On the initiative of the IUS, the 1954 Congress of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) decided to hold, in cooperation with the International Union of Students with its headquarters in Prague, annual student chess team tournaments which would be the official FIDE Student World Championships.

So far, the expectations aroused by this decision have been completely fulfilled: regular student world championships organised as part of the International Chess Federation's activities have contributed a great deal towards popularising chess among students all over the world.

Interest in these world championships continues to grow. Not only are these championships highly popular with students throughout the world, but the standard of play of those taking part in them continues to rise. Many prominent international grandmasters began their international chess careers at these student world championships, or at least gained important international experience there. Besides Spassky and Tal, participants have included such grandmasters as Bronstein, Taimanov, Korchnoi, Antoshin, Lombardy, Filip, Hort, Smejkal, Ivkov, Matanović, Parma, Portisch, Ólafsson and many others.

These world championships are extremely popular among students in all countries: very often they are referred to — and in my opinion, quite correctly — as small-scale chess Olympics. They are without doubt among the biggest and most outstanding events organised as part of the International Chess Federation's activities.

All this was once again confirmed by the XIXth World Student Chess Team Championship held from July 15 to 30, 1972, in Graz, the capital of Stiria in Austria. The tournament was organised, as usual with the participation of the International Union of Students, by the Austrian Chess Federation. A record number of twenty nine teams was present at the opening. Thirty one teams had originally sent in their application, but the teams from the Mongolian People's Republic and Peru were not present at the opening. This year's tournament thus beat the 1969 record: in Dresden that year twenty six teams participated in the championship.

The opening ceremony was held in the Congress Hall of the Graz Fair. The guests were addressed by the Director of the Championship, Dr. Hans Dattinger, by the Mayor of Graz, Dip. Ing. Gustav Scherbaum, and by myself on behalf of the International Chess Federation. Then the tournament was declared open by the President of the Austrian Chess Federation, Provincial Cultural Counsellor Prof. Kurt Jungwirth. Following his speech, the teams were divided into preliminary groups and in the afternoon, at 3 p. m., the competitions on the sixty four squares began.

The teams competed in five groups, the first two teams from each group going on to final group A to compete for the proud title of world masters.

In the first preliminary group, the teams from the USSR and Israel won without difficulties and advanced to group A. Similarly in the second group there was no doubt concerning the victories of the USA and England. An exciting competition took place in the third group where, rather surprisingly yet quite justifiably, the Danish team came first. Bulgaria and Yugoslavia competed fiercely for second place, Bulgaria finally emerging the victor by only half a point. The favourites in the fourth group, the teams from the Federal Republic of Germany and from Romania, advanced with little difficulty, as did the teams from Hungary and Cuba in the fifth group. These two teams won well-deserved victories, although originally the participation of the Czechoslovak team in the finals was considered more likely. Detailed results can be found in the tournament tables.

In final group A it was immediately clear that the competition for the gold medals would be uneventful. The Soviet students scored so well from the very beginning that they were sure of the first place, and thus of the gold medals, several rounds before the end. They finished nine points ahead of their nearest competitors and fully deserve the title of world masters. They have won this title in these championships nineteen times already. Their superiority was also proved by the results at the various chessboards in group A. On chessboard one grandmaster Karpov was judged best with 7 points in 9 games, i.e. 77.7%; on chessboard two Sax was best with 10 points in 11 games, i.e. 91%. On chessboard three Soviet grandmaster Tukmakov scored 8 points in 10 games, i.e. 80%, and on chessboard four another Soviet grandmaster, Vaganian, scored 9 points in 10 games, i.e. 90%. Among the first replacement players Agur was most successful with 7 points in 8 games, and among the second replacement players Anikaev with 7½ points in 8 games, i.e. 93.7%.

The teams from Hungary and from the Federal Republic of Germany, which had an equal number of points, shared second and third place. The medals were awarded according to a different criterion — the number of points in individual games. On the basis of this criterion, the silver medals went to the students from the Hungarian People's Republic and the bronze medals to the students from the Federal Republic of Germany. All the other results can be found in the tournament tables. The 1970 world masters and holders of silver medals from Puerto Rico — the American representatives — came fourth. The Bulgarian students were probably dissatisfied: during the tournament they held on in second or third place, but after the serious defeat inflicted upon them in the last round by the USSR — 3½-½ — they ended up fifth.

In group B the team from Yugoslavia easily beat out Switzerland and Czechoslovakia. The results correspond to the standard of play of the various teams throughout the tournament. In group C surprisingly good playing came from the Colombian and Iranian teams. Local fans were disappointed by the Austrian team.

The whole championship was very well organised. We must thank the Austrian Chess Federation and the responsible members of the organising committee for this. The playing conditions were ideal: first-class accommodation in a student hotel, excellent and nourishing food, a tournament hall with good air-conditioning — and all this practically on one site, so that participants could walk from the hotel to the tournament hall in just under ten minutes. All this contributed to the overall success of the championship.

The closing ceremony with the distribution of prizes ended with a pleasant social evening. We are happy to say in conclusion that the XIXth World Student Chess Team Championship was both a sports and an organisational success. It strengthened friendly cooperation between student chess players from four continents, and the record number of participating teams was proof that this world championship with its long tradition is making an important contribution to the development of chessplaying among students throughout the world.

/ Ing. Jaroslav Šajtar, Vice-President of FIDE /