ANew York Times, New York, New York, Saturday, October 31, 1959
New Chess Challenger
Congratulations are undoubtedly pouring in on Mikhail Tal, the 24-year-old Latvian who has won the international challengers' chess tournament in Yugoslavia, thus gaining the right to play Mikhail Botvinnik, the present world champion, for the title next year. It was a brilliant performance under grueling conditions.
Our own Bobby Fischer finished with a score of 12½ games won against 15½ lost. This was an enormously impressive performance for a 16-year-old lad playing against the world's best players. And the fact that Bobby chalked up victories against such formidable opponents as Paul Keres and Vasily Smyslov, the second and fourth place winners in the tournament, adds to the luster of his achievement.
