pay rise. Plus ca change....

How pathetic of Qantas and the Oz Govt. [snip-mod] A house in suburban Sydney cost either 6,000 pounds or dollars at the time, so that is an idea.

[Denis_Jessop]

Denis, i believe you are incorrect here. NZ did not go and Israel did not contribute half the fare - it contributed 1/6th of the fare(500 pounds). The August issue of Chess World 1964 mentions New Zealand's withdrawal on page 118 and outlines the funding details on page 117. The September issue carries a report on the tournament - easily won by the USSR from Yugoslavia and West Germany (though the West Germans did defeat the USSR in their match - the first loss in an Olympiad by the Soviet team since 1956, and their first ever by a 3-1 margin). The Aussies won "D" grade. The record will show that the Australians were the only team (of the 50 nations competing) who paid full fare.

This is an old thread. As you know there is another thread on the same theme in Australian Chess History. I think the moderators should ensure that there is no doubling up with conflicting/confusing posts. My 2010 post was clearly based on a very quick look at "Chess World" plus some of my own recollections from the time (probably, in part, from reading CW in 1964).

[threads now merged - mod]

DJ