Did you know it is the 40th Anniversary of 1974 Pan-Am ?

Did you know it is the 40th Anniversary of 1974 Pan-Am ?

Written by Administrator

Friday, 27 August 2004

Many of you may have been too young, not in the country, not in chess, or you just may not realize it, but the latter half of August represents the 40th Anniversary of the 1974 Pan American Championship. Held in Winnipeg from August 17 to September 6, the tournament brought together representatives from several countries in the region. It was a 16 player round robin – (trivia query - is this the highest player count for a Canadian held international round robin ?). I remember attending several of the rounds, but at the time I did not appreciate what a unique event it really was. Therefore it is more appropriate to provide the verbatim report of the Tournament Director and wunderkind, Jonathan Berry, who wouldn’t turn 22 until just after the tournament. From CFC Bulletin PAN AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENT August 17th – September 6, 1974 From the Director’s Chair – by Jon Berry It all started for me while I was visiting Cecil Rosner in August 1973. He was relating all the plans for the Pan American Individual Championship, to be held the following year. The only problem was that they needed a Tournament Director who could speak both Spanish and English. Who could they get ? Well… The first “Pan Am” was a team tournament held in Tucuman, Argentina in 1971. With the North Americans absent, the Argentina team ran away with the event. The top first board player was Pedro Donoso of Chile, who was to be that country’s representative at Winnipeg, the second Pan Am event. Don’t get these mixed up with the Pan Am Championships previously held in Cuba. Those tournaments were organized by the Cuban Chess Federation. Winnipeg and Tucuman came directly under the auspices of FIDE, just like, say, an Interzonal tournament. RESULTS: Browne, W. 2575 USA 13.5 Sanguineti, R. 2530 Argentina 12 Biyiasas, P. 2420 Canada 11 Segal, A. 2350 Brazil 11 Jimenez, E. 2340 Cuba 10 Castro, O. 2330 Columbia 10 Lipnowski, I ---- Canada 9.5 Garcia, Gildardo 2335 Columbia 7.5 Donoso, P. 2395 Chile 7.5 Frey, K. 2275 Mexico 7 Nurmi, P. ---- Canada 6 Juliao, Cesar ---- Dominican Republic 5 Lozano, T. ---- 4 Ochoa, H. ---- 2.5 Thompson, C. ---- 2 Scherman, A. ---- U.S Virgin Islands 1.5 The games were played in a large lounge-study area at the University of Winnipeg. Walter Browne was quick to point out that the lighting was “no good” in the original spot. After two rounds, the whole tournament was shifted to another part of the room ! The boards were set up in an L-shape, with the demonstration boards leaning against the walls behind them. Spectators, about fifty each night, were situated on the other side of the players. Throughout the tournament, my main problem was keeping the noise at an acceptable level. The spectators – and players ! – would occasionally get over-exuberant about some position. The tournament continued. Segal, Sanguineti, and Biyiasas went into the lead at first, with Browne in hot pursuit. Such was the nature of the tournament that even by winning game after game one could still not pull away from the field. With four rounds to go, the race was quite tight. The key game between Biyiasas and Segal was adjourned. The general opinion was that Biyiasas stood better, but this was not so. In an attempt to win and keep up the pace, Biyiasas over-pressed and lost. Just when Browne seemed to have the tournament in the bag, his opponents put up herculean efforts. Castro, Juliao, and Garcia all had excellent positions, but all lost in the end. Thereby, the irrepressible Walter Browne won the tournament by 1.5 points. It was unfortunate that the strengths of the players were so diverse. Scherman and Thompson, for example, are both about 1700 players (TB note: Yes, I can vouch for that, I can remember playing some speed with Andy Scherman, and I was about 1700 at the time). Of course, there is the factor of having each nation in the Americas represented, but this certainly doesn’t do much for the competitiveness of the tournament. Normally 10 out of 15 would win an international tournament. Winnipeg 1974 had six such winners. I will dispense with the customary recapitulation of the how each player played. Each player’s score generally indicated how well he played. Only Frey, and perhaps Donoso might have done better had the “breaks” been different. I have indicated some of my own problems in directing the tournament, but have said nothing about the players’ own problems. Some players arrived with visas which expired while the tournament was in progress; Jimenez, the Cuban, had to get a transit visa to go through Mexico… Some of the players seemed to be cursed with insomnia, spending the whole night playing cards. The same players, if they finally did get to sleep, would sleep round the clock if allowed. Frey, at one point, slept 17 hours and had to be sent for fifteen minutes after the games had begun ! The explanation is that Winnipeg is much more tranquil than Mexico City … To make a tournament successful, a lot of people must work hard behind the scenes. Just so these heroes won’t be “unsung”, I’ll sing them. John Burstow, who produced the tournament bulletins; Boyd Winsor, who directed the other events and constructed the demonstration boards.; Jack Filkow, who provided food and entertainment; David Woodbury, my assistant; Abe Yanofsky and Joe Dreman, who raised the necessary money; and, last but not least Cecil Rosner, who did all the necessary dirty work in advance of the tournament. Heroes, sung and unsung, the chess world salutes you for a job well done !