1966 US Chess Open In Seattle!
There are over a dozen popular chess tournaments held yearly in Washington, each with hundreds of participants. However, I always wondered: has there ever been a national, or even an international, level chess tournament in Seattle? After a bit of research, I discovered that the answer to my question was yes, there had been a nationwide chess tournament in the Evergreen State - the 1966 US Open.
The US Open is a prestigious event that started as early as 1900 and recent winners include strong grandmasters such as Alexander Shabalov, Aleksandr Lenderman, Timur Garevev, and Illya Nyzhnyk. Furthermore, after looking at even earlier editions of this tournament, I discovered that other winners included the worldwide known Judit Polgár, Alex Yermolinsky, Yasser Seirawan, and even Bobby Fischer. The 1966 event was no different and included players such as Edward Formanek, Duncan Stules, Robert Byrne, and even Pal Benko.
The tournament was held at the Seattle center (the site of the 1962 World’s Fair) between Sunday, August 14th and Friday August 26th and there were no days off. Each day there was to be one round played, which resulted in a grand total of 13, two and a half hours for 50 moves followed by an hour for 20 moves, games. In addition to this uncommon format, (it might have been the norm in the past) after five hours of play the game would be adjourned and would be finished the next day at 10 AM (all round were scheduled in the evening at 7:00 PM).
Over two hundred people participated in this tournament (making it, at the time, the third largest US open) and the prize fund reflected that amount. The total prize fund was over $4,100 (these days, due to inflation, that is worth around $33,100). The first-place prize included a championship trophy, bragging rights, and over $800. Other prizes included $200 for best woman, a book for the first junior, and other class prizes.
This tournament was not only a popular event for people out of state but also attracted 96 Washingtonians, making it the US Open with the largest amount of people from a single state (at the time). James McCormick did a nice job representing the Northwest, and even though he started off with 3.5/6 he was able to finish off with an impressive 5.5/7 allowing him to finish tied for 10th place. Local favorite, Viktors Pupols was also able to do a nice job as well, playing steady sharp chess throughout the tournament to also finish tied for 10th place. The fight for the top places was no different and featured tough competitive chess.
For eight rounds, apart from Cleghorn’s upset against Benko in round four, the top-seeded players were disposing of their opponents with ease. Byrne, Lombardy, Saidy, and Bisguier were all tied for first place with 7/8 points. However, the next round allowed Byrne to move half a point ahead of his opponents by winning against Lombardy. This cushion allowed Byrne to confidently draw against Benko in round 10 and not worry that Saidy and Bisguier could catch up to him. After ten rounds, despite there being a three-way tie at first place, Byrne was the clear favorite as, unlike his competitors who had not yet played Benko, he had already faced most of the top-rated players. Byrne was correctly considered the favorite and he finished the tournament with two wins and a quick draw to complete the tournament with an impressive 11/13. Benko, however, not to be outdone, beat all his next three opponents and finished the tournament with 11/13 points to tie for first place.
This tournament not only featured strong grandmasters, large prizes, and bold predictions, but also featured exciting chess games. Below you can find some examples of the chess games played in this chess tournament. Enjoy!
This is Peter Cleghorn’s upset against Pal Benko. It featured a time scramble, a missed win, surprising blunders and is an interesting game to explore.
This is Leroy Jackson’s (the best junior) game against strong Senior Master Edward W Formaanek. It featured a beautiful attacking win by Jackson.
These are the top 15 players:
1 Robert Eugene Byrne W 27 W 61 W 33 W 12 W 6 D 5 W 11 D 4 W 10 D 2 W 20 W 18 D 3 11.0
2 Pal Benko W 64 W 47 W 13 L 6 W 16 W 40 W 17 D 3 W 11 D 1 W 4 W 5 W 10 11.0
3 Duncan Suttles W130 W 89 W 42 W 24 L 10 W 36 W 29 D 2 W 22 L 4 W 19 W 14 D 1 10.0
4 Anthony Saidy W127 W 35 W 36 W 23 W 17 D 10 W 21 D 1 D 5 W 3 L 2 W 6 L 9 9.5
5 Arthur Bisguier W131 W151 W 16 W 30 W 19 D 1 D 10 W 31 D 4 W 14 D 6 L 2 D 15 9.5
6 Peter Cleghorn W125 W116 W 69 W 2 L 1 L 17 W 34 W 67 W 13 W 21 D 5 L 4 W 18 9.5
7 Ivars Alvils Dahlberg W105 L 52 W 27 W 72 W 25 W 19 W 67 L 10 D 21 D 33 D 23 W 43 W 22 9.5
8 Touradj Saidi W166 W139 L 11 D 50 W133 W106 D 12 D 32 L 18 W112 W 35 W 49 W 20 9.5
9 Ronald Joseph Gross L113 W160 W115 W 52 D 48 D 34 W 90 W 35 W 31 L 10 D 33 W 19 W 4 9.5
10 William James Lombardy W159 W 46 W 45 W 26 W 3 D 4 D 5 W 7 L 1 W 9 L 18 W 30 L 2 9.0
11 Edward W Formanek W109 W 72 W 8 D 21 W 22 W 31 L 1 W 33 L 2 L 19 W 55 D 17 W 45 9.0
12 Andrew Kalotay W 94 W104 W 25 L 1 D 46 W 89 D 8 W 88 W 41 L 20 D 13 D 39 W 34 9.0
13 Jerome B Hanken W 60 W 57 L 2 W 53 L 29 W 50 W 54 W 66 L 6 W 64 D 12 D 28 W 32 9.0
14 Viktors Pupols W 51 W 44 D 86 W188 L 31 W 70 D 41 W 68 W 29 L 5 W 36 L 3 W 39 9.0
15 James McCormick W137 D 63 D 50 L 29 W123 D 57 W 84 W 71 D 64 W 79 W 16 D 20 D 5 9.0
The tournament, which was directed by George Koltanowski, ran smoothly and there were no problems. Congratulations to everyone who played in this wonderful and exciting chess tournament.
