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World Junior Championship
Scotland's Representatives
1951 Coventry and Birmingham
The first World Junior Championship was held between June 11 and 23. The plan was to hold the event every two years, the competition being open to young people under 20 years of age as of September 1 in the year of play.
This inaugural event should have received more coverage in the British chess periodicals, but was overshadowed by the Staunton Centenary Tournament, held in Cheltenham, Leamington and Birmingham, during the overlap period May 26 - June 23. Also, magazines were trying to find space for all the games of the Botvinnik-Bronstein World Championship match.
The British Chess Magazine of July 1951 printed the bare scores as a 'Late News' item on the inside back cover, with no subsequent reports in following issues. The rival publication, CHESS, at least had the courtesy to print the crosstable in their July issue.
Eighteen players took part in the 11 round Swiss System event. Scotland's representative was John A. Jackson, aged 19 years, a member of Glasgow Chess Club. Jackson, who had come under the mentorship of W.A. Fairhurst, had been active in club activities and had taken part in several Scottish Boys' Championships, as well as the British Boys' Championships of 1948 and 1949. Despite this experience, he would find this to be a hard tournament.
The event was won by future Grandmaster Boris Ivkov (pictured) of Yugoslavia with 9½ points from his eleven rounds. In second place was Malcolm Barker of England with 8 points. A great future was expected for Barker, but he soon gave up chess for good. Third was R.C. Cruz of Argentine with 7.
Other participants who would go on to greater things were Bent Larsen of Denmark (6½), Edwin Bhend of Switzerland (6), and Olafsson of Iceland (5½).
John Jackson finished in 16th place with 2½ points, drawing with Cruz, Bhend Eikrem (Norway) and Asker (Sweden), and winning against Walsh of Ireland.
1961 The Hague
There was no Scottish representative at the tournaments in 1953 (Copenhagen), 1955 (Antwerp), 1957 (Toronto), and 1959 (Münchenstein, Switzerland). It would be ten years after the inaugural event before another Scottish player took part, Derek R. Thomson travelling to Holland for the tournament, held between 11 August and 2 September. Twenty nine players were split into four preliminary qualifying groups.
Qualifying Group 1 Pts 1. F. Gheorghiu (Romania) 5 2. B. Nagy (Hungary) 3½ 3. D. R. Thomson (Scotland) 3½ 4. H. Holaszek (Austria) 2½ 5. J. Rubinetti (Argentine) 2½ 6. O. Jakobsen (Denmark) 2 7. W. Schmidt (Poland) 2
Thomson's score put him into Final Group 'A' with 12 participants in an all-play-all. The winner was Bruno Parma of Yugoslavia [photo] with 9 points, followed by Gheorghiu 8½, Kuindzhi (Soviet Union) 8, and Zuidema (Holland) and Pfleger (W. Germany) on 7. Thomson scored 2 points to finish last, but he had the satisfaction of defeating the Soviet Union's representative.
Kuindzhi - Thomson,D.R.
World Junior Championship, (Final Group A), 19611.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e5 Nh5 5.Qe2 g5 6.g4 Ng7 7.h4 Be7 8.d4 d6 9.hxg5 Bxg4 10.Qe4 Bf5 11.Qxf4 Bxc2 12.Nc3 d5 13.Bh3 Nc6 14.0-0 Ne6 15.Qh2 Bg6 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.Nh4 Bf7 18.Qf4 0-0 19.Qg4 Kh8 20.g6 Bxg6 21.Nxg6+ hxg6 22.Bh6 Rf5 23.Kg2 Qg8 24.Ne2 Rh5 25.Rh1 Qh7 26.Nf4 Rg8 27.Nxe6 Qxh6 28.Nf4 Nxd4 29.Rad1 c5 30.Nxd5 Rh4 31.Qg3 Ne2 32.Qf3 Qg5+ 33.Kf2 Rf8 34.Nf6 Bxf6 35.Kxe2 Qxe5+ 36.Kf1 Kg7 37.Rd7+ Be7 38.Qxf8+ Kxf8 39.Rxh4 Bxh4 0-1
Sources:
FIDE Revue, No. 4/1961, pp 122-123.
CHESS, October 14th, p 14.
1965 Barcelona
Peter Jamieson was Scotland's representative in Barcelona, the tournament being held between August 14 and September 1. Peter just missed qualifying for Final 'A', only the first two in each section going through to the main final.
R.D. Keene, writing in CHESS, had this to say about Peter's performance:
'Jamieson almost qualified from one of the toughest qualifying sections. In the last round he obtained an easily won rook and pawn ending agaisnt Zwaig, but bungled it in time pressure and only drew. After this near-miss, a combination of ill-health and disappoinment robbed his play of any bite in the Final 'B' section, where he finished next to bottom.'
Qualifying Group E Pts 1. Hartoch (Holland) 4½ 2. Zwaig (Norway) 3½ 3. Jamieson (Scotland) 3 4. Weissbacher (Austria) 1½ 5. Gonzalez (Spain) 1½ 6. Bou Aziz (Tunisia) 1
Peter Jamieson in 1963, when he won
the British Boys' Championship (U-18),
at Bath, England.
In Final 'B' Peter scored 3 points from his eight games, including draws with Keene (England), Cordovil (Portugal), Makles (France) and Platzack (Sweden), and a win against Weissbacher (Austria). The tournament was won by Kurajica of Yugoslavia.
Kurajica (left) v Halfdanarson (Iceland)
Sources:
CHESS, December 17th, 1963, p 100 (Jamieson photo)
CHESS, September 24th, 1965, pp 4/5.
CHESS, October 22nd 1965, p 48 (other photo)
1969 StockholmRoddy McKay (I have never heard anyone call him Roderick) of Cathcart Chess Club in Glasgow represented Scotland this year, the event being held from August 10-30, with 38 competitors from 37 countries (the host country had two entries).
A.H. Williams, in his report for CHESS, gave some interesting insights into the organization of the event:
'Great controversy surrounded the placing of the competitors into the preliminary groups. The system adopted was that used in the Olympiads - all the competitors (at the Olympiads the non-playing captains) were asked to make up a list of what they thought was the order of strength, and the placings emerging from these were used by the organisers to make up approximately equal sections. As the great majority here were unknown quantities, this method was clearly unsatisfactory.'
There were six preliminary qualifying groups, with Roddy placed in Group 2.
Qualifying Group 2 Pts 1. Karpov (Soviet Union) 4½ 2. McKay (Scotland) 4 3. Payrhuber (Austria) 3½ 4. Torre (Philippines) 3½ 5. Hug (Switzerland) 3 6. Sznapik (Poland) 2 7. Fridjonsson (Iceland) ½ Again, from the report in CHESS by A.H. Williams:
'This group provided the winners of all three final sections! Karpov displayed very little of his later form and was, in fact, rather lucky to qualify. Hug missed an instant win against him, and Torre outplayed him to reach a winning ending, but he still salvaged the half point in both games. McKay qualified quite easily, losing in the last round when he was already safe. He seems to have the priceless gift of making his opponents blunder. Here are two examples.'
Fridjonsson - McKay
Round 3 of the Preliminary Group.
18...Bc2 (a cunning trap into which Fridjonsson falls)
19. Rd2? Bg5!
and White resigned.
Torre McKay
Round 5 of the preliminary Group.
Play continued with 19...Nh5
20. Nd3 Qf5
21. g4?? Rxd3!
22. Qxd3 Qxd3
23. Bxd3 Nxf4
and Black won quickly.
Here are Roddy's games with his Polish opponent, and the draw with Karpov.
McKay,R.M. - Sznapik,A [C78]
World Junior Championship 1969 - Preliminary Group B - Stockholm (2)
Brief comments by McKay in the High School of Glasgow Bulletin, 30 September 1969.1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.Re1 Bc5 8.h3 0-0 9.c3 d6 10.d4 Bb6 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bh4 Re8 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Rxe5 15.Nd2 g5 16.Bg3 Nxe4 17.Bxe5 Bxf2+ 18.Kh2 Nxd2 19.Bxf7+ Kf8 [If 19...Kxf7 20.Qh5+ wins.] 20.Bd4 Bxe1 [20...Bxd4 21.Re8+;
Or 20...Nf3+ 21.gxf3 Bxe1 22.Qxe1 Kxf7 23.Qb1 wins] 21.Qh5 Bf2 [If 21...Qe7 22.Bg7+ mates.] 22.Be6 Qe7 23.Qxh6+ Ke8 24.Qg6+ Black resigned, for if 24...Kd8 25.Qg8+ Qe8 26.Bf6# 1-0McKay,R.M. - Karpov,A [C86]
World Junior Championship 1969 - Preliminary Group B - Stockholm (6)1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Qe2 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d6 [8...d5 9.d3 Re8 10.Re1 Bb7 11.Nbd2 Qd7 12.Nf1 Rad8=] 9.d4 exd4 10.cxd4 Bg4 11.Rd1 d5 12.exd5 [12.e5 is the alternative.] 12...Na5! 13.Bc2 Re8 14.Qd3 [14.Nc3 Bb4 15.Qd3 Bh5 was Antoshin-Smyslov, Moscow 1955.] 14...Bh5 15.Bg5 Bg6 16.Qd2 Nc4 17.Qc1 Bxc2 ½-½
Based on Roddy's play so far, it might have been expected that he would do very well in Final 'A'. However, this did not turn out to be the case. He started with a loss to Vogt (E. Germany) and a draw with Urzica (Romania), but improved with successive wins against Adorjan (Hungary) and Kaplan (Puerto Rico), who won the World Junior Championship in 1967. He then lost to Karpov in round five, drew with Neckar (Czechoslovakia) in round six, and ended the tournament with five straight losses, scoring 4/11.
From the report by A.H. Williams in CHESS:
'Tiredness, due to his playing for Scotland in the Students' Olympiad preliminaries at Dresden may have handicapped him.' [McKay had flown straight from that event to Stockholm - A. McGowan]Here are the two fine wins from the final, mentioned above.
Adorjan,A - McKay,R.M. [B04]
World Junior Championship 1969 - Final Group A - Stockholm (3)1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 dxe5 5.Nxe5 g6 6.Bc4 c6 7.Qf3 Be6 8.Nc3 Bg7 9.0-0 Nd7 10.Re1 N7f6 11.Bg5 0-0 12.Bb3 Nxc3 13.Bxe6 Nb5 14.Bc4 Nxd4 15.Qc3 Nf5 16.Rad1 Qc7 17.Qf3 Nd6 18.Bb3 Rad8 19.g4 c5 20.Bf4 Qc8 21.a4 c4 22.Ba2 Qc5 23.c3 a6 24.Rd4 Qb6 25.Re2 Qa5 26.Nxc4 Nxc4 27.Rxc4 Rd1+ 28.Kg2 Ra1 29.Bb3 Nd5 30.Bg3 e6 31.h3 Qb6 32.Bc2 Qxb2 33.Bxg6 Qc1 34.Bxh7+ Kxh7 35.Qd3+ Kg8 36.Bd6 Rd8 37.Kg3 Qg1+ 38.Kh4 Bf6+ 39.Kh5 Kg7 0-1
McKay,R.M. - Kaplan,J [C82]
World Junior Championship 1969 - Final Group A - Stockholm (4)1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 e5 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Qe2 Bc5 Generally considered less valid than 9...Be7 but in reality about as good.
10.Be3 Qe7 If 10...0-0, then 11. Rd1 and the pin is annoying for Black.
11.c3 0-0 12.Nbd2 Nxd2 13.Qxd2 Bxe3 14.Qxe3 Na5 15.Bc2 Nc4 16.Qd3 g6 17.b3 Na3? Probably the losing move. ...Na5 is better. [17...Bf5 18.Qe2 Bxc2 19.bxc4 Be4 (to avoid loss of a pawn) 20.Nd2! and now 20...bxc4 (Not 20...Qxe5 21.f3) 21.Nxe4 with the better game.]
18.Bd1! c5 19.Qd2! With possibilities on both sides of the board.
19...a5 Otherwise after Qb2, White can answer ...b4 by 21. cxb4 with much the better game.
20.Qh6 f6 21.exf6 Rxf6 22.Re1 Qf8 23.Qd2 Kh8 To answer 24. Ng5 with ...Bg8. However, the king turns out badly placed here and perhaps ...Kg7 is better.
24.Be2 b4 25.Rac1 Rb8 Trying to extricate the poor knight.
26.Qb2! Kg7 If, however, 26...Nb5 27.cxb4 axb4 28.Bxb5 wins.
27.Ne5 Qd6 Of course, if 27...Rxf2 28.cxb4 wins.
28.Bg4! Now the threats on the diagonal and the c-file can no longer be answered.
28...d4 29.cxd4 Qxd4 If 29...cxd4 30.Rc6 wins quickly.
30.Qxd4 cxd4 31.Rc7+ Kg8 If 31...Kf8 32.Bxe6 followed by Nd7+.
32.Rc6 Re8 33.Nd7! Bxd7 34.Rxe8+ Bxe8 35.Rxf6 d3 Black has lost anyway.
36.Rd6 Bb5 37.Bd7 1-0Sources:
CHESS, October 1969, p 48-50.
The Games of Anatoly Karpov, by Kevin J. O'Connell and Jimmy Adams. Pitman Publishing, 1974.
Scottish Chess No. 27, January 1970
High School of Glasgow Bulletin, 30 September, 1969.1971 Athens
The XIth World Junior Championship was held in Athens Between July 25 and August 14, 1971. There was a record entry of 44 players from 43 countries (the host country having the right to nominate a second player). Michael Rosenberg of Giffnock-Clarkson Chess Club (previously a member of Cathcart CC), represented Scotland in an event that was won by Werner Hug of Switzerland.
Michael was placed in Preliminary Qualifying Group 3, with the following scores:
1. Ribli (Hungary) 5½; 2. Poutiainen (Finland) 4½; 3. Herzog (Austria) 4; 4. de Villiers (South Africa) 3½; 5. Haigh (Wales) 3½; 6. Rosenberg 3; 7. Makropoulos (Greece) 2½; 8. Gatt (Malta) 1½.This result meant that Michael played in Final Group 'C', the scores being as follows:
1. Lev (Israel) 8; 2. Weber (Luxembourg) 7½; 3. Kaiszakri Sweden) 7; 4. Capello (Italy) 7; 5. Roofthoofd (Belgium) 7; 6. Haigh (Wales) 6½; 7. Bellin (England) 6½; 8. Rosenberg 5½; 9. Cruz (Portugal) 4½; 10. Shirazi (Iran) 3½; 11. Buscio (Uruguay) 2½; 12. Vassiadis (Cyprus) ½.Michael Rosenberg would soon give up competitive chess for Bridge, becoming one of the most highly regarded players in the world.
Sources:
BCM September 1971, pp 337/8.
CHESS September 21st 1971, p 32.1973 Teesside
England hosted the XII World Junior, more than twenty years after organising the first ever of these events in 1951. The tournament was held at the Thornaby Pavilion July 16-August 4. Initially, there were 52 competitors entered, but three withdrew, including the Cuban G. Garcia. This left an odd number, so a second Scottish player was admitted to allow for 50 players.
There were two Preliminary Qualifying Goups, one of 24 players and the other with 26 players. Scotland's representatives, Iain J. Sinclair and Stephen Balmer were both placed in the second group. In a seven round Swiss System, Stepen Balmer scored 3 points and Iain Sinclair 2½.
There were four Final goups, three of them having twelve players and one having fourteen. Stephen played in Final Group 'C', an all-play-all of twelve players, scoring 4 points.
Iain Sinclair played in an eleven round Swiss in Final Group 'D', which had fourteen players. Iain did well to win this group with 10 points, made up of nine wins (one by default) and two draws.
W. Ritson Morry, who had first raised the ida of a World Junior Championship many years before, had some harsh words to say about the organisational requirements in the British Chess Magazine. He pointed out that the division of the qualifying groups into sections of 24 and 26 had been
' deemed necessary because hitherto numbers had been below 48 and it had been possible to run all-play-all sections to provide final sections of 12. My original proposals to FIDE in 1951 had been for a straight Swiss tournament and most people familiar with the Swiss System will at once appreciate that if as many as 18 rounds are possible (as in this case), it is far better to have one 18-round 50-player tournament than two 7-round events followed by final sections of 12. Teesside showed the truth of this for several very good reasons:-
a)- Seven rounds in a tournament of 16-32 players only allow for two places to be accurately determined, whereas 18 rounds permit at least 7 places to be correct.
b)- A long Swiss tournament permits a strong player who has started badly to make a recovery......
c)- The relegation of most of the players to sub-sections simply meant that 38 of the 50 players might just as well have been sent home at the end of the first week, for they only had token prizes to win and had lost all incentive as far as the championship title was concerned....
The event was won by Belyavsky of the Soviet Union who scored 8½/11, followed by England's Tony Miles with 8 and three players on 7½, including England's other representative, Michael Stean.
Source: BCM September 1973, pp 353-355
After 1973 the event was held annually. Tony Miles won in Manila 1974, but there was no Scottish representative.
1975 Tjentiste (Yugoslavia)
The 14th World Junior Championship was held from August 16-September 1. The event had originally been scheduled for Puerto Rico, but financial difficulties forced that country to pull out. Fortunately, Yugoslavia stepped in to help.
The tournament was a 13 round Swiss System event, with 48 players from 47 countries taking part. The winner was Velery Chekhov (USSR) with 10 points, followed by Larry Christiansen (USA) 9½ and Jonathan Mestel (England) and V. Inkiov (Bulgaria) 9. Scotland was represented by Andrew Muir, who scored 6½.
Source: BCM January 1976, p 6-7.
1976 Groningen
The 1976 World Junior Championship was combined with the 1977 European Junior Championship at Groningen, Holland, between December 21 1976 and January 5 1977. Mark Diesen (USA) became World Junior Champion with a score of 10 points in the 13-round Swiss System tournament.
Scotland was represented by Tim Upton, who scored 5.
Source: BCM May 1977, p 222.
1977 Innsbruck
The 16th World Junior Championship was held September 4-19. There were 48 competitors in the 13-round Swiss System event, which was won by Artur Yusupov, a 17-year old student of economics.
Graham Morrison of Scotland finished with 6 points in a tie for 28th-34th places.
Source: BCM November 1977, pp 481-483.
1978 Graz
There were 45 players in the tournament this year, held September 2-18. The event was won by Dolmatov (USSR) with 10½/13, with 1977 winner Yusupov just behind on 10. Graham Morrison was once again Scotland's man, scoring 7½ for a share of 8th-12th places
Source: BCM March 1979, p 121.
1979 Skien
Fifty-six players tavelled to Norway this year, with the event held between July 27 and August 10. Again, it was a 13-round Swiss. The winner was Yasser Seirawan (USA) with a score of 10/13.
Paul Motwani was Scotland's representative and he scored 6½.
Source: BCM November 1979, p 551.
1980 Dortmund
The tournament was held August 17-31. Gary Kasparov won the title with a score of 10½ from his 13 games, followed by Nigel Short on 9 points.
Colin McNab of Scotland scored 6 points.
Sources: BCM October 1980, pp 547/8 and Fighting Chess: Kasparov's Games and Career, Batsford 1985.
1981 Mexico City
The 20th World Junior was held in Mexico City August 17 to September 3. The event was won by Cvitan (Yugoslavia) with 10½ from 13 rounds. He was followed by Ehlvest (USSR) 10, and Nigel Short (England) 9.
Paul Motwani of Scotland was among a group of players on 7 points.
'There are reports of far from ideal playing conditions, and an epidemic of illness amongst the players during the turnament.'
Source: BCM November 1981, pp 492/3.
1982 Copenhagen
Mark Condie was the Scottish representative this year, in an event held August 12-28. There were 52 players with the winner being Sokolov (USSR) with 10 points, followed by Stohl (Czechoslovakia) with 9. Nigel Short represented England for the third consecutive year, this time 3rd-7th places with 8½.
Mark Condie finished with 7 points to tie for 17th place.
From Scottish Chess December 1982, p 15:
'The event itself was held approximately 10km outside the city centre in a large sports complex. The playing conditions were poor. The actual chess pieces were ½ to ¾ of an inch below the standard international size, and the lighting tended to be rather dull at times. The food although somewhat somewhat predictable was edible. The playing hall, and in fact the entire complex, had a warm and humid atmosphere.'The article points out that there were 7 International Masters and 20-25 players with ELO ratings of 2300+.
Sources: BCM October 1982, p 452 and Scottish Chess No. 72, December 1982.
1983 Belfort
Mark Condie was again chosen as Scotland's representative. The event was hosted by France, and was held August 13-27. There were 61 competitors.
Georgiev (Bulgaria) was the winner with 11½ points, ahed of Salov (USSR) 10½. Nigel Short, for the fourth time, failed to win the World Junior Title, despite being a favourite.
Mark Condie provided the following report for Scottish Chess.
There were three rest days so the rounds were divided into one group of five followed by groups of four and three with the final rest day before the last round. I started well in the first group of games scoring 3½/5 (three draws, two wins). Unfortunately the food was very bad and I picked up a bug which made me vomit and suffer from diarrhoea throughout the tournament. Several times I had to leave the the board during actual play. The first bout occurred before my round 3 game with Greenfeld which ended in a draw and thereafter I was troubled throughout the tournament. The result was I could not eat and lost over a stone in weight by the end of the event.
Nevertheless, in spite of this, I was on 6½/11 and the highest placed British player with two rounds to go. I met Short in round 12 and after a close and tense struggle I conceded what I thought was a lost ending to Nigel...
I was disappointed when I threw away a won game in the last round against Chapman (Australia) when I was two pawns ahead for nothing and I stupidly left my queen to be obviously trapped.
My total score was 6½/13 with wins against Jackym (FRance, 2280), Picorelli (Cuba, 2280), Collin (France, 2230), Bailey (Canada); draws with Greenfeld (Israel, 2460), Renet (France), D'Amore (Italy, 2310), Franic (Yugoslavia), Lukman (Indonesia); losses to Short (England, 2475), Granda (Peru, 2365), Dlugy (USA, 2455), Chapman (Australia).
Mark L Condie - Nigel Short [A15]
Belfort 19831.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0-0 g6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Qxd4 Bg7 8.Nc3 d6 9.Rd1 Nbd7 10.b3 0-0 11.Bb2 Nd5 12.Qd2 Nxc3 13.Bxc3 Nf6 14.Qb2 a6 15.a4 Qc7 16.Rdc1 Rfc8 17.Bd4 e5 18.Bc3 Ne4 19.Be1 f5 20.a5 Re8 21.axb6 Qxb6 22.b4 Rac8 23.Qa2 Kh8 24.Rab1 Bh6 25.Rc2 Qc7 26.c5 d5 27.c6 Bxc6 28.Qxa6 Qd7 29.Qa5 Bb7 30.Rxc8 Qxc8 31.e3 Bg7 32.Qa1 Qd7 33.Rd1 d4 34.exd4 exd4 35.Nxd4 Rd8 36.Bxe4 fxe4 37.Qa3 e3 38.Qxe3 Re8 39.Qc3 Qd5 40.f3 Rxe1+ 41.Qxe1 Bxd4+ 42.Rxd4 Qxd4+ 43.Kg2 Bd5 0-1
(Winning procedure: Black blockades the White b-pawn with Bishop and Queen - playes h5 to fix kingside pawns - then manoeuvres to force exchange of Queens - White is unable to force a perpetual check.)
Sources: BCM October 1983, p 437 and Scottish Chess No. 77, October 1983, p 21.
1984 Kiljava
The event was held in August, near Helsinki, Finland. Mark Condie, in the Scottish Chess Association's Centenary year, represented Scotland for the third time.
The winner was Curt Hansen (Denmark) with 10½/13, followed by Dreyev (USSR) 10 and Thorsteins (Iceland) 9. The holder, Kiril Georgiev of Bulgaria, was one of the favourites, but he also finished on 9 points.
Mark Condie shared 16th place with 7 points.
Alan McGowan
Historian, Chess Scotland
