Introduction:

The first of two matches held in Reykjavik. This match, comprising of six games was from 24th November to 7th December 1955.

Game 1 24th November 1955
Game 2 27th November 1955
Game 3 29th November 1955
Game 4 4th December 1955
Game 5 6th December 1955
Game 6 7th December 1955 (1)

The players

Herman Pilnik was en route from Gothenburg Interzonal (1955) as part of a circuit of European tournaments. He had become a Grandmaster in 1952 and had just tied for the 7-9th place along with Miroslav Filip and Boris Spassky and so had qualified for Amsterdam Candidates (1956) in the spring of 1956.

Fridrik Olafsson was the emerging young superstar of Icelandic chess. At the age of 17 he had won the Icelandic Chess Championship in 1952 at his first attempt; the next year he won the championship again and also the Nordic Chess Championship. He qualified for the World Under 20 Championship final in Copenhagen, 1953, where he secured third place. He had played in his first international tournament at Hastings (1953/54) where he came fourth equal. In 1954, Olafsson played in the Marianske Lazne - Prague Zonal Tournament coming sixth. His first major international tournament victory was a shared first with Viktor Korchnoi at Hastings 1955–56.

The match arrangements

The match was held at the restaurant and night club Þórscafé on Laugavegur 105 or Hverfisgata 116 (there were entrances either street) in the Hlemmur district of Reykjavik (2)

Progress of the match

Pilnik had white in the odd-numbered games. This was a one-sided match with Olafsson winning 5-1 with four wins and two draws. The games were all played to win and were all sharp and combinational in character.

Round     1 2 3 4 5 6 Total
Pilnik    ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 1
Olafsson  ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 5

Progressive scores:

Round    1 2 3 4 5 6 
Pilnik   ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 
Olafsson ½ 1½ 2½ 3 4 5

Game 1

In the first game, Pilnik played a favourite system against Olafsson's Sicilian defence. Pilnik had the initiative with pressure against Olafsson's backward <d> pawn. Pilnik was unable to break through with his King-side attack, and a draw was agreed in a double rook and pawns endgame.

Game 2

The second game too was a Sicilian Najdorf defence using the latest theory. Olafsson with White played aggressively castling queenside. Later analysis showed that he was too ambitious. Pilnik gained the advantage but in a very sharp position, he kept missing decisive continuations.

Eventually,

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with <34...Rg3?> the tables turned and Olafsson won in short order.

Game 3

Olafsson defended with a Petrov defence, which was not part of his normal repertoire. He equalised easily, but once again he played extremely sharply and dangerously.

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13..Bxf3 would have kept the game on normal lines, but instead, with the confidence of youth, Olafsson played <13...g5?!>. Pilnik played too passively and Olafsson outplayed him, his attack smashing through on the king-side.

Game 4

Olafsson played the first and only English opening of the match. Pilnik, with two successive losses on his score, threw his <h> and <g> pawns forward. Olafsson should have won, but at the critical juncture missed

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31.Rh6!, and this time it was Pilnik who was superior in navigating the complications to achieve a draw.

"Friðrik achieved a much better position in the fourth game but fell into a draw in a massive time scramble. Thus, the position was 3-1 to Fridrik in the match, so Pilnik had to win the two last games to catch up with his young opponent. But it went by another way: Friðrik played with the Grandmaster like a cat with a mouse and won both the games!" (3)

Game 5

The third Sicilian of the match. Pilnik, as White, played a system with a king-side fianchetto and tried to build up a Kingside attack in the manner of the Closed Sicilian.

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Pilnik could not land a decisive blow and ended up a pawn down with an insecure king. The ending was hopeless, but Pilnik played it out. Olafsson could have won more quickly, but the eventual result was never in doubt. Pilnik was now three games down.

Game 6

Despite being three games down. Pilnik was still fighting hard. He defended using a favourite system - the King's Indian. As in games two and three, the player's employed the latest opening theory. Pilnik had won a fine game using this line against the King's Indian, Samisch (E81) the year before - M Czerniak vs Pilnik, 1954.

The variation Pilnik chose in this game left him in a compromised king but no corresponding benefit. Despite a desperate offer of the exchange, he had no counterplay and Olafsson confidently won.

Olafsson's reputation was bolstered in defeating a world championship candidate although he remained an amateur preferring a career in law.

Pilnik, although he had lost the match, left with a wife! He met Anna Erla Magnúsdóttir, and in December 1955, she moved with him to the Netherlands temporarily and then to Argentina. (4)

Pilnik was not put off Iceland by the result of this match and in 1957 there would be a rematch.

Notes:

(1) http://skaksogufelagid.is/1955-einv...

(2) https://glatkistan.com/2017/07/03/t...

(3) "Morgunblaðið" quoted by http://skaksogufelagid.is/1955-einv...

(4) "Vikan", 1987, issue 39, p.28