A Brilliant Victory by the Magician from Riga

Þórir Ólafsson, writing in Vísir, 5 February 1964.

The most magnificent chess tournament ever held in Iceland has now come to an end. The winner was Mikhail Tal of the Soviet Union, a former world champion and one of the strongest chess masters of our time. So much has already been said and written about this extraordinary figure in the art of chess that adding anything further would, in truth, be carrying coals to Newcastle.

His score of 12½ points out of a possible 13 speaks clearly enough of his superiority, but when one considers how those points were obtained, all adjectives seem inadequate. After every move by his opponent, it was as though a magically enhanced electronic brain sprang into action. The reply came without delay and usually left ordinary mortals completely bewildered.

Tal’s victory will therefore be remembered not merely for the exceptionally high percentage he achieved in the tournament, but even more for the brilliant chess he displayed.

Gligorić finished second with 11½ points, which is also an exceptionally high score. His performance came as no surprise, since for many years he has been one of the most accomplished chess masters in the world outside the Soviet Union.

Few, however, had expected Johannessen to finish in a tie for third place with Friðrik Ólafsson. They scored nine points each. I venture to claim that this was the Norwegian’s best chess result to date. Johannessen plays a smooth positional style and has little taste for violent complications. A gradual positional struggle suits him well, and he is skilled at exploiting weaknesses in his opponent’s position.

At the beginning of the tournament, very few people would have accepted a prediction that Friðrik would have to fight merely for third place. Although we are naturally disappointed that our leading representative did not finish higher, we must carefully consider the circumstances before passing judgement on his performance.

Friðrik knew that much was expected of him, and he certainly did not hold back. Quite the contrary. Precisely because he was in the spotlight, he took on a burden that was too heavy. Under “normal” circumstances, Friðrik would have drawn against both Tal and Gligorić, but on this occasion he played for a win against each of them.

Those familiar with the nature of chess know what that means: anyone who plays for a win must always risk losing. The defeat against Wade was, of course, of a different nature. It must be attributed to time trouble, which was itself largely the result of insufficient practice.

Wade finished fifth with 7½ points. Considering that he is an International Master, this must be regarded as a reasonable result in the circumstances. Nevertheless, the New Zealander’s success came as a considerable surprise. People have somehow still not fully appreciated how much Wade has improved since he played here in 1947. Our younger masters underestimated him, and this proved to be their downfall.

This likeable and agreeable chess master has announced that he is willing to travel around the country and give simultaneous exhibitions. It is to be hoped that chess clubs outside Reykjavík will give this proposal due consideration.

Guðmundur Pálmason finished sixth with seven points, and it may be said that he was the only player who exceeded expectations. In Guðmundur we must surely see our next International Master, provided that he continues to play seriously. He played well from the start, but for one reason or another the victories did not come until near the end. Once he had drawn with Tal in the middle of the tournament, however, his good play began to bear fruit, and three victories in the final four games speak for themselves.

Ingi R. Jóhannsson occupied the final prize-winning place, finishing seventh. It can hardly be denied that his result caused considerable disappointment. As evidence that Ingi is clearly going through a period of decline, it may be recalled that he and Johannessen are old rivals and that Ingi has usually had the better of their encounters. This time, however, very little went according to plan. Well-constructed positions collapsed like houses of cards after clumsy blunders, and Ingi never seemed able to free himself from his nervous tension during the tournament.

Gaprindashvili and Magnús Sólmundarson shared eighth and ninth places. After a good start, the women’s world champion suffered one defeat after another. Despite her fluent play, she lacked stamina, and her final placing must therefore be considered fair. Draws against two of our strongest players, Friðrik and Ingi, nevertheless show that she is no ordinary competitor.

Magnús’s result was a good one, since few had predicted that he would emerge so successfully from such a strong tournament. He showed that he is a developing player, and signs of improvement could even be detected as the tournament progressed.

Those who brought up the rear must be placed in a single group. There are two reasons for this: first, the similarity of their scores, and second, the comparable quality of their games. Trausti’s result must probably be regarded as the best among them, and he appeared to grow stronger as the tournament went on.

Of the more experienced players, Arinbjörn, Freysteinn and Ingvar, it must be said that they did not reach their best form, and lack of practice can probably be blamed. Jón is still an inexperienced player and is only now beginning to acquire the experience that every master needs.