Diary Notes from Balatonfüred

By Jenő Bán

For whom do we write the newspaper?

Miklós Kálmán begins one of his witty short stories with this question and explains that a journalist—more than anyone else—must imagine a specific reader before him, someone whose interest he wishes to awaken and for whose sake he puts on paper everything he wants to express.

I admit that during the days of the tournament in Füred I too often found myself wondering who my silent interlocutor might be, the partner whose expectations and tastes should guide me as I recount the exciting battles and changing fortunes of the tournament.

Should it be a schoolboy who is now struggling with the mysteries of chess strategy, discovering an ocean of new knowledge? Or perhaps an idle older gentleman who already knows Morphy’s famous opera-box game by heart? Should I choose a tired worker returning home who could relax over a beautiful combination? Or perhaps a regular club player who wants to know how the masters would play the same positions that arise in his own games?

Should I address the fan in Vérmező who merely wants to hear about the Hungarian favourites, or the strict theoretician who seeks the solution to a particular opening variation? Or should I write for the competitor himself, who aspires to great masterly laurels—or rather for the gentle autumn gentleman who is already concerned only with the beauty of chess?

A difficult choice.

As the faces of hundreds of old and new acquaintances passed before my mind, one person always remained: my former opponent and colleague, my master and teacher, Dr. Lajos Asztalos.

I can still see Lajos behind his writing desk, smiling gently. I see the image that greeted me almost every time I entered the small room on Pasaréti Road: among piles of books and periodicals he sat beside his typewriter, arranging his notes. And so our conversation began.

Another time, when we were compiling material for Chess Games of Life, he said:

“Well, Lajos bácsi, have you found some examples?”

“There are one or two interesting simple positions relevant to our subject, Jenőkém, but do not include them in the volume yet. First show them to my children and see whether they like them.”

Those “children” were members of the Central Industrial Apprentice School, several of whom later became masters thanks to his teaching.

“Is the tournament book being prepared?” I asked one winter, when his desk was covered with Soviet championship bulletins.

“I am making good progress. There are so many interesting new opening ideas in the games that I shall first write them up separately, so that the children can study them in due course.”

He called the Olympic team members, who were preparing for the great test under his captaincy, his “children”.

Lajos bácsi’s children!

The large family of Hungarian chess players is difficult to define otherwise. I already see many well-known faces: elderly and young, master and beginner, all alike in one respect—they were those who learned from Dr. Asztalos’s lectures, articles and books to love chess and to understand it.

So I have my “reader”. I shall write this report for him.

The essentials in brief

The Hungarian Chess Federation, together with the Balaton Administrative Committee, organised an international master tournament in Balatonfüred from 14 to 28 June 1958 in memory of Dr. Lajos Asztalos, an international master, former federation president and Olympic team captain, who had died in the autumn of 1956.

The tournament consisted of five Hungarian and seven foreign participants. Among them were three international grandmasters and three international masters. The remaining six were leading masters of their respective countries, including the reigning champions of six nations.

The memorial tournament was opened in the ballroom of the SZOT resort by International Master Flórián Tibor, representing the federation’s leadership. His speech was simultaneously translated into three languages.

Tournament director and international arbiter László Balogh then announced the line-up:

1. Dr. Octav Troianescu, international master and Romanian champion
2. István Bilek, master
3. Lajos Portisch, master and Hungarian champion
4. Burkhard Malich, master and champion of the German Democratic Republic
5. Gedeon Barcza, international grandmaster
6. Győző Forintos, master
7. Vladimir Sokolov, master
8. Kazimierz Plater, international master and Polish champion
9. Alexander Tolush, international grandmaster
10. László Szabó, international grandmaster
11. Dr. Enrico Paoli, international master and Italian champion
12. Milko Bobotsov, master and Bulgarian champion

Hans-Josef Fassbender of the German Chess Federation served as chief arbiter, assisted by Dr. József Gulácsy, deputy head of the Hungarian federation’s women’s chess section, as well as several strong players from the Balatonfüred Chess Club.

The rounds were played on 14–16, 18–20 and 22–25 June, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. The final round began at 8 a.m. on the 27th. Forty moves had to be completed within five hours. Adjourned games were resumed on the mornings following the rounds and on the afternoon of 27 June.

The rest days were 17, 21 and 26 June.

The players stayed at the Aranycsillag Hotel and ate at the Astoria Hotel. Their arrangements were carefully supervised by federation secretary-general Jenő Ejjury.

Course of the tournament

The tournament was extremely hard-fought. There were many sharp struggles, time scrambles and adjourned games.

After the opening rounds, Grandmaster Alexander Tolush surged into the lead with five consecutive victories, leaving the rest of the field two points behind.

The Hungarian grandmasters began slowly. Szabó obtained his first victory only in the fifth round, while Barcza did not win until the eighth round and for a time stood only ninth.

Following a later improvement in form, Portisch cut down the leaders. Bilek also played excellently, although a run of bad luck kept him from the leading group.

In the seventh round Szabó defeated Tolush, while Portisch caught him. Szabó and Bilek were now half a point behind the leaders.

Of the four, only Tolush won in the next round and again took sole possession of first place. The following day the decisive games Tolush–Portisch and Szabó–Bilek were played.

Portisch escaped a difficult position through bold and risky play and, with an increasingly favourable endgame, won the battle. He secured victory in the tournament with an 82-percent performance.

Tolush scored only half a point in the last three rounds. Szabó and Bilek quickly agreed a draw, while Barcza caught them with three consecutive wins.

Behind the winner, Tolush finished second. Bilek and Szabó shared third and fourth places. Barcza and Troianescu shared fifth and sixth.

The prize-giving was held on 28 June in Budapest’s Palace Hotel. The tournament was described as an important and long-awaited event in Hungarian chess life, and its result demonstrated the strength of Hungarian chess.

Travelling and talking

The Sports Office bus stood outside the Palace Hotel, ready to take the foreign guests to Füred. Barcza was driving there himself, while four Hungarian players had already travelled ahead to become accustomed to the conditions.

Tolush walked alone in the silence. He was not offended; none of the others knew Russian well enough to converse with him. Only Flórián Tibor did.

Eventually Tolush boarded the bus, took out a book and read throughout the journey to Füred.

The tournament begins discreetly

The competition began almost secretly. There were no posters and hardly any publicity. Yet the resort centre was full of guests and the spa promenade was crowded on the pleasant June afternoon.

During a short walk I noticed the tournament’s open terrace, with three pairs playing chess and a sizeable group of spectators around them.

Among the onlookers stood a thin, apple-cheeked young man whose deferential silence could have been commanded only by Barcza László. I asked him:

“Which one is Szabó?”

He spread his arms in surprise.

I explained that I had only sent him in to look at the noticeboard. I wanted to know why Szabó had not captured on c7.

The Hungarians against one another

The internal results of the five Hungarian players were:

• Bilek — 2½ points
• Portisch — 2½
• Barcza — 2
• Szabó — 2
• Forintos — 1

The games were marked by both hard fighting and respect among the players. Bilek and Portisch demonstrated that the younger Hungarian masters already belonged among the country’s strongest classical tournament players.

Many small remarks

Tolush gave the impression of being calm almost to the point of immobility. Then suddenly, decisively, he would make his move. He gathered his pieces, stood up, paced around, returned, sat down again and lit another cigarette.

At first I thought he was calm. Later I realised that he was simply extraordinarily disciplined—and, incidentally, an extremely strong chess player.

During the first half of the tournament the Leningrad grandmaster towered above the field. His skill in rook endings and his tactical ability were his principal strengths. His convincing combination against Paoli was among his finest achievements.

Bobotsov and women’s equality

Bobotsov, the young, black-haired Bulgarian champion, was known because his wife Ivanova was also Bulgarian women’s champion.

One evening someone asked him, through Bilek’s fiancée Edit Láng, who had repeatedly acted as an interpreter among the Slavic-language speakers:

“Tell me, Master Bobotsov, does your wife still compete under her maiden name?”

“Well, it is like this,” came the somewhat reluctant but half-serious reply. “If Bobotsov achieves good results, she is his wife. If she plays badly, she is simply Ivanova.”

The good-humoured Sokolov overheard this, rose and mockingly said farewell:

“Good night, Mr Ivanov!”

The next day Bobotsov defeated Szabó, restoring his name from “comrade Bobotsov” to its proper form in Sokolov’s eyes.

The Baricska Tavern in Badacsony

When speaking of Sokolov, it must be remembered that he proved the best wine expert among the competitors.

At the famous Baricska Tavern, where the company once stopped to taste a little wine, he selected Szürkebarát from among the many Füred and Badacsony varieties and declared it the best.

The group decided that chess players should drink only a small amount of good wine and do so the following day—an entirely logical chess-player’s interpretation.

The next day Sokolov lost.

“I blame that Badacsony wine,” I remarked.

“Not at all,” protested the Yugoslav master. “The wine was very good, and I played well too. Had I played 4...Fg5 immediately instead of 4...b4, I would have won the game!”

Time trouble

As news of the improving quality of play spread, interest in the tournament increased. Chess enthusiasts from Budapest and visitors from Veszprém, Várpalota and the resorts around Lake Balaton came to watch.

One of the most exciting time scrambles arose in the seventh-round Tolush–Szabó game. Szabó won a pawn, but both players were soon playing almost exclusively on instinct and nerve.

Actor Ferenc Kiss hurried in just as a storm was breaking over Lake Balaton. Someone cried:

“Szabó has won back the pawn!”

Kiss stayed. Half an hour later the crowd shouted again:

“What a magnificent rook move! Now we are winning!”

But there was no time to watch the finish. Kiss returned to the Aranycsillag because dinner was waiting.

When asked later about the game, he replied:

“What could I do? I exceeded the time limit.”

Position sense

During the final round it was already clear that the Hungarian champion would take first place.

A reporter asked whether a recent photograph of Portisch was available.

“Imagine,” came the reply, “I might have a group photograph taken a week ago.”

“But that is the picture in which Lajos is standing as though he had already won the tournament. What extraordinary positional sense!”

The joke was fair. Yet the tournament director’s own “positional sense” also deserved mention.

At last, the whip cracked

After ten exciting and eventful rounds, the final field was brought together by Tolush and Portisch, who was pursuing him like a shadow.

Their struggle obscured the others, but it should be remembered that Hungarian chess again scored a complete success.

Portisch won and entered the grandmaster category. Barcza played an excellent final phase. Forintos, who had suffered stomach trouble for a long time, performed well. Szabó and Bilek had already agreed a draw after eleven moves so as not to lose unnecessarily.

The overall performance of the Hungarian players against the foreign participants was:

• Portisch — 6½ points
• Szabó — 5
• Bilek — 4½
• Barcza — 4
• Forintos — 2

The figures themselves say much. The expert evaluation of the games and the analysis of the many valuable and instructive encounters were left for a later, cooler period.

The chronicler therefore now sets down his pen.

The serious work, however, will continue: the decisive game, the victory of the Asztalos Memorial Tournament, with the analysis of the winner.