** 1959 US Open Chess Champ. - Omaha **
** 60th US Open Chess Championship - 1959 **
Sheraton - Fontenelle Hotel; Omaha, Nebraska
July 20 - August 1, 1959
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
US Open Directed by: George Koltanowski; San Francisco, CA
US Junior Championship Directed by: Howard Ohman, Omaha, NE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Open
Winners: 1st - Arthur Bisguier - 10
2nd - Pal Benko - 9.5
3rd - Raymond Weinstein - 9.5
4-5th - Eliot Hearst - 9
4-5th - Hans Berliner - 9
US Junior Champ:
1st - Robin Ault - 7
2nd - Gilbert Ramirez - 7
3rd - Larry Gilden - 6.5
4th - Ray. Weinstein - 6.5
5th - Walter Harris - 6
(* US Junior Champ was held July 13-18th at the Hotel Rome in Omaha; there
were 40 entrants, and it was a 9rd swiss.)
...........................................................................
A total of $2,225.00 in prize money was distributed at a banquet
following the final round. Trophies were awarded to Arthur Bisguier,
Robin Ault, for the highest score made by a USCF rated Expert,
Walter Harris, for the highest score made bya a Class A player, to
Donald Seifert, for the highest score made by a Class B player, to
Sonja Graf Stevenson, for the Woman's Open Championship.
Highlights of the banquet included a series of anecdotes about
interesting incidents which occurred during the Open as noted by
internationally famous tournament director George Koltanowski of
San Francisco, California.
One noteworthy incident involve two players each of whom had a
beautiful board and chess set. Each insisted that he would play
only with his own set and board! In the ensuing altercation, the
players appealed to director Koltanowski who felt the matter may well
have been decided by the simple expedient of "flipping a coin." But,
to his momentary dismay, the participants would have none of his
suggestion. Thereupon, Koltanowski demanded both boards and sets
immediately! In return, he gave them an old battle-scarred board and
a not too desirable set of men and both players returned to the battle
arena content that neither of them had won their point!
Another interesting incident involved a strong player who had
lost a number of games in the early rounds on the time limit. The
reason remained a mystery for some rounds until Koltanowski took an
interest in the proceedings. It appeared that the player who was losing
on time was using his own clock and carried it around with him
constantly and even refused to let anyone else handle his clock! Normally,
in such a tournament with 50 moves in 2.5 hour rule, time pressure rarely
develops before 3.5 to 4 hours after comencement of the round; and yet
due to this clock, the poor player was in fantastic time pressure only
2.5 hours after the round started! After watching watching one of the
games of this player, Koltie perceived that, while the clock on one side
was functioning properly, the clock on the other side continued to run
without abating even when the lever was pushed down. Ironically, during
each of the games of this player, he unwittingly sat on the defective side
of his own clock!
Source: Quoted with some alterations from the Introduction,
"Selected Games from the 14th United States Junior Chess Champ.
and the 60th United States Open Chess Championship";
American Tournament Series, Vol. XXVIII, Jack Spence, 1959.
...........................................................................
** 1959 Open Jottings ** by William Slater
"Not so many grandmasters, but general level highest ever. Half of
entire field rated as expert or above. To quote Tournament Director
George Koltanowski, 'There were no fish!'... Younger players advancing
so rapidly posted ratings based on performance figures of perhaps a year
or two previous give little indication of current strength. Good idea
when paired agains a Junior to mentally add one or two hundred points to
published ratings to allow for the inevitable improvement...
Frank Brady's newly anounced plan of bringing out monthly rating
supplements should be great help to get true picture of our rapidly
advancing Juniors...
New Junior Champion Robin Ault and San Francisco's Gil Ramirez
also scored heavily in the big event. Brooklyn's Ray Weinstein's smashing
last round victory over previously unstopped Grandmaster Benko
(which gave first place to Cousin Arthur Bisguier) an all-time high
in tourney thrills...
Title still wide open going into the last round. Depending on how
the chips fell either Benko, Bisguier, or even Seattle's Ollie Ulvestad
who had suddenly moved into the picture, could have emerged the
ultimate winner..." ...
"Sheraton-Fontanelle Hotel contributed largely to success of the event.
Chess players given the red carpet treatment, with air-conditioned
playing quarters ideal with separat analysis room outside, and losers
could conslole themselves listening to Bob Darch's honkey-tonk piano
in the Golden Nugget." ...
Source: Excerpts from "Chess Life"; Sept 5, 1959, pg 7,
"1959 Open Jottings" by William Slater.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crosstable: ** 60th US Open Chess Championship - 1959 - Omaha, NE **
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Tot
01 Bisguier NY W107 W42 W71 W07 D05 D09 W19 W28 D02 D03 W18 W08 10
02 Benko NY W39 W29 W21 D04 D19 W15 W10 W18 D01 W06 W09 L03 9.5
03 Weinstein NY L27 W92 W38 D37 W41 W29 W31 W23 W18 D01 D04 W02 9.5
04 Hearst DC W54 W27 W30 D02 D06 L10 W45 W59 W05 D13 D03 W17 9
05 Berliner CO W73 W31 W44 W25 D01 L18 W12 D07 L04 W24 W27 W13 9
06 SteinmeyerMO W80 W62 D48 D15 D04 W16 W11 W08 W28 L02 D13 D10 8.5
07 Brasket MN W77 W36 W32 L01 W22 W44 D28 D05 L13 W16 W25 D09 8.5
08 Ulvestad WA W100 W50 W79 L18 W42 D11 W26 L06 W33 W12 W14 L01 8.5
09 Sherwin NY W81 D22 W65 W126 W63 D01 L18 W35 W10 W27 L02 D13 8.5
10 Henin IL W91 W97 L28 W82 W79 W04 L02 W60 L09 W30 W23 D06 8.5
11 Ramirez CA D131 W110 W60 D59 W20 D08 L06 L33 W34 W38 W26 W18 8.5
12 Ault NJ W109 L18 W94 W93 W21 D14 L05 W31 W32 L08 W33 W30 8.5
13 Levy NJ W72 L44 L37 W95 W53 W91 W73 W19 W07 D04 D06 L05 8
14 Burger NY W90 D65 W56 D22 W32 D12 D36 W24 L27 W21 L08 W40 8
15 Jiminez CUBA W112 D60 W35 D06 W59 L02 D61 D48 D20 D31 W62 W27 8
16 Ortega CUBA 8.5 56 Brieger TX 6.5 96 Murphy CA 5.5
17 K.Smith TX 8 57 Stallings TX 6.5 97 Simpson NC 5
18 Saidy NY 7.5 58 Hand CT 6.5 98 Noblin NC 5
19 Owens NY 7.5 59 Litwinczuk CAN 6 99 Higler TX 5
20 O'Keefe NY 7.5 60 Suraci CT 6 100 Slater NY 5
21 Edelbaum CT 7.5 61 McLellan *NE 6 101 Paheson TX 5
22 Kause OH 7.5 62 Krause CA 6 102 Westing NY 5
23 McCormick NJ 7.5 63 Osbun CA 6 103 M.Morrell IN 5
24 Carr *NE 7.5 64 Rohland WI 6 104 Hochalter MN 5
25 Marchand NY 7.5 65 G.Barnes MN 6 105 Fasano NJ 5
26 Sprague OH 7.5 66 E.Aronson IL 6 106 Martinson *NE 5
27 W.Harris NY 7 67 Rebold CA 6 107 Vissepo P.RICO 4.5
28 Divera P.RIC 7 68 Lukowiak NJ 6 108 Ligtvoet MI 4.5
29 Freeman TX 7 69 Suarez P.RICO 6 109 Denny TX 4
30 Pamiljens NY 7 70 H.Weinstein NY 6 110 Moore CA 4
31 J.Donovan NY 7 71 H.Gross CA 6 111 Kurtz WI 4
32 Hartleb FL 7 72 F.Cramer WI 6 112 Raich PA 4
33 Ohman *NE 7 73 R.B.Johnson PA 6 113 Forkas CT 4
34 PalciauskaIL 7 74 Harmon OR 6 114 Mayfield TX 4
35 A.Wang CA 7 75 Lux CA 6 115 B.Evans CAN 4
36 J.Shaw MN 7 76 D.Taylor IL 6 116 J.Spann OK 4
37 Vincent *NE 7 77 Zukerman NY 6 117 W.Stevens ?? 4
38 BatchelderIN 7 78 Leewright KS 6 118 McGregor IL 3.5
39 Cantone PA 7 79 Hulmes CO 6 119 Hutchins OH 3.5
40 B.Schmidt NY 7 80 A.Murphy KS 5.5 120 Laucks NJ 3.5
41 H.Herbst CAN 7 81 W.Donnelly IN 5.5 121 Houghton NJ 3.5
42 Sullivan TN 7 82 Beitling MO 5.5 122 Cronk IL 3.5
43 G.Abram MI 7 83 Banker MO 5.5 123 G.McMahon CA 3
44 Gilden DC 6.5 84 Zangerle MI 5.5 124 Creighton TX 3
45 Lapiken MT 6.5 85 J.Allen MO 5.5 125 C.Rock MA 2
46 Smook CA 6.5 86 Seifert MO 5.5 126 L.Isaacs IL 2.5
47 Alexander CA 6.5 87 G.Johnson IL 5.5 127 Trinks IN 3.5
48 J.Warren IL 6.5 88 Broderson MN 5.5 128 H.Rock MA 2.5
49 Rabell P.RIC 6.5 89 Piperingos CO 5.5 129 S.Sloan VA 2.5
50 Stevenson CA 6.5 90 W.Scott GA 5.5 130 N.Robinson CA 2
51 GromhatherIL 6.5 91 W.Slater NY 5.5 131 F.Collins TX 2
52 Sukoler NY 6.5 92 VanGelder CA 5.5 132 J.Alexander CA 2
53 N.Aronson IL 6.5 93 W.Miller MS 5.5 133 Houdek IA 1
54 Priebe CO 6.5 94 P.Morrell IN 5.5 134 E.Anderson TX 0
55 Wright MO 6.5 95 R.Hart KS 5.5 135 Jordan CO 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
USCF: President - Jerry Spann OK Bus. Mgr. - Frank Brady NY
Secretary - Marshall Rohland WI Editor - Fred Wren ME
Treasurer - Milton Ruskin NY Memb. Sec - Sybilla Harkness NY
Vice Pres - Gisela Gresser NY Vice Pres - Walter Shipman NY
Vice Pres - Erich Marchand NY Vice Pres - N. Hornstein NC
Vice Pres - Edgar McCormick NJ Vice Pres - Irving Rivise CA
Vice Pres - Robt Eastwood FL Vice Pres - George Barnes MN
Vice Pres - Harry Borochow CA Vice Pres - Fred Cramer WI
At the Director's Meeting in Omaha Fred Cramer reported that the USCF had 3800
members.
"Chess Life, America's Chess Newspaper"; $.15 an issue, $5.00 1yr subscription
includes membership in USCF. $3.00 1 yr non-members. Published twice/month
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Games:
[Event "US Open"] [Site "Omaha, Nebraska"] [Date "1959.07.20"]
[Round "1"] [Result "0-1"]
[White "D.Vissepo PUERTO RICO"] [Black "A.Bisguier 2507 NY"]
{ECO: D20 - Queen's Gambit Accepted}
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 e5 4.d5 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.Bg5 c6 7.Bxc4 b5
8.Be2 b4 9.Na4 Bxf2+ 10.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 11.Kf1 Qxg5 12.Nf3 Qe3 13.Qe1 O-O
14.Bc4 Qf4 15.Qc1 Nd2+ 16.Qxd2 Qxc4+ 17.Kf2 e4 18.Rhc1 Qb5 19.0-1
[Event "US Open"] [Site "Omaha, Nebraska"] [Date "1959.07.20"]
[Round "1"] [Result "1-0"]
[White "J.Sherwin 2408 NY"] [Black "W.Donnelly 2060 IN"]
{ECO: A70 - Modern Benoni}
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7
8.Be2 O-O 9.Bg5 Qe7 10.Qc2 Nbd7 11.Nd2 Ne5 12.f4 Neg4 13.Nc4 Qd8
14.e5 b5 15.exf6 Bxf6 16.Nxb5 Bxg5 17.fxg5 Qxg5 18.O-O Bf5 19.Qc1 1-0
[Event "US Open"] [Site "Omaha, Nebraska"] [Date "1959.07.20"]
[Round "1"] [Result "1-0"]
[White "P.Benko 2496 NY"] [Black "A.Cantone 2002 PA"]
{ECO: C44 - Ponziani Opening - Caro's Def}
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 d5 4.Qa4 Qd6 5.d3 Bd7 6.Qb3 Nf6 7.Na3 Na5
8.Qc2 c5 9.exd5 Qxd5 10.Be2 Be7 11.O-O O-O 12.Re1 Rfd8 13.Bf1 Nc6
14.Nc4 Bd6 15.Ng5 Bc7 16.g3 Bf5 17.Ne3 Qd7 18.Nxf5 Qxf5 19.Qb3 Ng4
20.f3 Na5 21.fxg4 Nxb3 22.gxf5 Nxa1 23.Bd2 Nc2 24.Rc1 c4 25.Rxc2 cxd3
26.Rc1 Bb6+ 27.Kg2 Rd7 28.Kf3 h6 29.Ne4 f6 30.Bxh6 1-0
[Event "US Open"] [Site "Omaha, Nebraska"] [Date "1959.07.21"]
[Round "2"] [Result "1-0"]
[White "C.Brasket 2312 MN"] [Black "J.Shaw 2077 NM"]
{ECO: E81 - King's Indian Def}
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 O-O 6.Be3 Nbd7 7.Qd2 c5
8.d5 a6 9.Nge2 Rb8 10.a4 Ne5 11.Nc1 Qa5 12.Ra3 Rd8 13.h3 Nh5
14.Kf2 Qc7 15.g4 Nf6 16.f4 Ned7 17.g5 Nh5 18.Be2 Nf8 19.Bxh5 gxh5
20.f5 Be5 21.Nd3 Bd4 22.Nf4 Bxe3+ 23.Qxe3 e6 24.g6 hxg6 25.dxe6 fxe6
26.Rg1 exf5 27.Nxg6 Kh7 28.Qg5 Qg7 29.Nxf8+ Qxf8 30.Qg6+ 1-0
[Event "US Open"] [Site "Omaha, Nebraska"] [Date "1959.07.21"]
[Round "2"] [Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "G.Barnes 2070 MN"] [Black "K.Burger 2262 NY"]
{ECO: B41 - Sicilian}
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Qc7 7.Bd3 Nc6
8.Nxc6 dxc6 9.O-O e5 10.a3 Bc5 11.Rb1 Bg4 12.Qc2 O-O 13.Kh1 Rfe8
14.f3 Be6 15.b4 Be7 16.Be3 b5 17.c5 Nh5 18.Ne2 g6 19.Rfd1 Red8
20.g4 Ng7 21.Ng3 Rd7 22.Be2 a5 23.Rxd7 Qxd7 24.Qc3 axb4 25.axb4 f6
26.Rd1 Qc7 27.Bc1 Ra2 28.Bb2 g5 29.Bd3 Ra8 30.Bc2 Rd8 1/2-1/2
[Event "US Open"] [Site "Omaha, Nebraska"] [Date "1959.07.22"]
[Round "3"] [Result "1-0"]
[White "R.McLellan 2166 NE"] [Black "G.Banker 1907 MO"]
{ECO: C12 - French - MacCutcheon}
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 5.e5 h6 6.Bd2 Nfd7 7.Qg4 Rg8
8.Bd3 Bf8 9.Nge2 a6 10.Nxd5 exd5 11.e6 Nf6 12.exf7+ Kxf7 13.Bg6+ Ke7
14.Bb4+ c5 15.Bxc5+ Qd6 16.Qxc8 1-0
[Event "US Open"] [Site "Omaha, Nebraska"] [Date "1959.07.22"]
[Round "3"] [Result "0-1"]
[White "G.Hartleb 2053 FL"] [Black "C.Brasket 2312 MN"]
{ECO: D97 - Grunfeld Def}
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Qb3 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bg7 6.e4 O-O 7.Nf3 c6
8.Be2 b5 9.Qd3 Qa5 10.O-O b4 11.Nb1 Ba6 12.Qe3 c5 13.h3 Bxe2
14.Qxe2 cxd4 15.e5 Nfd7 16.e6 Nc5 17.exf7+ Rxf7 18.Ne5 Rf5 19.Nd3 Qa6
20.Rd1 Nxd3 21.Rxd3 Nd7 22.Re3 Qc6 23.0-1
[Event "US Open"] [Site "Omaha, Nebraska"] [Date "1959.07.22"]
[Round "3"] [Result "0-1"]
[White "L.Gilden 2061 MD"] [Black "H.Berliner 2365 CO"]
{ECO: A25 - English}
1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.d4 d6 4.e4 e5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bg5 f6 7.Be3 Bh6
8.Qd2 Bxe3 9.Qxe3 Bg4 10.d5 Nce7 11.c5 Bd7 12.Nd2 f5 13.cxd6 cxd6
14.Nb5 Bxb5 15.Bxb5+ Kf7 16.f4 exf4 17.Qxf4 Nf6 18.exf5 Nexd5
19.fxg6+ Kg7 20.Qg5 h6 21.Qg3 Qb6 22.Ba4 Rhe8+ 23.Bxe8 Rxe8+
24.Kd1 Ne3+ 25.Kc1 Qc5+ 26.0-1
[Event "US Open"] [Site "Omaha, Nebraska"] [Date "1959.07.23"]
[Round "4"] [Result "0-1"]
[White "C.Brasket 2312 MN"] [Black "A.Bisguier 2507 NY"]
{ECO: B43 - Sicilian}
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 b5 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.O-O b4
8.Nce2 Nf6 9.Ng3 h5 10.e5 h4 11.Ngf5 Nd5 12.Nd6+ Bxd6 13.exd6 Qb6
14.Qg4 Nc6 15.Nf3 O-O-O 16.c4 f5 17.Qg6 Nf6 18.Be3 Qa5 19.a3 h3
20.g3 Ng4 21.axb4 Qxb4 22.Qxg7 Qxd6 23.Rfd1 Rhg8 24.Qc3 Nxe3
25.fxe3 Rxg3+ 26.hxg3 Qxg3+ 27.Kf1 Qxf3+ 28.Ke1 h2 29.Kd2 Qg2+
30.Be2 d5 31.Qc2 Nb4 32.Qc1 dxc4+ 33.Kc3 Qxe2 34.0-1
[Event "US Open"] [Site "Omaha, Nebraska"] [Date "1959.07.23"]
[Round "4"] [Result "1-0"]
[White "A.Saidy 2370 NY"] [Black "O.Ulvestad 2253 WA"]
{ECO: A07, A11 - Reti, English}
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c6 4.b3 g6 5.Bb2 Bg7 6.O-O Nbd7 7.c4 O-O
8.Qc2 e6 9.d3 Re8 10.Nc3 Nh5 11.Rac1 f5 12.e3 Nb6 13.cxd5 exd5
14.b4 Bd7 15.Ne2 a5 16.Bxg7 Nxg7 17.Rb1 a4 18.b5 cxb5 19.Nfd4 Rc8
20.Qb2 Rc5 21.Rfc1 Rxc1+ 22.Rxc1 Qf6 23.Nf4 Bc6 24.Rc5 Rd8 25.Qc1 Rd6
26.Nxb5 Bxb5 27.Rxb5 Rc6 28.Qb2 Qd6 29.Nxd5 1-0
=============================================================================
Sources: "Selected Games from the 14th United States Junior Chess Champ.
and the 60th United States Open Chess Championship";
American Tournament Series, Vol. XXVIII, Jack Spence, 1959.
"Chess Life"; Aug 20, Sept 5, Oct 5, 1959.
** Special thanks to Robert Woodworth for sharing his old Chess Lifes!
=============================================================================
Edited by: Jim Jirousek, 1/31/1998, Blair, NE.
More Games