III Chigorin Memorial

The chess federation of the Russian SFSR organized this year’s international tournament at the Sochi holiday resort from June 1 to 14. Five international grandmasters took part, among them former World Champion Smyslov, who had also played in the first Chigorin Memorial in 1947. That first memorial tournament was won by Botvinnik; the second, held in Rostov in 1961, by Taimanov.

The Hungarian participants made an extremely poor start. Grandmaster Bilek had been suffering from severe ear pains since the flight and took part only so that the tournament would retain its character as an international event with a master norm. I myself, as a late substitute, was in worse condition than usual because of the excitement beforehand, and I even misplayed games in which I had near-winning positions. Both of us were helpless against the excellently prepared Soviet players, who by the time we arrived had already become well accustomed to the windy climate.

Polugaevsky won the tournament by a considerable margin. He won whenever he wanted to. Smyslov’s opening play was astonishing; he always obtained excellent chances. What kept him from first place was only that in the endgames he avoided double-edged positions too much, and in one or two cases spoiled them outright. Among the “mere international masters”, Antoshin achieved the more valuable result; Krogius, for his part, mostly supplemented the “gift points” he received from us with draws, using good technique.

Nothing went right for Kholmov in any phase of the game. It is true that he had to fight hard in every game. In the end, however, he owed even his fifth place only to the fact that in the last round his opponent, already in a clearly inferior position, overlooked his queen.

In the middle of the field, the young Bukic caused a surprise. His remarkable calm, circumspect handling of the game and cautious “Yugoslav style” served him well; he fulfilled the international master norm. The Romanian Ciocâltea held up splendidly despite previous fatigue, but he did not play strictly enough against the weaker players. Zaitsev achieved success with quick, attacking games, but paid for it when faced with positions that were not as double-edged. Kozma entered the field only after grandmaster Pachman withdrew, without preparation, and this showed in his play.

On the rest day, the city authorities made the players’ stay even more pleasant with a car excursion to one of the Caucasian mountain peaks and with sailing trips. Tournament direction was capably handled by master Tikhomirova and grandmaster Bondarevsky. The wild, romantic scenery of the mountain valleys crowned with tropical vegetation, and the ancient forest of the Black Sea peak, will certainly remain in our memory even after our chess failures have been forgotten.

Ervin Háág