The tournament was held in Groningen, Netherlands, in the Harmoniegebouw from August 13 to September 7, 1946.
It was the first major international tournament since the end of the Second World War.
Since the world title had been vacant for several months due to Alekhine's death in March 1946, a good result was enormously important to establish oneself as a contender for a world championship tournament.
The USSR sent a delegation of five Soviet players to the tournament: Botvinnik (35), Smyslov (25), Flohr (37), Boleslavsky (27) and Kotov (33). The appearance of such a large group of Soviet players in a foreign country marked a novelty in chess history.
The tournament was a twenty-player round-robin.
The lead at the head of the table switched a few times. Initially Botvinnik led by a clear 1.5 points (9/10), but then lost to Kotov and Yanofsky (rounds 14 and 15) and found himself now one point behind Euwe (12.5/15). After three wins in a row Botvinnik was again half a point ahead of Euwe, but lost his last round game with Black in the Nimzo-Indian against Najdorf. But Euwe, also playing Black, lost - to Kotov.
Prominent players who did not compete in Groningen were Reshevsky, Fine and Keres.
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