AAug 27 1956
The Montreal Star, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Monday, Aug 27, 1956
Canadian Champ Defeats 3 To Share Chess Play Lead
Frank Anderson of Toronto started strongly in the first Canadian open chess championship, now in progress in Montreal. He decisively defeated his first three opponents, to share first place with eight other competitors, including international Master Larry Evans of New York.
The present tournament, the first of its kind held in Canada, is considered one of the most impressive, in terms of quantity and quality of the entrants, ever to be staged in North America. Eighty-eight players, representing four provinces, seven states and Guatemala, are competing for $1,300 in cash prizes.
Mr. Anderson, who won the Canadian chess championship at Ottawa last year, was born in Toronto in 1928, and as a child was bed-ridden with arthritis. He learned to play chess during this period and soon participated in correspondence matches with experts all over the world.
Started in Wheelchair
While still a boy, he began attending tournaments in a wheelchair, eventually progressing to crutches. He now walks for the most part without assistance.
Mr. Anderson has held the Toronto championship, the Ontario championship and is currently Canadian champion.
In 1949, he tied for first place in the U.S. junior championship and in 1954 he finished with the highest individual score in the world team tournament, in which he represented Canada.
Mr. Evans is the tournament favorite. He has twice held the U.S. championship, and there have been few professional events in North America which he has not won. He is also the leading U.S. speed-chess player.
Bobby Fischer, 13, a New York prodigy who recently finished fourth in the U.S. open, ahead of 97 other experts, started well in the present tournament, winning his first-round game against Gerard Lepine, Jr., of Montreal. He faltered in the second round, however, losing to Robert Sobel of Philadelphia, but recovered in the third round, winning this match in brilliant style.
Leaders Listed
Following are the leaders to date: Frank R. Anderson, Toronto, 3-0; H. Berliner, Washington, 3-0; A. DiCamillo, Philadelphia, 3-0; L. Evans, New York, 3-0; W. Lombardy, New York, 3-0; E. Rose, Toronto, 3-0; J. Sherwin, New York, 3-0; P. Vaitonis, Hamilton, 3-0; S. Bernstein, New York, 2-0; E. Mednis, New York, 2-0.
The third round game between Sidney Bernstein and Edmar Mednis, both of New York City and both at present tied with 2-0 scores, was uncompleted at midnight Sunday. It was resumed at Redpath Hall this morning, with the winner to join the ranks of the leaders.
The tournament began Saturday evening at Redpath Hall, with the contestants moving over to the YMHA building on Mount Royal avenue for yesterday's matches. On Sunday, one game was played for nine hours without being completed.
Professional chess is an extremely exhausting game. Players have been known to lose as much as 20 pounds during a single tournament. The notion that chess is an old man's game is competely contradicted by the current Canadian championship, in which most of the contestants are under 30, with many in their teens.
The tournament will continue until Sunday, Sept. 2, with one round being played each day. Games start at 6 p.m. and adjournments are re-commenced at 11 a.m. next day.
Lionel Joyner, incumbent Montreal champion, summed up the tournament thus: “It's a strong tournament, certainly the strongest ever held in Canada, and there's no way of telling who'll win it. It would be nice, however, to have the first Canadian championship won by a Canadian.”
CAPTION: This was the position of the board as Hans Berliner of Washington, D.C., prepared to make the last two moves, which won the game against Alexander Rott of Montreal during yesterday's games. Berliner, after sacrificing his queen to divert the black bishop from the area, discovered check by moving his pawn ahead (move 1), forcing Ross to interpose the black knight (move 2), whereupon the white bishop took the knight (move 3) to effect checkmate.
Aug 28 1956
The Montreal Star, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Tuesday, August 28, 1956
Torontonian's Streak Holds: Anderson Scores Fourth Chess Win
Frank Anderson, of Toronto, Canadian champion, scored a crushing defeat against Edward Rose of Toronto in the fourth round of the Canadian Open Chess Championship yesterday. The game, which lasted only 26 moves, saw Anderson in his best form to date, as he carried his score to four consecutive wins.
The only other leader to maintain the exhausting pace is tournament favorite Larry Evans, who defeated former Canadian Champ Paul Vaitonis of Hamilton, Ontario. Evans also won decisively, the game lasting only 30 moves.
Many of the leaders from Sunday's round fell behind, notably William Lombardy of New York and Hans Berliner of Washington. They drew against each other, thus dropping a half point behind Anderson and Evans. Jim Sherwin of New York and Antonio Di Camillo of Philadelphia were forced to adjourn their game after five hours of play. Should one of these players win, he would also share in the first place tie.
Creeping up on the top scorers is Abe Yanofsky of Winnipeg, who defeated David Grimshaw of Toronto. Yanofsky is the dark horse of the tournament, since he has not played in a professional event for several years.
Meteoric Career
His chess career has been a meteoric one. At the age of 12 he represented Canada in an international team tournament which was held in Buenos Aires in 1939. He did so well in this event that he was considered to be of master calibre.
Besides winning the Ventnor City International Tournament and the U.S. Open Championship, he is one of the few players to have defeated Mikhail Botvinnik of Russia, who is the present world champion. He has won the British championship once and the Canadian title five times and has successfully competed in almost every country in the world.
Mr. Yanofsky is a Rhodes Scholar and has devoted most of his time since 1953 to his law practice in Winnipeg. Were it not for the fact that he has not played for some time, he would be considered the tournament favorite. Only Yanofsky himself knows if he is top form for this event, and unfortunately, for his opponents, he is not talking about chances.
The leaders after the fourth round:
Frank Anderson, Toronto, 4-0;
Larry Evans, New York, 4-0;
Jim Sherwin, New York, 3-0 with one game to finish;
Antonio Di Camillo, Philadelphia, 3-0 with one game to finish;
Abe Yanofsky, Winnipeg, 3½-½;
William Lombardy, New York, 3½-½;
Hans Berliner, Washington D.C., 3½-½.
The most interesting game of yesterday's round was between 13-year-old Bobby Fischer and eight-time Canadian Champ Maurice Fox of Montreal. At one point, with nearly a hundred spectators crowded around the board, Bobby had a considerable advantage. It only remained for him to find the correct continuation.
In an attempt to finish it quickly, he miscalculated, however, and permitted Fox to struggle free. From then on Fox played flawlessly, winning in 50 moves. The game required over four hours to complete, with both players and spectators, some of whom had stood watching the whole time, completely exhausted. Bobby, of course, recovered quickly, and was soon busy at his favorite pastime.
One competitor who has attracted wide attention by his brilliant play is David Grimshaw of Toronto, who lost to Yanofsky. He is a protégé of Frank Anderson who has been tutoring him. Mr. Anderson is grooming him for the coming junior world championship which will be held in Toronto in 1957.
David is one of a number of junior wizards who have been developed in the Toronto youth movement, which is designed to produce future chess talent in Canada. He defeated Dr. Joseph Rauch of Montreal in the third round. Dr. Rauch, who is one of the best players in the country, was heard to comment after the game: “I've never seen so much junior talent in one tournament before. It's getting to the point where the older masters will no longer be able to rest on their laurels. The youths know everything.”
