The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Sunday, October 21, 1962 - Page 76
Soviets Win Varna Tourney; U.S. Fourth 21 Oct 1962, Sun The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) Newspapers.com
Soviets Win Varna Tourney, U.S. Fourth
The team representing the Soviet Union, headed by world champion Mikhail Botvinnik, again showed the way in the Chess Olympics, winning the tournament at Varna, Bulgaria with the total game score of 31½-12½.
With 12 teams in the championship section playing a round-robin, the Russians won 10 matches and tied one with Rumania. They lost but two games outright of the 44 played. One was a loss by Ewfim Geller in the Rumanian match.
The other was the sensation of the tournament, the defeat of Botvinnik by Wolfgang Uhlmann of East Germany. Uhlmann sacrificed a knight which Botvinnik found he could not capture. The result was a pawn gain for Uhlmann. It still required fine tactical play to score the win.
Second place was taken by Yugoslavia with a game score of 28-16. They won eight matches, lost to the Russians and tied with Argentina and Rumania. Argentina took third with 26-18.
The United States, which had been expected to give the Russians their toughest competition, landed in fourth position with 25-19. Two rounds before the end prospects still seemed fair, with the Americans having 22½ points to 26 for the Soviets.
In the semifinal the two teams met, with the result a victory for the Soviets by 2½-1½. U.S. champion Larry Evans lost to Boris Spassky, while draws were recorded by Bobby Fischer vs. Botvinnik, Pal Benko vs. Tigran Petrosian and Donald Byrne vs. Mikhail Tal.
The final round against Yugoslavia was the worst setback of the tournament for the Americans, a 3-1 loss. Fischer bowed to Svetozar Gligoric and Robert Byrne to Boris Ivkov, while Benko and Evans drew.
Other final scores were:
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Bobby Fischer, carrying the burden of first board for the U.S. and playing in every match, was not in top form. He won three, lost three and drew five for an individual score of 5½-5½.
Other scores of the U.S. team were…
