A< Prev Index Next >
Chess 03 Jan 1959, Sat Coventry Evening Telegraph (Coventry, West Midlands, England) Newspapers.com
Coventry Evening Telegraph, Coventry, West Midlands, England
Chess Notes … by D. G. H.
Top Players Are Absent
The line-up in the premier tournament at the 34th International Hastings Chess Congress this week is without a number of the leading players expected.
The competitors were: L. Portisch (Hungary), M. Radoicic (Yugoslavia), A. Duckstein (Austria), W. Uhlmann (East Germany), K. Darga (West Germany), G. Fuster (Canada), E. Gereben (stateless, formerly Hungary), R. G. Wade (New Zealand), L. W. Barden and P. H. Clarke (Great Britain).
The 15 years old American prodigy, Bobby Fischer, was asked, but could not play as he had to catch up on his schoolwork. J. Penrose, the British champion, also decided that he had better keep on with his studies on psychology at London.
The proposed Russian players, world champion, Botvinnik, and the Russian champion, Tal, also declined, as the Russian Championships begin immediately after the end of the congress.
Finally, Olafsson, who had accepted, cancelled his acceptance one week before the congress was to begin.
Gereben and Fuster, who were originally playing in the Premier Reserves Major, the section after the Premier, were called in to fill the gap.
