Golden Sands 86 - Ermenkov the Winner

From 23 April to 4 May Varna hosted the traditional Golden Sands international tournament. The jubilee 25th edition naturally invited a look back at an event that had become a school for almost every important Bulgarian player of the recent past and present. Its prestige had repeatedly inspired young players and demanded the full skill and experience of established masters.

Many Bulgarian players had improved their strength in the fire of these twenty-five tournaments and had acquired international titles and qualifications there. That history gave good reason to believe that the tradition would continue and that Golden Sands would gain still greater international recognition.

Alongside those positive sentiments, however, there was a serious organizational problem. Players had complained about the conditions the previous year, and the criticism was justified. Such a prestigious and historic tournament should not begin in the hall of a night bar and then be moved into small rooms at a junior chess school that barely accommodated the players and arbiters, let alone spectators.

The attention shown by the Varna authorities - the mayor personally closed the event and presented the prizes - nevertheless gave hope that the problem would be solved in future.

On the chessboard, the defining feature was the remarkable equality of the field: only one and a half points separated first from tenth place. Games were generally tense and uncompromising. Success went to those who could maintain concentration from the first move to the last and distribute their energy correctly under the new time control of six hours for sixty moves, with an intermediate control at move forty.

Ermenkov and Vera both experienced difficult moments, but they stood out through practical sporting judgment and deservedly occupied the top of the table. Ermenkov was declared tournament winner on the better Sonneborn-Berger score. His victory was thus not based on domination of a weak field but on steadier practical play in an unusually balanced competition.

Tihomir Toshkov