The Second Adolph Anderssen Memorial Tournament — By Bent Larsen

Less than a week before the tournament began, I allowed myself to be persuaded to take part. There had been a couple of withdrawals, and it was uncertain whether one or two grandmasters would arrive from Bulgaria. In the event, only one came, and at the last moment the veteran Sämisch had to step in, since this time the tournament was to be Category IA, giving the young Germans a chance to earn international titles. Last year Hübner won the tournament with a result close to a grandmaster norm, but it did not even earn him the international master title. This time the energetic organizer Herbert Eggert could take satisfaction from the fact that no fewer than three of the young Germans made use of the opportunity. Mohrlok, Hecht and Hübner achieved international master norms. The greatest surprise, however, was that Gerusel, who had received his master title at the congress in Lugano, was in contention for first place. In the final round he had to defeat Gligorić to become a grandmaster, but that sensation did not materialize. He appeared to be the most cool-headed of these young players. Both Mohrlok and Hecht came close to throwing away their titles through sheer nervousness, after having remained comfortably placed throughout the tournament. At one stage they were ready to accept a draw regardless of how good their positions were. Mohrlok had presumably arrived at the tournament with a certain amount of confidence: in a small event in Ludwigsburg, near Stuttgart, he had finished second behind Polugaevsky, but ahead of Zaitsev, Pfleger, Szabó, Bilek and the comparatively unknown South German player Kern. The odd number of seven participants was due to Pomar falling ill after the first couple of rounds.

As expected?

A normal pre-tournament prediction would probably have been a contest for first place between Polugaevsky and the present writer, with Zaitsev and Gligorić lying in wait. Apart from Gerusel’s unexpected intervention, that is how matters turned out. My victory over Polugaevsky in the eleventh round proved decisive. In the final round I was able to secure first place with a quick draw against Zaitsev, who made no attempt to help his compatriot obtain a share of first place. On the whole, I played well against the strongest opponents, but I played miserably against Mohrlok, and my play was not good against Kestler, Ghitescu, Hecht or Szily either. Ghitescu and Hecht could have played for a win in the final position, but eagerly seized the opportunity for a repetition of moves. Sometimes an opponent’s respect gives you an extra half-point. Against Szily, I failed to make use of a winning chance. Polugaevsky’s and Gligorić’s results were fairly normal. Ivkov and Bobotsov drew so many games that their performances cannot be regarded as especially interesting. Zaitsev was an interesting discovery, having emerged into the limelight only during the last couple of years. He is a tremendous fighter with fine combinational ability, and he also plays stubbornly for a win in apparently straightforward drawn endings. Players of that type are always lucky: against Hübner he won a drawn ending, while against Szabó he saved a lost one. The greatest negative surprise was naturally Szabó. Is age beginning to weigh on him? He is only 52. Sämisch is 73, but still plays very well—only not quickly enough. He lost all his games on time, apparently some kind of world record.

Five-second chess

After the tournament, a blitz event was held in which approximately half of the tournament participants took part. It was played at five-second speed. Hübner is an expert at this form of chess and won ahead of Szabó, the present writer, Bilek, Polugaevsky and Zaitsev. Readers from Southern Jutland, at least, may already wish to note that next year this blitz tournament will be played on 9 May. On the following day there will be a blitz tournament for four-player teams competing for the so-called Nordsee-Pokal. That much is certain. The tireless Herbert Eggert is now also fairly confident that the third “Adolph Anderssen Gedenk-Turnier” will take place from approximately 22 April to 8 May. The Dithmarschen Chess Association is extraordinarily active; it now also holds an annual youth tournament, in which Steen and Ole Jakobsen have represented us.