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Express and News San Antonio, Texas Sunday, July 31, 1960
Championship Chess by Blake Stevens
One of the strongest tournaments ever to be conducted in the last 25 years is in progress in Buenos Aires. Chess stars from all over the world are competing.
Missing from the roster are Botvinnik and Tahl, both recuperating from their World Championship Match, and Keres and one or two other high Russian players.
Nevertheless, such luminaries as Reshevsky, Korchnoi, Taimanov, Fischer, Evans, Szabo, Uhlmann, Ivkov, Gligoric, Pachman and Unzicker are present. The countries represented include the U.S.A., Russia, Germany, England, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and several South American countries.
Fischer Lags
Bobby Fischer is tied for 16th and 17th places, in a field of 20. It is strange how reactions to Fischer's progress change with the times.
At first, when this youngster, scored his early successes (winning the U.S. Open, the U.S. Closed twice, qualifying at Portoroz for the Candidates), the chess world was amazed. Finally, he was accepted as a great player, and his later successes (U.S. Closed, again, Zurich, Mar Del Plata) were more or less taken as a matter of fact with hardly a note of surprise.
Now, in his first serious defeat, his followers are likely to register incredulity when they learn that he is so close to the bottom in such a large tournament.
Perhaps this reaction is only human, but, at least, let's not start calling Fischer a “flash in the pan.” After all, he is only 17! One set-back at this stage in his career is most negligible. He will undoubtedly bounce right back. Young players are very resilient.
Standings
At the end of the 13th round, a players are grouped as follows:
Reshevsky, 9-4;
Korchnoi, 8½-4½;
Unzicker, 8½-4½;
Evans, 8-5;
Szabo, 8-5;
Olafsson, 7½-5½;
Rossetto, 7½-5½;
Uhlmann, 7½-5½;
Guimard, 7-6;
Taimanov, 7-6;
Ivkov, 6½-6½;
Benko, 6-7;
Gligoric, 6-7;
Eliskases, 5-8;
Fischer, 5-8;
Foguelman, 4½-8½;
Bazan, 4-9;
Wade, 2½-10½
Fischer still has a chance to improve his score considerably. He has already drawn with several of the top contenders.
