Victory for the National Champion

In previous years the international tournaments at Golden Sands had sometimes been criticized for short, colourless draws and for the supposedly relaxing effect of the seaside setting. A negative view of the event's sporting value had even begun to form. This year, however, both the quality of the struggle and the final results satisfied even demanding observers. The tournament was fought at full tension from beginning to end, and even players who had lost all chance of a high placing continued to fight hard.

Several players made good starts, but no one managed to break clear. Going into the last round, four players - Peicho Peev, Evgeni Ermenkov, Espig and another of the leading group - were level on points. In the decisive final round Ermenkov alone among the leaders managed to win, defeating Spiridonov in a tense game and taking clear first place.

In the twelve-year history of the tournament, Ermenkov became only the third Bulgarian to head the final standings. The success was an attractive addition to his national championship title and also gave him his first international-master norm.

Peicho Peev also deserved praise. He played fresh, fluent chess and achieved his second international-master norm. Lyuben Spasov likewise performed well and appeared to have overcome his former tendency to be psychologically affected by defeats.

Among the foreign players, Messing and Espig played solidly, were not opposed to draws when appropriate, and converted advantages efficiently. The Czechoslovak representative Mista was one of the tournament's most original players: in two games he sacrificed his queen and won. His frequent time trouble, however, cost him a great deal of energy and he faded in the final rounds.

The positive sporting result of this Varna tournament again demonstrated the importance of choosing the field well. A larger number of players genuinely striving for international-title norms clearly increased the fighting spirit. It was regrettable only that a third grandmaster had not been secured, which would have allowed the event to count for grandmaster norms as well.