The battle for the Clare Benedict Cup has involved six West European nations in chess team play since 1953 when Miss Benedict, a retired American living in Switzerland, set up a fund to finance the annual event.

For the first 14 years the tournament was held in Switzerland, then it was decided to rotate the site. West Germany and England were hosts for the last two years.

The 18th tournament took place in March in Madrid, Spain. The countries mentioned all sent teams, along with the other regular members of the group, Austria and Holland.

The Spaniards, playing at home and with probably their strongest team, were considered the favorites. Potentially the strongest was West Germany, but they arrived with none of their four grandmasters.

England and Holland only had four players each, which meant no rest for any of them., as the matches were with four on a side. The other teams had a reserve who could be substituted at any time.

It was the shorthanded teams that turned out the winners, however. The Dutch team took the lead from the star, defeating Switzerland by 3-1, Spain by 2½-1½, and West Germany by 3½-½.

After a 2-2 tie with Austria, Holland had 11 points, with no one in close pursuit. In the ifnal round they were to meet England, in second place with 8½ points.

England won the match by a 3-1 margin, securing the second position, but not quite enough for the winner's trophy. The final score was HOlland, 12-8 and England, 11½-8½. The English had equalled the Dutch in match results, winning four and losing by 2½-1½ to Austria.

The Dutch were the most consistent performers, their team of Scholl, Ree, Kuijpers and Timman each contributing three points out of five. For the English the top two boards, Keene and Hartston, each tallied 2½-2½. The others were Markland 3-2, Botterill 3½-1½.

Spain, which had won last year, took third place with an even score, 10-10. The other final standings were Austria 9½-10½, West Germany 9-11 and Switzerland 8-12.

/ By Isaac Kashdan, Los Angeles Times, May 2, 1971 /