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World Junior Championship (1957) The World Junior Championship is open to players younger than 20 on January 1 of the year in which the tournament is played. The first World Junior was held in 1951, and it was held biennially thereafter. The 1957 event, played in Toronto, Canada, was the fourth. Since 1973 the tournament has been held annually. See Wikipedia article: World Junior Chess Championship. Four World Junior Champions (Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, and Viswanathan Anand) have gone on to become World Champions. The 1957 tournament included 12 players from 11 countries (Canada, Egypt, Finland, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, South Africa, Sweden, USA, USSR, and West Germany). Canada, as the host country, was allowed two representatives. The players from the Soviet Union, the Philippines, and Mexico were accompanied by seconds: Grandmaster Igor Bondarevsky, future FIDE President Florencio Campomanes, and Dr. R. Sernas, respectively. The participants were a varied lot. The tournament book reflects that William Lombardy of the United States was studying biochemistry at CCNY and would enter medicine in two years. (In fact, he entered the priesthood.) He had already had considerable success as a player, including winning the 1954 New York State Championship, tying for first at the 1956 Canadian Open, and narrowly losing a 1956 match to Samuel Reshevsky. Mathias Gerusel of West Germany was studying mathematics. Dutchman Alexander Jongsma was a first-class table tennis player, who also played lawn tennis, swam, played the piano, and participated in ballroom dancing. The Soviet, Vladimir Selimanov, was the stepson of reigning World Champion Vasily Smyslov and planned to study literature and philosophy in college. Rodolfo Tan Cardoso had played for the Philippines in the 1956 Chess Olympiad, winning the silver medal on fourth board. The month after this tournament, he played the Fischer - Cardoso (1957) match against American wunderkind Robert James Fischer. Ralph Hallerod of Sweden was in his last year of high school and planned to study engineering at university. Canadian Francois Jobin had completed his first year of university and planned to become a physician. The Mexican representative, Jorge Aldrete Lobo, had just learned the game in 1953, but had won the Mexican Junior Championship in 1955 and 1957. He was an avid sportsman and planned to study chemical engineering. Timo O Makelainen of Finland planned to enter the University of Helsinki next year. Bernard Rabinowitz of South Africa had competed in the 1955 Johannesburg International Tournament, drawing former World Champion Max Euwe in B Rabinowitz vs Euwe, 1955. An actuary student, on the sea voyage to Canada "he put his actuarial knowledge to good account each evening by a careful and remunerative calculation of the odds on the 'horse races'!" Ibrahim M Bahgat of Egypt, a pharmacy student at the University of Texas, was an avid stamp collector and weightlifter. Having bench-pressed 250 pounds, "Undoubtedly he was the strongest player in the tournament." The second Canadian, Peter Bates, intended to study mathematics in college. Shortly before the tournament began, the tournament organizer, Bernard Freedman, received word that Selimanov would arrive a day late because of a delay in getting his Canadian visa. Freedman decided to permit him to play; the tournament book reflects that this decision "was favourably received by practically every contestant." Selimanov's game against Lombardy, scheduled for Round 1, was played on the rest day between rounds 4 and 5. Lombardy won, giving him a 4-0 score and a one-point lead over Gerusel, whom he had routed in 18 moves in Round 3. M Gerusel vs Lombardy, 1957. No one could stop Lombardy, who won game after game. After six rounds, his lead had increased to two points over Gerusel and at least 2½ over everyone else. Gerusel won his remaining five games, but that was not enough, as Lombardy did the same. That gave Lombardy a perfect 11-0 score and the title of World Junior Champion. Gerusel was second at 9-2, and Jongsma took the bronze with 8½ points. Cardoso won the brilliancy prize for his game R Cardoso vs M Gerusel, 1957. Perfect scores are very rarely seen in any significant chess tournament or match. See Wikipedia article: List of world records in chess#Perfect tournament and match scores. Lombardy's perfect score has never been matched in any World Junior Championship before or since, as everyone else has ceded at least two draws. The closest approaches have been by Karpov in 1969 (10/11 in the finals, 90.9%); Spassky in 1955 (8/9 in the finals, 88.9%); and Kiril Georgiev in 1983 (11.5/13, 88.5%). Toronto, Canada, 3-17 August 1957 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 1 Lombardy * 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11.0 2 Gerusel 0 * 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9.0 3 Jongsma 0 0 * ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8.5 4 Selimanov 0 0 ½ * 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 8.0 5 Cardoso 0 1 0 0 * 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 6.5 6 Hallerod 0 0 0 ½ 1 * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 5.0 7 Jobin 0 0 0 0 0 ½ * 0 1 1 1 1 4.5 8 Aldrete Lobo 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 * 0 1 1 1 4.0 9 Makelainen 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 * ½ ½ 1 3.5 10 Rabinowitz 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ * ½ ½ 2.5 11 Bahgat 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ 2.0 12 Bates 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ * 1.5 Progressive Scores: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1 Lombardy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2 Gerusel 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 3 Jongsma 1 2 2½ 2½ 2½ 3½ 4½ 5½ 6½ 7½ 8½ 4 Selimanov 0 0 ½ 1½ 2½ 3½ 4 5 6 7 8 5 Cardoso 1 1½ 2½ 2½ 3½ 3½ 3½ 4½ 5½ 5½ 6½ 6 Hallerod ½ ½ 1 2 2½ 3 3½ 3½ 3½ 4½ 5 7 Jobin 1 2 2½ 2½ 2½ 3½ 4½ 4½ 4½ 4½ 4½ 8 Aldrete Lobo 0 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 9 Makelainen 0 0 0 1 1½ 2 2 3 3½ 3½ 3½ 10 Rabinowitz 0 ½ 1 1½ 2 2 2 2 2½ 2½ 2½ 11 Bahgat ½ ½ ½ 1 1½ 1½ 1½ 1½ 1½ 2 2 12 Bates 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1½ Prizes: First Prize: William Lombardy $200 and trophy Second Prize: Mathias Gerusel $100 Third Prize: Alexander Jongsma $50 Fourth Prize: Vladimir Selimanov $40 Fifth Prize: Rodolfo Tan Cardoso $30 Sixth Prize: Ralph Hallerod $15 Seventh Prize: Francois Jobin $10 Source: Frank Ross Anderson and Keith Kerns, Fourth Biennial World Junior Chess Championship: August 3-17, 1957, Toronto, Canada. Original Collection: Game Collection: World Junior Championship, Toronto 1957 by User: FSR.  page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 66  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. R Cardoso vs J Aldrete Lobo   1-0 33 1957 World Junior Championship C16 French, Winawer 2. M Gerusel vs T Makelainen   1-0 40 1957 World Junior Championship E37 Nimzo-Indian, Classical 3. I Bahgat vs R Hallerod   ½-½ 31 1957 World Junior Championship E90 King's Indian 4. P Bates vs F Jobin   0-1 40 1957 World Junior Championship A07 King's Indian Attack 5. A Jongsma vs B Rabinowitz   1-0 37 1957 World Junior Championship D78 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.O-O c6 6. B Rabinowitz vs R Cardoso   ½-½ 62 1957 World Junior Championship C00 French Defense 7. Lombardy vs R Hallerod 1-0 24 1957 World Junior Championship E40 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 8. J Aldrete Lobo vs P Bates   1-0 52 1957 World Junior Championship B07 Pirc 9. F Jobin vs I Bahgat   1-0 42 1957 World Junior Championship D50 Queen's Gambit Declined 10. V Selimanov vs M Gerusel   0-1 40 1957 World Junior Championship E42 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 c5, 5.Ne2 (Rubinstein) 11. T Makelainen vs A Jongsma 0-1 23 1957 World Junior Championship A34 English, Symmetrical 12. R Hallerod vs F Jobin   ½-½ 35 1957 World Junior Championship D60 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense 13. P Bates vs B Rabinowitz ½-½ 24 1957 World Junior Championship E42 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 c5, 5.Ne2 (Rubinstein) 14. I Bahgat vs J Aldrete Lobo   0-1 42 1957 World Junior Championship D45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 15. R Cardoso vs T Makelainen   1-0 40 1957 World Junior Championship E10 Queen's Pawn Game 16. A Jongsma vs V Selimanov   ½-½ 79 1957 World Junior Championship A05 Reti Opening 17. M Gerusel vs Lombardy 0-1 18 1957 World Junior Championship E33 Nimzo-Indian, Classical 18. M Gerusel vs A Jongsma   1-0 66 1957 World Junior Championship A61 Benoni 19. Lombardy vs F Jobin 1-0 22 1957 World Junior Championship E66 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav Panno 20. B Rabinowitz vs I Bahgat   ½-½ 33 1957 World Junior Championship D60 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense 21. V Selimanov vs R Cardoso   1-0 41 1957 World Junior Championship E56 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line with 7...Nc6 22. J Aldrete Lobo vs R Hallerod   0-1 43 1957 World Junior Championship A45 Queen's Pawn Game 23. T Makelainen vs P Bates   1-0 53 1957 World Junior Championship E69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line 24. V Selimanov vs Lombardy 0-1 40 1957 World Junior Championship C96 Ruy Lopez, Closed 25. A Jongsma vs Lombardy 0-1 34 1957 World Junior Championship A16 English  page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 66    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> Sep-05-14    FSR: <posoo> I collected the games for the games collection, found and submitted all the games that were missing, and wrote the accompanying text. Sep-05-14    posoo: GO, fusser, GO! Sep-06-14    torrefan: Who among these guys are still alive? Sep-06-14    alexmagnus: <Who among these guys are still alive?> If we go with the bios here, all but three players, but it may be possible one or another death date is missing Dead are: Jongsma (died 2013), Selimanov (died 1960), Cardoso (died 2013), Sep-09-14    Moszkowski012273: Lombardy still comes by Union Square late at night and will sit and comment on the games being played... He's quite a character. Sep-09-14    HeMateMe: I used to see Bill Lombardy at the Chess Shop on Thompson St. Once in awhile he would watch me playing blitz, and smile. I don't know if he was smiling because I had made a good move, or was playing horribly. Probably the latter. There is still a little chess going on at the Chess Forum, on the other side of Thompson; I would see him there, too. He's a bit cranky, though, if you plan to ask him questions. Sep-09-14    perfidious: <HMM> Met Bill at the '84 NY Open, then we played two years later. Had a post-mortem but spent more time talking about things other than the game. Sep-27-15    RookFile: $200 for winning. But, they can't take the title of champ away from you. Sep-27-15    TheFocus: But in 1957 dollars, yes? Dec-09-15    tjipa: Where are the Soviets? Where are Larsen, Portish of the same age? Against this opposition 11/11 is no big deal. Dec-09-15    perfidious: <tjipa: Where are the Soviets?> Tal had scored his first gold medal in a Soviet championship less than six months before and Spassky was a candidate the year before--why would the Soviets care about sending them to this event? May-17-17    nummerzwei: It's curious that most participants here went on to play at amateur level. Both earlier and later World Juniors have been much stronger. Jul-05-17    siggemannen: Why doesn't Lombardy have a first name here? Was he the Prince or Madonna of chess? Oct-16-17    PhilFeeley: Who knows any of the players he defeated for this victory? Have any of them turned up in any tournaments since this one? Oct-17-17    offramp: I believe Jorge Aldrete Lobo became a sheriff. Oct-17-17    offramp: <PhilFeeley: Who knows any of the players he defeated for this victory? Have any of them turned up in any tournaments since this one?> Only Cardoso made any sort of mark in the chess world. He won and drew against some of the very best in the world. Many of the others are represented here at chessgames.com by 11 games: the games of this tournament. The most tragic was Smyslov's stepson Vladimir Selimanov. A very sad story. Sep-04-19    FSR: Gerusel became an IM. https://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml... Sep-05-19    pazzed paun: Lombardy felt that FIDE should have retroactively awarded him the grandmaster title for his win at this tournament Jun-22-21    FSR: <pazzed paun> Sounds good to me. It's not as though anyone else in history has equalled Lombardy's feat at the World Junior, or even come close. Lombardy was extremely strong. It's amazing that he never won the U.S. Championship. Of course, you could say the same about Fine, who was a serious contender for the real world championship. Jun-22-21    FSR: The standings are completely screwed up. I gather that's not unique to this page. Jun-22-21    perfidious: <FSR>, indeed not; this is the third tournament page I have viewed with the same problem. If one clicks on the link to a player's games, all of them will be displayed, despite the absence of many from the table. Nov-23-21    FSR: <tjipa: Where are the Soviets?> The Soviet was Vladimir Selimanov. His stepfather was Vasily Smyslov, the reigning world champion. He finished fourth. <Where are Larsen, Portish of the same age?> Bent Larsen was 22. Since the tournament is only open to players under 20, he was ineligible. Larsen played in the 1951 World Junior, tying for 4th-6th with Peter A Harris (England) and S. Nyren (South Africa). He tried again in 1953. That time he tied for last (5th-8th) in the A Final. Portisch was young enough, it's true. He had played in the prior (1955) World Junior, finishing fourth behind Boris Spassky, Edmar Mednis, and Miguel Farre Mallofre. In 1957, as today, not every age-eligible young star plays in the World Junior Championship (e.g. Fischer, Tal, Carlsen, MVL, etc.). <Against this opposition 11/11 is no big deal.> Easy for you to say. No one before or since has come close to sweeping the World Junior. Everyone else gave up at least two draws, including Boris Spassky, who ceded two draws in the 1955 Finals. Nov-23-21    FSR: There have been 58 World Junior Champions, beginning in 1951. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World... Remarkably, I believe that all but three (Lombardy, Miles, and Diesen) are still alive. Jul-21-24    FSR: This tournament (August 3-17) was played at the same time as the 58th US Open (1957) (August 5-17). A 14-year-old lad named Bobby Fischer, more than five years Lombardy's junior, won the latter tournament on tiebreak over GM Arthur Bisguier. Jul-01-25    GrahamClayton: The tournament took place at the Central YMCA, 40 College Street. The YMCA moved to a new location on Grosvenor Street in 1984. The building on College Street was demolished and replaced by the Toronto Police Headquarters building, which opened in 1988. search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion. 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