In The Hague 1961...
The 6th World Junior Chess Championship was held in the Hague NED, and specifically in at the time new Nillmij building, during Aug 12 - Sep 2 1961. Twenty year old Yugoslav-Slovene Bruno Parma won, with the assistance of Aleksandar Matanovic. Half a point after Parma came Romanian Florin Gheorghiu, who was accompanied in this tournament by Corvin Radovici. At the third place finished Soviet Alexander Kuindzhi. His second was Yuri Averbakh.
One notable thing was that all the three games between these first three were Sicilians...
[all games were found via http://www.olimpbase.org/ind-junior/wu20-1961.html#info]
Parma vs Gheorghiu. A novelty
| from Revista de Sah 9/1961 | google translation a little modified |
| Inaintea penultimei runde, care opunea pe cei doi protagonişti, Gheorghiu şi Parma se aflau la egalitate. Partida aceasta în care reprezentantul nostru a jucat cu negrele a avut un caracter dramatic. Surprins cu o inovaţie teorelică în deschidere Gheorghiu a reuşit să găsească la tabla cele mai bune mutări. Ar fi fost de ajuns o singură înexactitate a lui Parma ca albul să irosească tot avantajul obținut în urma analizei de acasă. Dar, șahistul iugoslav a jucat extrem de precis şi a ciștigat această partidă decisivă. | Before the penultimate round, where the two protagonists were opposed, Gheorghiu and Parma were equal. This game, in which our representative played with the blacks, had a dramatic character. Surprised with a theoretical innovation in the opening, Gheorghiu managed to find the best moves on the board. A Parma's only inaccuracy would have been enough for the white to waste all the advantage gained from the previous home analysis. But, the Yugoslav chess player played extremely precisely and won this decisive game. |
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Parma vs Kuindzhi
Parma this time tried a Sozin attack, playing again a e5, but with different results. In Dutch press of the time was written:
It was a Sicilian, with attempts by white to come to a king attack. People were not convinced that white chose the best continuation. [=Het was een Siciliaan, met pogingen van wit om tot een koningsaanval te komen. Men was er niet van overtuigd dat wit de beste voortzetting koos, in De Volkskrant of 29-08-1961].
Kuindzhi is the less known of the three and seems to be the only one who probably hadn't had a continuous chess career. He managed to win both the first of this championship, but finished third as he hadn't the best results in the first games of this group.
| from Tidskrift för Schack 7/1961 | google translation a little modified |
| Ryssen Kuindzhi, som av expertisen, speciellt Guimard, ansågs vara nästan i klass med de båda förstapristagarna, bevisade detta genom att komma en halvpoäng efter Gheorghiu och än mer genom att övertygande besegra båda sina huvudkonkurrenter. Personligen en tystlåten men vad utseendet beträffar ytterst charmerande ung man, och som spelare tydligen bäst i skarpa angreppspartier. Han starka slutspurt reparerade delvis skadorna från de första ronderna, då han spelade osäkert, som t. ex. mot Gulbrandsen, som efter över 140 drag fick remi i ett för ryssen strax förut klart vunnet tornslutspel. Kuindzhi hade då i två omgångar före förseglingsdragen irrat omkring med sitt torn, en spelperiod på första raden, en period på sista raden, allt i klar avsikt att få avbryta och erhålla nya instruktioner av sin sekundant, slutspelsexperten Averbach. | Russian Kuindzhy, considered by the experts, especially Guimard, to be almost of the same class with the two first-prize winners, as this was proved by coming half a point behind Gheorghiu and even more by convincingly defeating both his main competitors. Personally a silent man but concerning the appearance an extremely charming young man, and as a player apparently best in sharp attack games. His strong final sprint partially repaired the damage from the first rounds, when he played uncertainly, as eg against Gulbrandsen, who, after over 140 moves, gained a draw in a rook ending clearly just before the Russian won. Kuindzhy had for two plies before the sealed moves wandered with his rook, a ply on the first rank, a ply on the last rank, all with a clear intention to adjourn and receive new instructions from his second, endgame expert Averbach. |
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Besides the aforementioned long draw he had against Gulbrandsen, Kuindzhi was also the only win of Derek Thomson of Scotland, who finished 12th. This King's Gambit game is analyzed by Andy Soltis in his David vs Goliath Chess: How to Beat a Stronger Player, p. 46.
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Kuindzhi vs Gheorghiu
A Keres attack Sicilian with the interesting feature that white short castled.
| from Revista de Sah 9/1961 | google translation a little modified |
| Această partidă a constituit după părerea noastră momentul psihologic crucial în lupta pentru primul loc. Gheorghiu, cu negrele, obținuse o poziție egală. Dar, in criză de timp, o mutare pripită de pion Ι-a lipsit de o jumătate de punct care i asigura poziția de lider. | In our opinion, this game was the crucial psychological moment in the fight for the first place. Gheorghiu, with the blacks, had obtained an equal position. But in a critical moment, a hasty move of the first* pawn deprived him a half point that was ensuring him the leading position. |
*first=a-pawn is probably a typo. b-pawn is actually meant.
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Gheorghiu vs Calvo
And a win by Gheorghiu. A game that "was considered one of the most beautiful of the championship", according to Revista de Sah 9/1961. Against a later significant figure of Spanish chess, Ricardo Calvo.
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....thanx for reading
