Chess in 1960
by Bill Wall
In 1960, Janos Flesch played 52 games blindfold at Budapest, winning 31, drawing 18, and losing 3.
In 1960, the Hong Kong Chess Association formed.
In 1960, the Cyprus Chess Association was founded and the first Cyprus championship.
In 1960, a TV series called Checkmate aired on CBS, starring Sebastian Cabot, Doug McClure, and Anthony George. Guest stars included Charles Laughton, Peter Lore, and Lee Marvin. It was cancelled after 70 episodes in 1962.
In 1960, Americans, Russians, and New Zealanders were playing chess with each other by radio in Antarctica. Men stationed at New Zealand’s Scott Base in McMurdo Sound were playing chess with Russians at the Soviet station of Lazarev in Queen Maud Island, nearly 3,000 miles away. Players at American bases on Ross Island in McMurdo Sound were playing with men at the main Russian base of Mirny on the Queen Mary coast in East Antarctica.
On January 1, 1960, Alexey Vyzmanavin (1960-2000) was born in Russia. He was awarded the GM title in 1989. He tied for first in the 1990 USSR championship.
In January 1960, Bobby Fischer again won the U.S. Championship with 7 wins, 4 draws, and no losses. For the third year in a row, he won the US championship without a loss. His rating was 2636. The event was held at the Empire Hotel. Fischer won $1,000 for first place.
On January 7, 1960, Frederick Borders, who won acclaim on British TV as a human calculating machine, died of a heart attack while trying to solve a chess puzzle. He was 62. He was found by his wife dead in a chair with a chess puzzle and a chess board in front of him. Borders won $3,000 by answering mental arithmetic teasers in a television quiz show in 1959. (source: The Berkshire Eagle, Jan 9, 1960)
On January 21, 1960, Mitko Garkov was born in Pleven, Bulgaria. He was awarded the IM title in 1986.
On February 13, 1960, Artur Yusupov was born in Moscow. He won the World Junior Championship in 1977. He was awarded the IM title in 1977 and the GM title in 1980.
On February 15, 1960, Margeir Petursson was born in Reykjavik. He was awarded the IM title in 1978 and the GM title in 1986. He won the Icelandic Championship in 1986 and 1987.
On February 23, 1960, Jens Fries-Nielsen was born in Esbjerg, Denmark. He finished 1st= in the Danish Championship of 1982 but lost the play-off. He was awarded the IM title in 1984.
On March 1, 1960, Ronny Gunawan was born in Surabaya, Indonesia. He was awarded the IM title in 1984.
On March 6, 1960, Alexander Chernin was born in Kharkiv, USSR. He was awarded the IM title in 1984 and the GM title in 1985. He was European Junior Champion in 1979-80. He was USSR Champion in 1985 with Gavrikov and Mikhail Gurevich.
On March 8, 1960, Vincent McCambridge was born in Portsmouth, Ohio. He was awarded the IM title in 1982.
On March 16, 1960, Zurab Azmaiparashvili was born in Soviet Georgia. He was awarded the IM title in 1984 and the GM title in 1988. He was Georgian champion in 1980.
On March 18, 1960, Harold James Plaskett was born in Okeliha, Cyprus. He was awarded the IM title in 1981 and the GM title in 1985. He was British champion in 1990.
On March 24, 1960, Yasser Seirawan was born in Damascus, Syria. He was awarded the GM title in 1980. He won the World Junior Chess Championship in 1979. He won the US championship in 1981, 1986, 1989, and 2000.
In April, 1960 he tied for 1st-2nd with Boris Spassky at Mar del Plata, Argentina. He lost to Spassky, drew with Bronstein, and won all his other games. It was Fischer’s greatest triumph in an international tournament to date.
On April 4, 1960, Murray Chandler was born in Wellington, New Zealand. He was New Zealand champion in 1975-6. He was awarded the IM title in 1977 and the GM title in 1983.
On May 3, 1960, Klaus Berg was born in Nykobing, Denmark. He was awarded the IM title in 1983.
On May 5, 1960, Eric Lobron was born in Philadelphia. He was West German Champion in 1980. He was awarded the IM title in 1980 and the GM title in 1982.
On May 7, 1960, Mikhail Tal defeated Mikhail Botvinnik to become world chess champion.
On May 21, 1960, Zigurds Lanka was born in Latvia. He was awarded the IM title in 1987 and the GM title in 1992. He was Latvian champion in 1993.
On June 1, 1960, an American sailor, Michael L. George, got into a fight at a Greenwich Village bar, Chumley's at 86 Bedford Street, when a spectator criticized the sailor’s chess game after he lost. The sailor struck the spectator (Clinton Curtis, a freelance editor from Miami) with a broken beer bottle, which cut his jugular vein, and he died. The sailor was eventually acquitted of murder and charged with accidental death instead.
On June 9, 1960, Attila Groszpeter was born in Hungary. He was awarded the IM title in 1979 and the GM title in 1986.
On June 24, 1960, Ian Rogers was born in Hobart, Tasmania. He was awarded the IM title in 1980 and GM title in 1985. He was Australia's first home grown grandmaster and Australian Champion in 1979-80, 1985-86, 1997-98 and 2005-06.
On July 13, 1960, Manuel Rivas-Pastor was born in Jaen, Spain. He was Spanish Champion in 1978, 1979, 1981 and 1991. He was awarded the IM title in 1980 and the GM title in 1987.
On July 31, 1960, Nigel Rodney Davies was born in Southport, England. He was awarded the IM title in 1982, and the GM title in 1993.
On August 15, 1960, Igor Gazik was born in Zilina, Czechoslovakia. He was awarded the IM title in 1985.
On August 17, 1960, Thomas Ernst was born in Uppsala, Sweden. He was awarded the IM title in 1984 and the GM title in 1990. He was the Swedish champion in 1992 and 1993.
On August 28, 1960, Edhi Handoko (1960-2009) was born in Solo, Java. He was awarded the GM title in 1994.
On September 11, 1960, Predrag Nikolic was born in Bosanski Samac, Yugoslavia. He was awarded the IM title in 1980 and the GM title in 1983. He won the Yugoslav Championship in 1980 and 1984. He was Bosnian champion in 2007.
On October 10, 1960, Cyrus Lakdawala was born in the USA. He was awarded the IM title in 1960. He is a former National Open and American Open Champion.
On October 20, 1960, Konstantin Aseev (1960-2004) was born in the USSR. He was Leningrad Champion in 1985. He was awarded the GM title in 1992.
On October 26, 1960, Christer Hartman was born in Stockholm. He was awarded the IM title in 1986.
In October 1960, Mikhail Tal was driving to the 14th Chess Olympiad in Leipzig, Germany when he got into a car accident. He was unable to play the first 3 rounds, but when he did show up to play, he played board 1 for the USSR. He won 8 and drew 6 games and only lost the final round, to Englishman Jonathan Penrose. That cost him the gold medal for board 1, and he settled for silver.
At the 1960 14th chess Olympiad in Leipzig, Max Euwe won 3 games, drew 7 games, and lost 6 games for the worst score by a Grandmaster in Olympiad history. The event drew 10,000 spectators a day as the Olympiad also hosted a “chess in the Fields of History” exhibition. Bobby Fischer participated and played board 1 for the USA. Reshevsky refused to give up first board and did not play. Again, the Soviet team (Tal, Botvinnik, Keres, Korchnoi, Smyslov, Petrosian) won the event.
On November 13, 1960, Jon Loftur Arnason was born in Reykjavik. He was World Under 16 Champion in 1977. He was Icelandic champion in 1977, 1982, and 1988. He was awarded the IM title in 1979 and became a GM in 1986.
On December 13, 1960, George Koltanowski played 56 opponents blindfold, winning 50 and drawing 6 in San Francisco. It took 9 3/4 hours for the exhibition.