The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Sunday, July 17, 1966 - Page 42
Piatigorsky Cup Tourney Starting
World chess champion Tigran Petrosian of the U.S.S.R. and his compatriot, Boris Spassky, will oppose each other at 1 p.m. today in the opening round of the Piatigorsky Cup Chess Tournament.
The event, in which 10 of the world's greatest grand-masters will be competing for $20,000 in prizes, will be held at the Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica.
Also crossing pawns today will be U.S. chess champion Bobby Fischer of Brooklyn and former U.S. champion Samuel Reshevsky of Spring Valley, N.Y.
The other pairings are: Lajos Portisch, Hungary, vs. Miguel Najdorf, Argentina; Borislav Ivkov, Yugoslavia, vs. Bent Larsen, Denmark, and Jan Donner, Holland. vs. Wolfgang Unzicker. West Germany.
Schedule 18 Rounds
A total of 18 rounds will be played through Aug. 15, mainly on Sunday afternoons and Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
For a period last week it appeared the Russians might stay home, following the example of their track and field stars.
They were scheduled on a flight from Moscow Wednesday, but after an unexplained delay they arrived late Friday evening. Donner was on the same plane, also having missed a previous flight.
The tournament will undoubtedly rank with the greatest in chess history. Requests for information and for copies of the bulletins to be issued have been received from all over the world.
Credit for the organization of this outstanding event is due to Mrs. Gregor Piatigorsky, president of the sponsoring Platigorsky Foundation, which she established several years ago with her husband, the world renowned cellist.
Resolving a series of problems, Mrs. Piatigorsky had but one thought — the tournament must have the finest players who could he brought together, with conditions conducive to the greatest chess of which the players were capable.
