New York Times, New York, New York, Tuesday, October 13, 1959
Keres Sets Back Benko, Gligoric
Victories Keep Soviet Star in Second Place Behind Tal in Zagreb Chess
Paul Keres of the Soviet Union won both of his adjourned games yesterday in the world chess challengers' tournament at Zagreb, according to a report received through Yugoslav news sources. His two victories kept him in second place behind Mikhail Tal of the Soviet Union, who is firmly established in first place.
Without resuming play, Keres took his nineteenth-round game with Paul Benko of New York in forty-one moves. Benko had sacrificed a pawn in an English opening, but his attack petered out. Loss of a second pawn placed him at a disadvantage when he found himself in clock trouble.
Next, Keres won from Svetozar Gligoric of Yugoslavia in the twentieth round in forty-five moves. A fine combination had netted him his opponent's queen in return for a rook and a knight.
Third place was regained by Tigran Petrosian of the Soviet Union, when he won in forty-one moves from Benko in the twentieth round. Petrosian outplayed the Hungarian refugee and captured two of his pawns.
The best exhibition of skill was given by Vassily Smyslov, the former world champion, in his nineteenth-round game with Gligoric. Smyslov conducted a splendid rook and pawn ending and won in fifty moves. As a consequence, Smyslov advanced to fourth place and the first four places are all occupied by Russians. Gligoric dropped into the second division, just ahead of Bobby Fischer, the United States champion, who is sixth with a score of 8½-11½.
The twenty-first round, bringing the Zagreb series to a conclusion, is scheduled for tonight.
The turning point in the tournament came in the seventeenth round at Zagreb when Tal defeated Keres for the first time and began his upward swing. Earlier, at Bled, Keres had defeated Tal twice. Details of this crucial match have reached here by airmail.
As usual, Keres was the aggressor and permitted his rival to capture two pawns. He then sacrificed the exchange and emerged from the complication with two minor pieces opposed to a rook. A passed pawn on the queen's file enabled Tal to win one of his opponent's pieces. With an exchange to the good, Tal had a clear road to victory.
