AThe Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, Sunday, May 31, 1959
Fischer Tied For Lead In Zurich Tournament
Bobby Fischer, 16-year-old U.S. chess champion, is tied for first place with a score of 4-1 after five rounds of the Jubilee International Masters Tournament in Zurich, Switzerland, according to a report from the New York Times.
Sharing the top position are two Russian grandmasters Paul Keres and Mikhail Tal, and Gedeon Barcza of Hungary.
Fischer, with only two weeks' rest after competing in tournaments in Mar del Plata, Argentina and Santiago, Chile, experienced rough going in his first-round match against Edgar Walther, one of six Swiss competitors in the Zurich event.
At adjournment time Fischer had lost two pawns, with little prospect of recovery. But he battled on through three sessions and 67 moves, finally obtaining a draw. Opposite colored bishops helped neutralize the difference in pawns.
In the second round Fischer defeated Edwin Bhend of Switzerland, winning a pawn and reaching a winning rook ending. Fridrik Olafsson of Iceland was Fischer's opponent in the third round. Faced with two advanced pawns and pressed for time, Olafsson resigned after 40 moves.
Santiago Tourney
Boris Ivkov of Yugoslavia and Ludek Pachman of Czechoslovakia shared top honors with 9-3 scores in the recently completed masters tournament at Santiago, Chile. Herman Pilnik of Argentina was third with 8-4.
Bobby Fischer, with a total of 7½-4½, finished tied with August Sanchez of Colombia and Raul Sanguinetti of Argentina.
One of Fischer's better games at Santiago was against Rene Letelier of Chile, who had defeated the youngster at Mar del Plata.
