By Dr József Szily

The international memorial tournament dedicated to Dr Lajos Asztalos, an international chess master and one of the outstanding representatives of Hungarian chess, has been held every year since 1958 and has gradually become one of the important traditional events of Hungarian chess. The organizers decided that, in order to popularize the game, the tournament should be staged each year in a different provincial town.

After Balatonfüred, Debrecen and Kecskemét, the choice fell on Miskolc, the country's second-largest city and a rapidly developing industrial centre. The Borsod County Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, the County Trade Union Council and the Executive Committee of the Miskolc City Council provided the organizational and financial support required for the event. This made it possible to conduct the tournament in worthy surroundings and to provide the participants with suitable accommodation and working conditions.

The tournament was played in the spacious theatre hall of the new SZOT Trade Union Headquarters. The players scarcely noticed the oppressive heat outside. Miskolc, lying near the celebrated holiday district of Tapolca, Lillafüred and the Bükk Mountains, also offered many opportunities for recreation.

The Hungarian Chess Federation had begun preparations almost a year earlier and aimed to assemble as strong a field as possible. Its efforts were successful. The participants included former world champion Mikhail Tal, four other grandmasters and four international masters. It was the strongest field yet seen in the Asztalos Memorial series and one of the strongest international tournaments held in Hungary in recent years.

The original list would have been even stronger, but the Italian international master Giustolisi withdrew at the last moment and was replaced by the Hungarian international master Károly Honfi.

The foreign players arrived in Miskolc on 6 July in the company of Zoltán Gábor, vice-president of the Hungarian Chess Federation. They were welcomed at the railway station by László Fekete, deputy chairman of the Executive Committee of the City Council. That evening the chairman of the organizing committee gave a reception in their honour. After an address by Sándor Szerényi, president of the Hungarian Chess Federation, the drawing of lots was held and the tournament regulations were explained.

At four o'clock that same afternoon play began. Numerous representatives of the county, city and party authorities attended the opening. László Fekete emphasized that Miskolc welcomed the foreign masters warmly and that, through their play, they would pay tribute to the memory of Dr Lajos Asztalos. Sándor Szerényi recalled the patron's work, his efforts to popularize chess and his achievements as an organizer.

Once the players had taken their seats, the struggle began. The spectators wondered who would be the first to win. The answer was almost inevitable: Tal. The former world champion quickly exploited the advantage obtained from the opening and forced Dr Paoli to resign after only twenty moves.

Dr Paoli–Tal, round 1

In the diagrammed position Black has a strong centre and better use of the open files. Tal characteristically forces a weakness on b2 with an energetic knight manoeuvre and makes his positional advantage decisive.

16...Qd7 17.Bg2 Qd5! Tal would also have welcomed 17...Ne5. After 18.Qd4 Qc4 19.b4 a5 20.b5 Qa3, White laid down his arms.

A few days later Szabó carried out a similarly forceful attack against Lokvenc's king and again obtained an immediate decision.

Lokvenc–Szabó, round 1

22...Qh3! 23.Qf1, when both ...Qxg2 and an invasion on f7 are threatened. After 23...Bd7 24.c5 h3 25.c6 Qh4!, White resigned. An elegant finish.

In Fuchs–Dr Filip an unusual ending arose. White had lost a queenside pawn, but after stubborn defence still appeared able to draw, since Black's a-pawn forced the bishop to remain tied to d7.

Fuchs–Dr Filip, round 1

The position looked drawn, yet Black continued to seek winning chances by advancing the f-pawn. After a long struggle White made a mistake and Filip converted the ending.

A familiar "tournament illness" often affects young masters: they may play well for a long time, but when success comes close they begin to fear defeat. Bílek, one of Hungary's most talented grandmasters, might even have won the tournament had he not agreed to a draw with Brzoska in the first round from a clearly superior position.

Brzózka–Bilek, round 1

White's position is virtually hopeless. Black has the move and active rooks. The correct continuation was 19...d4!, followed by pressure on the c-file. Instead Bílek accepted a draw. The lesson is simple: one should not help the opponent escape from a difficult position by offering a draw too early.

In the second round there occurred a curious case of chess blindness in Bílek–Flesch. White failed to notice the danger because he was concentrating on exploiting the queen's position on c7.

Bilek–Flesch, round 2

After 18.c4?, Flesch continued 18...a6 19.Ba4 b5!. Black first won a pawn and then obtained the advantage. Bílek could have defended more accurately, but after further inaccuracies he reached a lost position. Even so, the game ended in a draw when Flesch, affected by nervousness, accepted peace.

Dely has an excellent understanding of positions with a closed centre. Against Bárczay he sacrificed a pawn in order to obtain a strong kingside attack.

Dely–Bárczay, round 2

With 22.c5! White secured a powerful initiative. A rook lift along the third rank followed, together with direct mating threats. Bárczay could not hold the position and resigned.

Flesch scored a valuable victory over Dr Paoli in the third round. As early as the sixth move he had already foreseen the possibility of an exchange sacrifice.

Flesch–Dr Paoli, round 3

White opened lines with 27.Ba7!. After 28.cxd5 Be4 29.Bxe4 Qxa7 30.bxa7, the attack was conducted with great precision. Black's position collapsed and Paoli resigned.

Modern master chess is based above all on maintaining the balance of the position; victory is usually achieved by violently disturbing that balance. Bronstein, recalling the creative spirit of earlier world-championship battles, produced a striking mating combination against Dely.

Bronstein–Dely, round 3

The game had two phases. First Bronstein took control of the entire board; then he switched to a direct attack on the king. After a series of forcing moves Black resigned, unable to prevent mate.

In the fifth round Flesch became the only player to halt Tal's winning march. He played boldly and well, and the former world champion was for a time in serious difficulty. Tal underestimated the weakness of f7; instead of seeking a pawn, he should have begun counterplay.

Flesch–Tal, round 5

Black's position was difficult. Flesch conducted an energetic attack, but the game eventually remained undecided.

After five rounds Tal led with 4½ points. Bílek, Bronstein and Flesch had 3½; Bárczay, Dely, Dr Filip, Fuchs, Forintos and Honfi 3; Lengyel 2½; Dr Paoli 1½; Ghițescu 1; while Brzoska and Lokvenc had yet to score.

11 July was a rest day and was used for an excursion. Unfortunately several Hungarian masters did not take part, preferring to rest. Yet such friendly outings could have helped them to relax and would also have strengthened the comradeship among the players.

The most positive event of the sixth round was Bronstein's fine endgame play against Brzoska. Although the material advantage was small, the former world-championship challenger maintained the pressure for a long time and ultimately made full use of his chances.

Brzoska–Bronstein, round 6

The position remained balanced for a long time, but Bronstein gradually improved his pieces. Only after five hours did he finally break the resistance of the remarkably tenacious Polish master.

The negative feature of the sixth round was Lengyel's renewed misjudgment of the position against Ghițescu.

Lengyel–Ghițescu, round 6

White began an incorrect plan with 22.Bb6?. After the accurate 22...Bd3!, Black seized the initiative. Lengyel resigned because his intended continuation no longer worked.

In the seventh round Tal scored a brilliant victory over Bárczay. The young Hungarian master came very close to success but failed to find the best continuation at the critical moment.

Bárczay–Tal, round 7 — Nimzo-Indian Defence

Tal chose a dynamic setup and, after an inaccuracy by White, obtained attacking chances. After 22...Bf4, the c5-pawn could no longer be saved. Black found a way to break through the apparently solid king position and won.

The sensation expected in the previous round almost occurred in the eighth: Lengyel came close to defeating Tal. By careful and stubborn defence Tal escaped defeat, and in mutual time trouble Black's position even began to promise winning chances.

Tal–Lengyel, round 8

After long thought Black chose 41...Re4. Tal's reply was sufficient to preserve the balance. After more than nine hours of play, at the ninetieth move, the players agreed to a draw. It was a highly instructive ending in which White's passed a-pawn offered chances but was not enough to force a win.

Forintos played calmly and maturely against Szabó. He first neutralized the kingside attack and then began an attack of his own.

Forintos–Szabó, round 8

After 34.Qh5!, Black had no adequate defence. There followed 34...Bd5 35.Qg6+ Kf8 36.Qf6+, and Szabó resigned.

Bílek once again showed a fine sense of opportunity against Dr Filip, taking advantage of the weakened king position and bringing the game to a rapid conclusion.

By the end of the eighth round the tournament had passed the halfway mark. In rounds five to eight, probably because of the heat, the number of draws increased considerably. Some were the result of very short agreements. FIDE had still not found an effective way of limiting premature draws. Neither requiring the arbiter to order play to continue nor prohibiting draw offers before move thirty solved the problem.

Bronstein had discussed this issue at earlier tournaments. In his view the chief cause was not the players' lack of fighting spirit as such, but the qualification system and the norms attached to it. He argued that titles should be linked more directly to concrete tournament performance.

The middle phase of the tournament brought several surprises. Dr Filip took only half a point from Brzoska despite a favourable position, because the Polish player's unexpected exchange sacrifice changed the course of the game completely.

Brzozka–Dr Filip, round 10

Filip overlooked the consequences of his own threat and allowed a tactical resource. The game passed into a drawn ending.

After ten rounds Tal led with 8 points, followed by Bílek and Bronstein with 7; Honfi 6½; Dely and Flesch 6; Szabó 5½; Dr Filip, Forintos and Fuchs 5; Bárczay and Ghițescu 4½; Lengyel 4; and Brzoska, Lokvenc and Dr Paoli 2.

The most successful player of the middle third was Honfi. Through diligent work and good preparation he climbed as high as second place. Several of his games were very attractive, although in one of them he sacrificed a piece for a pawn and then failed to exploit the resulting winning chances.

In the final third the character of the struggle changed completely. The number of draws fell sharply and the players again fought with greater energy. The excursion to Sárospatak and Tokaj, organized in connection with the approaching seventeenth anniversary of the liberation, also helped to refresh the field.

The heroes of the eleventh round were Szabó and Tal. After five hours Tal finally broke Lokvenc's stubborn resistance.

Lokvenc–Tal, round 11

Tal found the attractive sequence 34...Rc1+ 35.Kh2 Be5+ 36.g3 Qf1!, threatening an invasion on f2. After 37.f4 Bxf4! 38.Qd7+ Bf7 39.Rd2 hxg3 40.Qxg3, he finished with 40...Bxg3+!. White resigned.

Szabó, with seemingly effortless play, exploited Dr Paoli's error and produced a quick mating attack based on a knight sacrifice.

The main event of the twelfth round was Szabó's defeat. Brzoska's imaginative queen play enabled the Polish master to score an important victory.

Bárczay–Dr Filip, round 12

Bárczay obtained a clear advantage but failed to use it. After an unexpected exchange sacrifice by Filip, he lost without offering serious resistance.

The thirteenth round featured the important encounter between Tal and Bílek. The game lived up to expectations. Bílek defended calmly in a solid position and later sacrificed a pawn in order to keep his pieces active. Tal won material, but in severe time trouble he made an error and Bílek obtained sufficient counterplay to save the game. It was one of the former world champion's finest performances in the tournament, despite ending only in a draw.

Tal–Bílek, round 14 — Pirc Defence

At the critical moment Tal chose a complicated struggle, but after several accurate defensive moves by Black he could not establish a decisive advantage. Bílek held the position.

In the same round Szabó suffered another defeat, this time against Dely. Brzoska again played with great energy and secured victory by means of a striking combination.

Dely–Brzoska, round 15

After 21.Bg7!!, Black's king was exposed to a decisive attack. Brzoska could not prevent the queen's entry and resigned.

Thanks to a magnificent finish, Dely joined the group of grandmasters at the top of the table. The natural question was whether he might have achieved the same result earlier had he played with such confidence from the beginning.

By defeating Dr Paoli, Bílek not only secured third place but also achieved a grandmaster norm, thereby underlining the strength of Hungarian chess.

The last game to finish was Dr Filip–Honfi. The Czechoslovak grandmaster accepted a draw by repetition only after Honfi had repeated the offer several times.

The final result met expectations: Tal won the tournament. The players deserved praise and recognition both for their overall performances and for the many interesting moments they produced.

Of the 120 games, White won 34, Black won 31 and 55 were drawn, a draw rate of 46 per cent. The longest game was Tal–Lengyel: 90 moves and 9 hours 5 minutes. The shortest was Fuchs–Szabó: 12 moves and 21 minutes. Dr Filip used the most thinking time, 652 minutes, while Dr Paoli used the least. Szabó made the fewest moves in the tournament, 395, and Dr Filip the most, 514.