COMMUNIQUE
of the participants of the 7th
WORLD STUDENT CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

From July 15th to August 1st 1960 the 7th World Student Chess championship took place in Leningrad. It was organised by the International Union of Students, the Student Council of the USSR and the Chess Federation of the USSR.

14 of the best student teams from higher educational establishments of three continents from the following countries took part in the championship: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Finland, German Democratic Republic, Great Britain, Holland, Hungary, Mongolia, Rumania, Sweden, USA, USSR, and Yugoslavia.

The championship, which aroused great interest also from the point of view of sports was carried out in an atmosphere of complete friendship, mutual understanding and proper procedure.

The international encounters on the chess boards helped to bring closer together the students of different countries and the establishment of contacts between individual participants and teams.

In spite of the very intensive programme of the championship we succeeded many times to meet with Soviet youth and to become acquainted with the cultural and historical monuments of the past and present Leningrad and to be personally convinced of the cordial hospitality of the Russian people.

We cordially thank our Soviet friends for the excellent organisation of the competition and for their warm and friendly welcome.

We express our great desire to wage a fight on the chess boards and not on the battle fields.

Student youth will always fight for peace.

The following Championship will take place next summer in Finland. We invite young chess players of all countries to take part.

Let us meet again at the 8th World Student Chess Championship in Helsinki.

Leningrad, USSR, August 1st, 1960.

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Competitors from fourteen countries came to Leningrad in the Soviet Union in order to take part in the already traditional World Championship of University Chess Teams. The city on the River Neva gave a friendly welcome to students from three continents who competed from July 15 to August 1 for the proud title of world champion in this university competition. The organisers of the event were: the Soviet Chess Federation, the International Union of Students and Soviet student organisations.

The University World Championship has a wealth of tradition behind it. In 1954 the first world championship was held in Oslo, where the Czechoslovak students won the world title. The Soviet students were victors in 1955 at Lyons, 1956 at Uppsala, 1957 at Reykjavik and in 1958 at Golden Sands in Bulgaria. In 1959, at Budapest, the Bulgarian People's Republic team won an unexpected victory.

On July 15, 1960 the seventh annual meeting of this most popular student chess competition was opened at the Leningrad House of Young Pioneers. Fifteen teams had entered for the event, but 14 were present at the opening. In view of the fact that news had been received of the probable late arrival of the Polish students, the draw was organised as if 15 teams were participating. After the start it was learnt that the Polish team was not coming and so it came about that each team had two respite periods.

The Leningrad House of Young Pioneers, where the championship was held, can also boast of a proud tradition in chess. Former members of its chess clubs have become grandmasters of the Soviet Union, now known throughout the world. Grandmasters Taimanov, Korchnoi and Spassky started their chess careers there and all of them have also taken part in University World Championships. Another former member of the House of Young Pioneers is one of the best-known women chess players in the world today, with several championships of the Soviet Union to her credit, Larisa Volpert.

In view of the fact that the age limit was reduced to 27 years at the Luxembourg Congress of FIDE, the majority of teams included new blood. The old, well-tried set-ups were kept only by the Bulgarian team, defending the title of world champion, (Kolarov, Tringov, Popov, Radev, Stefanov and Rakovski), further Rumania (Mititelu, Drimer, Szabo, Joita, Gheorghiu and Botez), the teams from the German Democratic Republic and the Mongolian People's Republic.

Play was sharp and enthusiastic, and at the same time completely fair, so that the chief umpire, grandmaster Bondarevsky, did not have to intervene in a single case. The good relations evident also in social life during the championship deserve special and appreciative mention.

The British students' team took the lead in the first rounds. Playing against Belgium, Finland and Hungary, they gained 10 out of 12 possible points. But when they came up against the Soviet and United States teams they suffered severe defeat. In the fifth round there was a hard fight between the USSR and Yugoslavia in which the Soviet team won by the narrowest possible margin. After the fifth round the fiercely playing young team of the United States was in the lead. However, in the sixth round the Yugoslav students created a sensation by defeating the United States team by 3½ to ½. The Soviet students then took the lead and in subsequent rounds the two teams fought hard for supremacy. The decisive fight was in the 11th round, when the Soviet team played Hungary to a draw 2-2 and the USA defeated Finland 4-0. In the next round the Americans consolidated their lead by beating the Hungarians 3½-½. In the 13th round they then defeated the Soviet students in a fierce fight and so decided the championship. Their victory was fully deserved, the main credit being due to Lombardy and Kaime who played in great style. Lombardy was the individual victor on the first board. He was awarded the title of international grandmaster at the FIDE congress in October 1960 at Leipzig. His outstanding performance at the university championship in Leningrad contributed to the award of the title.

The Soviet team gained the second place, as it did last year. While members of their team played successfully and with initiative, they did waver several times, as in the last third of the competition against Hungary and Bulgaria, which caused losses that could not be made good against the excellent performance of the Americans.

The third place was held from the start by the competent Yugoslav team. All its players showed well-balanced performances and fought very steadily. It should be particularly emphasised that the four members of the team played without any reserves, so that they had to play all the games.

The Czechoslovak team, which with the exception of Maršalek consisted of entirely new players, surprisingly occupied the fourth place. Their lack of international experience was especially evident at the beginning, when their play was very uncertain. But later they picked up and towards the end they had gained such an advantage in points that a crushing defeat in the last round at the hands of the Soviet team could not threaten their fourth place.

The defenders of the title, the Bulgarian student team, who played in practically the same line-up that brought them victory last year, only managed to reach fifth place this time. The majority of the players were not, however, in form and so their placing should be regarded as a temporary reverse.

The Rumanian students, who occupied the fourth place last year, are also clearly dissatisfied with their result. The same applies to the team of the German Democratic Republic. Better performances were also expected from the teams of the Hungarian People's Republic and Great Britain. The remaining participants on the whole achieved placing according to their strength.

The organisation of the tournament was very good. The chief umpire, Soviet grandmaster Bondarevsky, directed the championship with great assurance, and thanks to the excellent sporting spirit of all participants he was not called upon to intervene in any dispute.

The House of Young Pioneers afforded beautiful surroundings and, in spite of the exceptional heat-wave which hit the area around the Gulf of Finland at the time, the atmosphere was pleasantly cool. The Chess Federation of the USSR issued a special bulletin during the tournament giving accounts of all the games.

Arrangements were made for participants to visit the vicinity of Leningrad and to see the historical and art treasures of the city. They learnt about the heroic struggle of Leningrad's citizens during the second world war, when under terribly hard conditions they beat off the attacks of the encircling Nazi armies. They were also witnesses of the great and enthusiastic effort with which the people reconstructed their city after the war. At the concluding ceremony on August 1 prizes were awarded by the organizers, the Soviet Chess Federation and the International Union of Students, to the winning teams and the best individual players at each board.

At the suggestion of the team captains, a joint communique of participants in the championship was issued.

The Finnish representatives then invited all concerned to the next championship, which will take place in July 1961 in Helsinki.

At the FIDE congress at Leipzig in October 1960, it was agreed during discussion of the Leningrad World Championship that the level of the university world championships is steadily rising and that they have already become a firm part of the competitions organised by the International Chess Federation. With a view to still further improving the organisational side of the events the congress worked out a set of rules or the University World Championships on a similar basis to the rules for chess Olympics. This brings the competition to a new stage as an integral part of the international activity of FIDE The official recognition of the International Union of Students in these new rules as a co-organiser of this competition is a demonstration of the tact that the Union has also played a successful part in helping to conduct the university championships in the past and that the cooperation between the IUS and FIDE has borne fruit in the spreading of chess playing among students throughout the world.

/ Ing. Jaroslav Šajtar, International Master and Vice-President of FIDE /