1972 Norwich Junior International, 28 March - 13 April, Stuart Hall, Suckling House, Norwich

1972 Norwich Junior International		Fed	Elo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Total
1	Gyula Sax	HUN	2400	&;	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	12½
2	James E Tarjan	USA		1	&;	0	1	½	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	12
3	Michael F Stean	ENG	2305	½	1	&;	0	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	½	½	1	1	1	10
4	Roderick M McKay	SCO	2330	0	0	1	&;	1	½	1	½	½	1	½	½	½	1	1	½	9½
5	David Cox	IRL		0	½	½	0	&;	1	½	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	1	9½
6	John D M Nunn	ENG		0	1	½	½	0	&;	½	1	½	½	½	1	0	1	1	1	9
7	Thorbjorn Rosenlund	DEN		0	½	½	0	½	½	&;	½	1	½	1	½	0	1	1	1	8½
8	Sasa Velickovic	YUG		0	0	½	½	½	0	½	&;	1	1	½	½	1	½	1	1	8½
9	Robert Bellin	ENG	2305	½	0	0	½	½	½	0	0	&;	½	1	½	1	1	½	1	7½
10	Heinz Wirthensohn	SUI	2230	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	½	&;	1	1	1	½	1	1	7
11	Manuel Pujol Sans	ESP		½	0	½	½	½	½	0	½	0	0	&;	½	½	½	1	1	6½
12	Peter Mack	FRG		0	0	½	½	½	0	½	½	½	0	½	&;	½	½	1	½	6
13	Stefan Ivarsson	SWE		0	0	½	½	0	1	1	0	0	0	½	½	&;	½	½	1	6
14	Bruno de Jonghe	BEL		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	½	½	½	½	&;	0	1	3½
15	Ole Christian Moen	NOR		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	½	1	&;	1	3
16	Serge Bailloux	FRA		0	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	&;	1

BCM, June 1972, ppn 193-198

Norwich Junior International Tournament March 28 - April 13.

by Harry Golombek

This, the strongest junior international tournament to be held in this country since the by now legendary Junior World Championship that Ivkov won in Birmingham way back in 1951, had a number of special advantages that made it into the success it undoubtedly was. I should perhaps disclose to my readers that I had a special interest in that not only was I tournament controller but I was chiefly responsible for securing the entry. So you may, if you like, discount this and reduce my estimate of the event from a considerable success to a minor one, or, if malevolently inclined (and the horrid experiences of many years has demonstrated to me that there are people so inclined amongst my readers) then you can call it a wash-out and confine yourself to playing over the specimen games I shall give.

But I can assure you I will try to be as objective as possible and give the facts as penny plain as possible. I mentioned the special advantages and must now specify them. First and foremost, the money was there, and if the same m.rs. referred to above find this a mercenary attitude let me once and for all affirm that just as in the world at large nothing is certain save death and taxes so in the chess-world nothing substantial at any rate can be achieved without the liberal backing of money. So, British chess owes the Junior Trust Fund and the Friends of Chess quite a debt of gratitude for the abundant financial backing they gave to the event.

Their donations enabled us to give quite high prizes as follows - £120, £90, £80, £65, £50, £40, £35, £25 and in addition the non prizewinners received £3 a point. Oddly enough, the substantial prize-list did not charm all chess federations and the Swiss Chess Federation delayed their acceptance of an invitation for some time whilst they debated whether they could legitimately send a representative to a tournament where the prizes were so high. I am still not quite sure what the objection was: - perhaps they thought their player might fall victim to the Capuan pleasures that sapped the strength of Hannibal's army.

Next to the money came the setting which was wholly admirable. Victor Soanes, tournament director and really the moving spirit in the whole enterprise, has the good fortune to dwell in Norwich which is not only one of the most beautiful cities in the world but also rejoices in a city council that has the good sense to realise that this beauty (in particular the ancient part) must be preserved against the uglier tendencies of modern urbanisation. This, I hope, must have left a fine impression on our foreign visitors, but from the practical point of view the venue, in the modern Stuart Hall built on to the ancient Suckling House could hardly have been bettered and in Mr. Frost, caretaker and general custodian of the place, we found a treasure of help and hospitable consideration outdoing anything I have ever experienced.

A few more words about the local organisation, which was first-class, and I can get down to the tournament itself. John Scott was a tower of strength, both before and during the event, whilst of course the same could be said of Victor Soanes, who seemed to be, if I may slightly mix a metaphor, ubiquitous.

The composition of the tournament, as the reader will see, was most various, but there were some omissions which require explanation. The Dutch Chess Federation, after informing me a couple of months earlier that 'of course we will send a player', suddenly discovered that the dates of the tournament clashed with their championship and barely a week before the tournament started informed me that owing to this clash they were unable to find a player good enough to participate in such a strong tournament - a surprisingly unfriendly act from a friendly nation.

Rather more serious was the abstention of a Soviet representative from participation. I had spoken to their representative at the F.I.D.E. Congress at Vancouver last year and he said there was no problem, the U.S.S.R. would certainly send a player. Then occurred the business with the expulsion of Soviet spies (some of whom may not have been such) from Britain and my letter of invitation to the Soviet Chess Federation remained unanswered. After Hastings, through the kind offices of Viktor Korchnoi, I managed to get a letter through to their secretary and eventually there came an answer that the sending of a player to the Junior International was impossible. The same telegram, by the way, contained a favourable answer to my request for the names of the Soviet grandmasters for the Teesside event, but that is another story which will appear in my account of the Teesside Grandmaster Tournament which is still in progress as I write these lines.

This was on the debit side; but there were compensations. The Hungarian Chess Federation sent us that most talented player, the European Junior Champion, Gyula Sax. From the U.S.A. we had their highest rated junior player, James Tarjan, and from Yugoslavia a very gifted young player, Sasha Velickovic, who had been junior champion of Yugoslavia in 1969 and won the first prize at an under 25 International event at Bad Pyrmont in that year. Unfortunately, owing to the smallpox epidemic in his country, he had had to be vaccinated before he could come out of the country only a couple of days before the tournament started. He was very badly affected by the vaccination and the doctor insisted he should stay in bed for a couple of days, his fifth round game against Bailloux having to be postponed for the next free day. In due course he recovered but he had lost too many points in the early stages to trouble the leaders.

Otherwise he would have obviously been a rival of Sax and Tarjan, these two demonstrating that, with the possible exception of Michael Stean, they were in a class by themselves as far as this tournament was concerned.

Round by round they kept pace with each other. Winning their first two games, both were held to a draw in the third round, Tarjan by the talented Irishman, David Cox, a player of solid virtues, and Sax by Robert Bellin. But they drew away from the rest of the field in the next three rounds when they won all their games. Here is how, in Round Four, Sax disposed of Rosenlund a player from Denmark who told me he was doing nothing but play chess at the moment and of whom Bent Larsen subsequently remarked that he was a variable but talented player. [Sax-Rosenlund]

In the next round the European Junior champion won with great ease against the Norwegian Moen (22 moves) and in the same round Bellin had the misfortune to be mated by Tarjan as follows. [Tarjan - Bellin]

In Round Six Sax proved much too good for de Jonghe, a talented young Belgian who, appropriately enough in view of his name, was the youngest competitor at the age of 15. [Sax - de Jonghe]

So, by Round 7 when they were due to meet each other, Sax and Tarjan were leading with 5½ points and the nearest players to them, Cox, McKay and Stean, were all two points below them. The game was surprisingly short. Tarjan found out a weak spot in the Hungarian's armour in that Sax, whilst well acquainted with purely contemporary opening theory, was ignorant of anything about ten years old. He caught him in a variation that had been popular in the period 1959-62 but had subsequently rightly been regarded and discarded as bad for Black. You can see what happened. [Tarjan-Sax]

In the next round Tarjan had an incisive win over Velickovic in 25 moves and though Sax won by the same number of moves against Nunn in this round it seemed as though the American was certain to retain the lead till the end. In beating the Yugoslav he had surmounted his most dangerous remaining hurdle and of his future competitors only Stean was likely to cause him trouble.

But a dramatic change came in Round 9 when Tarjan, disdaining the tacit offer of a draw by repetition of moves, lost his game to Stean and the lead back to Sax. [Stean-Tarjan]

Meanwhile Sax was having a tough struggle with Velickovic and when the game was adjourned it did not seem that he could win; but the Yugoslav unaccountably wilted when play was resumed. Sax won and so caught up with Tarjan with 7½ points each. Both won in Round 10 but Tarjan got half a point ahead again in Round 11 when he beat Wirthensohn as Sax could only draw the following entertaining game with Stean. [Stean-Sax]

At this stage Tarjan had 9½ and Sax 9 and the nearest player to these was Cox with 8. Nunn had a disastrous loss to the Irish player in this round. [Nunn-Cox]

The top two positions were unchanged as a result of play in the next and twelfth round; for, though Tarjan's game against Ivarsson was adjourned whereas Sax won incisively against Mack, it was clear that Tarjan was likewise winning. However, the next two places changed hands. Cox was beaten by McKay and since Stean drew with Pujol Cox and Stean were sharing third and fourth place with 8 points each just ahead of McKay 7½.

The Sax-Mack game was an excellent example of the European Junior champion's attacking style. [Sax-Mack]

Both leaders seemed to pause for breath in the next round when they drew, Sax with Pujol and Tarjan with Rosenlund. But in the next round they both won easily enough so that the gap between them and the rest of the field widened to a great margin, Tarjan had 12, Sax 11½ and the next player, Stean 9½. Sax won the following brevity in this round. [Sax-Cox]

When the last round came Tarjan had Black against Nunn and Sax Black against Wirthensohn. Both the leaders made an all-out effort to win. Meanwhile Stean had secured the safe haven of third prize by a draw in 14 moves with Rosenlund. Sax took 42 moves to get the win against the Swiss player but his position always looked won for him.

Tarjan, however, in a most honourable attempt to come first alone, prematurely opened up the position and lost a brevity to Nunn. [Nunn-Tarjan]

So the Junior European champion, Gyula Sax, deservedly won first prize. He is an analyst of the highest order (albeit somewhat inexperienced as yet) and should become a grandmaster in the not too distant future.

Tarjan, was a little unlucky not to come first. He was improving all the time and should prove a help to the U.S. Olympic teams of the future. What struck me as particularly impressive was the gallant way in which he took his last round disappointment - no cowardly repiner here. U.S. chess can be proud of him.

Stean also improved his reputation here as an excellent theorist with a very good chess-playing style. With a little more aggressive spirit and some courage he would have challenged the leaders. Cox and McKay both played and did well, Cox in a straightforward classical style and McKay in a more angular and idiosyncratic form. His openings are, except for some rare chance, always irregular; so too is his notation, which, he should be warned, would not be deemed legal in strictly conducted F.I.D.E. tournaments.

Of the other home players Nunn did well but had luck and to some extent his score flatters him. Bellin had a poor tournament and, though he tried as hard as he could, appeared to have his mind elsewhere for most of the event.

Non-prize-winners received £3 a point and a prize of £10 donated by L. Fanthorpe for the non-prize-winner who most impressed by the inventiveness or imaginative flair of his games went to Bruno de Jonghe. There were eight prizes: £120, £90, £80, £65, £50, £40, £35, £25.

In view of the great enjoyment I received from wandering about the beautiful city of Norwich it seems to me that it would make a fine venue for a B.C.F. Congress as well as for international events, both junior and senior.

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File Updated

21 November 1997	First uploaded to BritBase as a zipped PGN file
27 January 2026	Added crosstable and report.