Chess By Isaac Kashdan
International Grandmaster
NAJDORF, PACHMAN TIE IN ARGENTINA
Miguel Najdorf of Buenos Aires and Ludek Pachman of Czechoslovakia finished in a tie for first place with scores of 10½-3½ in the international master tournament at Mar del Plata, Argentina.
Najdorf, the oldest of the 15 contestants, played the steadiest chess, emerging as the only undefeated player. Pachman won his last three games to equal the top score.
Two defeats in the early rounds of the tournament prevented United States chess champion Bobby Fischer from finishing higher than a tie for third at 10-4 with Boris Ivkov of Yugoslavia.
Fischer, 15-year-old Brooklyn boy who took time off from school to participate, lost to Pachman and to Rene Letelier of Chile. In the latter game, published below, Fischer started out well, gaining a pawn through a sharp sacrificial combination. But the game drifted into a drawn ending. Evidently not satisfied with this conclusion, Fischer tried to win, miscalculated and surrendered a vital point.
Following are the final scores of the players and a selection of games from the tournament:
FINAL STANDINGS W L Najdorf 10½ 3½ Pachman 10½ 3½ Fischer 10 4 Ivkov 10 4 Letelier 9 5 Rossetto 8 6 Wexler 7½ 6½ Sanchez 7 7 Sanguinetti 7 7 Emma 5½ 8½ Bolbochan 4½ 9½ Pilnik 4½ 9½ Mendez 4 10 Shocron 4 10 Redolfi 3 11
Joao de Souza Mendes Jr. vs Robert James Fischer
Mar del Plata (1959), Mar del Plata ARG, rd 4, Mar-26
King's Indian Defense: Saemisch Variation (E80) 0-1
Robert James Fischer vs Rene Letelier Martner
Mar del Plata (1959), Mar del Plata ARG, rd 5, Mar-28
Spanish Game: Closed Variations. Chigorin Defense (C97) 0-1
Robert James Fischer vs Ruben Shocron
Mar del Plata (1959), Mar del Plata ARG, rd 7, Mar-30
Spanish Game: Closed Variations. Chigorin Defense (C97) 1-0
Borislav Ivkov vs Bernardo Wexler
Mar del Plata (1959), Mar del Plata ARG, rd 2, Mar-24
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation. Bernstein Defense (E59) 1-0
LEAGUE TEAM MATCHES
The annual team tournament of the Southern California Chess League is drawing to a close, though fewer results than usual were reported last week.
There is no change in the Class I standing. The Herman Steiner Chess Club has two matches to complete, against the Lincoln Park Chess and Checker Club of Long Beach and the Santa Monica Bay Chess Club. The Steiner team must win both matches by 4-0 scores to overcome the lead of the Van Nuys Chess Club, at present in first place.
The Inglewood Chess Club, defeating the Pasadena Chess Club by a 4-2 score, has virtually clinched first place in the east division of Class II. Inglewood has won seven matches out of eight, with one remaining against Long Beach.
The Downey Chess Club is in second place with 5-1 and three matches to complete. They must win all three to have a chance to overtake the leader. Long Beach, with 4½-1½, also has an outside chance for victory. Other leading scores are City Terrace, 5-3, and Pasadena, 4½-3½.
The closest battle is in the west division of Class II, marked by a tie at 7-1 between the Santa Monica second team and the Van Nuys first team Santa Monica is leading in game points by 34½ to 33½. One more round remains.
The South Bay Chess Club first team is in third place with 5½-2½, followed by the Herman Steiner Club, 5-3. Tied at 4-4 are the second teams of Van Nuys and South Bay.
The Van Nuys team, outscoring City Terrace by 4-2 in last week's match, moved into a tie for first with them in the Class III division. Each team has a 5-2 match score. Van Nuys leads in game points, with 25½ to 24½ for City Terrace.
Russian Women In Match
The Soviet Union, holder of the women's world chess championship, is prepared to send its best team to this year's tournament, scheduled to be played at Plovdiv, Bulgaria, May 1 to 27, according to a report from the New York Times.
The tie for the Soviet women's national championship has been played off and resulted in a victory, 2½-1½, for Larissa Volpert over Kira A. Zvorkina. Both women are rated as international masters by the International Chess Federation.
Mrs. Gisela Gresser of New York, one of the American entrants, expects to leave soon for Plovdiv. Mrs. Sonja Graf Stevenson of Los Angeles is also entitled to play, but here plans are not yet certain.
Following is one of the games of the Moscow match:
Mme. Larissa Volpert (white) vs. Mme. Kira Zvorkina (black)
King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Normal Attack
The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Sunday, April 19, 1959 Times Problem 3059 by H. Froberg. White mates in...
Posted by Bobby Fischer's True History on Monday, March 2, 2020
Times Problem 3059 by H. Froberg. White mates in two.
Problem 3059 is a waiter, with some good changed mates after Black's queen rook moves. In the miniature three-mover there is a neat duel between the black rook and the bishop.
FEN 8/3p4/3P4/2R1prp1/1p2k1N1/1NrRp1P1/2P3P1/KB6 w - - 0 1
The Los Angeles Times, Chess by Isaac Kashdan, Sunday, April 05, 1959, Los Angeles, California Times Problem 3059 by H....
Posted by Bobby Fischer's True History on Saturday, May 28, 2022
Times Problem 3059 by H. Froberg
Black 8
White 10
White mates in two.
FEN 8/3p4/3P4/2R1prp1/1p2k1N1/1NrRp1P1/2P3P1/KB6 w - - 0 1
Solution: 1. Rdd5 Rxc5 2. c4#
The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Sunday, April 19, 1959 Times Problem 3060 by J. Fritz. White mates in...
Posted by Bobby Fischer's True History on Monday, March 2, 2020
Times Problem 3060 by J. Fritz. White mates in three.
FEN K1R5/1Q6/8/8/p7/8/B7/k5r1 w - - 0 1
Times Problem 3060 by J. Fritz
Black 3
White 4
White mates in three.
FEN K1R5/1Q6/8/8/p7/8/B7/k5r1 w - - 0 1
Solution: 1. Rc3 Rd1 2. Bd5 Rxd5 3. Ra3#
Problem 3059 is a waiter, with some good changed mates after Black queen rook moves. In the miniature three-mover there is a neat duel between the black rook and the bishop.
SOLVERS' LIST
Five points— W. S. Aaron, B. Bilman, G. A. Coatsworth, M. Chutorian, C. Cresswell, P. C. Geltner, J. Gotta, W. H. Griffith, J. Kaufman, D. Miller, E. E. Penter, J. W. Selby, S. Simcoe, A. E. Wood.
Three points— F. Aks, A. E. Byler, J. Fullerton, S. Krumgold, R. M. Levy, M. Morris, W. L. Rankel.
Two points— A. A. Rothstein, G. R. Turgeon.
One point— J. C. Beaver, R. O. Burns, P. C. Carton, K. E. Fogerlund, J. P. Foley, J. D. Frierson, L. Goode, A. P. Hickling, D. E. Holmes, R. E. King, M. Rosen, F. R. Ruehl II, Mrs. S. G. Stevenson, W. B. Tudor.
1. B-Q6 is not “just as good” in Problem 3053. It fails after QxP.