"For me Sunday usually means a lie on but on the 17th of April I was up at 06.30 to begin a long and tiring journey, which for myself and five colleagues (two of whom joined us at London) would end 14 hours later with a hearty and welcome meal in the hotel Balaton, in Zalaegerzeg, Hungary. The latter part of the journey was a three hour coach trip, much of which was spent in view of the broad Danube. The terrain eventually changing from flat farmland to hilly forested country, which lies close to the Austro-Yugoslav border. This district has Zalaegerzeg as its capital, tourism being the main industry.

The Balaton is a modern hotel with comfortable rooms, however, many of the teams would be staying at the hotel Arany Barany about 200 metres away and this proved to be a slight drawback to the social side. The tournament was also staged at the other hotel and this could have been awkward if the weather had been rainy but the sun shone most of the time and the first week was very warm. The meal on our arrival proved to be a good omen and the food continued to be good for the remainder of our stay. Interpreters were assigned to us and they were a great help especially when shopping.

During the first week the 23 teams were divided into four groups and there followed an all-play-all in each group. For the second week the top two teams in each group would form a premier section, with the middle two forming an intermediate section and the bottom two forming the minor section. We were drawn with Austria, Yugoslavia, Finland, France and Belgium. Yugoslavia, as expected qualified easily for the premier section but there was a close race for the second position between Finland, Austria and Ireland, with the Fins just getting there. Ireland had good wins during the first week over Finland, France and Belgium. Saturday was a day off and for anyone not attending the Congress, a coach trip was laid on. First a visit to a magnificent stately home, and after an excellent lunch a visit to the forty-mile-long lake Balaton, before returning to base. Other spare time was spent shopping or at night having a drink in the beer keller, adjournments permitting. We also made an enjoyable trip to the spa at Heviz, accompanied by our sprightly 72-year-old interpreter, Dommie.

During the second week Ireland and Austria were joined in the intermediate section by England, Sweden, Holland, Spain, Israel and the host country. Having played the Austrians already, our first match was against England and we scored a fine draw. Other good draws followed against Sweden, Israel and Hungary, also a win against the Netherlands. This gave us over all, four wins, four draws and three losses.

The premier section was won once again by the USSR, Yugoslavia was second and West Germany finished third. England won the second section and Belgium the third. Following the closing ceremony all that remained to be done was to say goodbye to our many friends, new and old and especially the Hungarians who did so much to make us feel at home. Then the long journey home and for me 12 hours of badly needed sleep."

/Memories of Philip Doyle, taken from BCAI history site /