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The King's Men 20 Dec 1959, Sun The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) Newspapers.com
The King's Men: U.S. Hopes For Title Are Dashed
Fischer Fifth As Tahl Tops Tournament by Merrill Dowden
Once again the hopes of Americans everywhere for bringing the chess championship of the world to the United States have gone a-glimmering.
A few weeks ago these hopes were riding high on the shoulders of the young American champion, Robert J. Fischer. But Fischer, suffering from over-optimism and lack of experience in tournament play of this caliber could finish no better than fifth in the Challengers. Yugoslavia was the host.
The Russians dominated the tournament, as expected, sweeping the first four places.
Mikhail Tal, with an impressive 20-8 score, finished on top and won the right to meet Mikhail Botvinnik next year for the championship. Paul Keres, the most experienced player of the lot, finished second. T. Petrosyan was third, and V. Smyslov, former world champion, third.
However, it is noteworthy that Fischer had minus scores against only two of his seven opponents. He topped Benko 3-1 and Olafsson 2½-1½. Given a bit more experience against the world's elite, he may yet bring the title to this country.
The gamelet, played in this year's U.S. Open, is an excellent example of how to cash in on your opponent's mistakes.
Richard Alan McLellan vs Gerald M Banker
60th US Open (1959), Omaha, NE USA, rd 3, Jul-22
French Defense: McCutcheon. Tartakower Variation (C12) 1-0
