AThe Leader-Post Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada Thursday, January 04, 1968 - Page 10
Popularity of game increases in Western countries
Russian-dominated chess world challenged
Abe Yanofsky, 42-year-old Winnipeg lawyer, is a one-time chess prodigy who became an international master at 21 and a grandmaster at 39. In this story, written for The Canadian Press, he describes the new Western challenge to Soviet chess supremacy.
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By D.A. YANOFSKY
WINNIPEG (CP) — In the 22 years since the Second World War the Soviet Union has dominated the chess world with the quality and quantity of champions it has produced, but this supremacy may be on the wane.
That Russian domination is being seriously challenged is evident by a trend which has arisen in the West. The trend reached a pinnacle during the recent Canadian Centennial Grandmasters tournament here in which Russians failed to capture top honors.
This event was preceded by a tournament in Havana which saw Danish champion Bent Larsen win over three Russian grandmasters. This fall Larsen won the interzonal tournament at Tunis.
The tournament here was even more spectacular with a first-place tie between Larsen and West Germany's Klaus Darga. Russia's Boris Spassky, the challenger for the world championship, trailed in third place.
The success of the Western players is due in large measure to the increasing popularity of the game in the West. The event at the Fort Garry Hotel here attracted at least 5,000 spectators, many of them public and high school students. In addition spectators came from Regina, Toronto and Minneapolis—evidence of growing North American interest.
Interest also has been generated in Canada by European immigrants, among them some of the better players from Hungary and Yugoslavia. They have provided
stiffer competition for Canadians and raised considerably the standard of chess in this country.
Before the Second World War the world's top players primarily were from the Western democracies. Later, Russian supremacy evolved from financial encouragement front the Russian government.
The West fell far behind Russia where the government active!y supported top players by providing a regular monthly salary which allowed them to concentrate on practice and representing the country in international competitions.
Now chess has finally reached the position where some reluctant recognition is being given in the West by government bodies toward promoting the game.
Previously, with the exception of the Dutch government, no Western governments actively encouraged and supported the cause of chess, a primary reason why the Western Hemisphere fell far behind Communist-bloc countries.
Russia has some 20,000,000 chess players which means by the law of averages there should be at least 50 of the world's best players. The United States, with perhaps only a few million players, has only a handful of top players.
The recent trend has created at least one serious challenge to Russia in the person of Bobby Fischer, the 23-year-old chess prodigy who made chess history when he became a grandmaster at the age of 15.
This has resulted in the U.S. state department grudgingly starting to provide some financial support, placing top American players in a better position in the battle for world supremacy.
In Canada such progress has been much slower but it was encouraging that the Manitoba government participated financially in the centennial tournament, which had a $4,000 prize fund. The support, $6,000 from the Manitoba Centennial Corp., $300 from the provincial government, $500 from Winnipeg, $1,000 from the Chess Federation of Canada and $8,000 raised from Winnipeg businessmen, enabled Winnipeg to hold the first grandmasters tournament in North America, attracting 10 of the world's top players.
The International Chess Federation recognized the event as a world tournament.
The question of finance is of paramount importance in world chess circles.
In Western democracies the game is a hobby for most of the top players who must of necessity look to other fields for their living. Thus in the West top players are often not in the best shape when entering a tournament. They are hampered by having to make a living and often incur financial sacrifice to attend a tournament.
This fact was brought home to me early in my career. I learned to play chess at and during my school years was able to participate in international tournaments resulting in quick development.
I was forewarned not to take up chess so seriously as to make it my life's activity. I accepted this sound advice and entered the law profession with the result that my chess career has suffered. I do not get time to practice before an international tournament and when I do, it means personal financial sacrifice.
While not regretting my course, I have not been as well prepared and in as good “chess shape” as my Communist-bloc competitors. Had I been placed in the same financial position as they, perhaps I could have won more tournaments.
Age also is an extremely important factor in competition. Before the Second World War most of the top-ranking players were in their 40s and 50s and chess was considered an old man's game.
Since then many youngsters have become interested with the result top players now are in their 20s and 30s.
World champion Tigran Petrosian of Russia is only 33, Larsen, a serious threat for the title, is 28, and Fischer, the West's best hope for the title, is only 23.
The age reduction has correspondingly increased the quality of playing, making it more difficult to reach the top. While chess is a battle between two minds, tournaments are exceptionally fatiguing physically. Older players are less resistant to fatigue and more prone to making errors during games.
There now are approximately 70 grandmasters in the world. This is the highest title which can be achieved and is difficult to earn. Prior to 1945 the world champion chose his challenger and had the right to impose financial conditions on the match. He could sometimes avoid playing against a serious threat by imposing stiff financial terms which could not be met.
With the death of Alexander Alekhine, the world champion, in 1945, the International Chess Federation reorganized world championship competition using a three-year plan.
The world was divided into zones, each holding a tournament to qualify entries into another tournament known as the Inter-Zonal. The inter-zonal competition, held one year after the zone, tournaments, pits 20 to 24 players from all over the world against each other.
The top eight players were eligible for the Candidates tournament, playing each other in a knock-out competition. The winner becomes the official challenger for the world title and meets the champion the following year in a 24-game match.
Players who achieve certain distinction during the regular three-year cycle are awarded grandmaster titles.
