This was one of three European Zonals held in 1957, the other two being Wageningen (Netherlands) and Sofia (Bulgaria).

GMs Pachman and Gligoric were the favourites. Pachman won their individual encounter (Round 2) and went through the tournament without a loss.

1 Pachman  g       x ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 14½
2 Benkő  g         ½ x 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 13
3 Gligorić g       0 1 x ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 13
4 Schmid m         ½ ½ ½ x ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 12½
5 Alexander m      ½ 0 0 ½ x ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 11
6 Giustolisi       0 0 ½ ½ ½ x ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 1 1 1 9
7 van Scheltinga m 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ x 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 9
8 Lladó Lumbera    0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 x 1 1 1 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 9
9 Walther          ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 x 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 0 8½
10 Stenborg        0 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 x ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 8
11 Dunkelblum      0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ x 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 8
12 Plater m        0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 1 0 0 0 x ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 7½
13 Fairhurst m     0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ x 0 1 1 1 1 7
14 Durão           0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 x ½ 1 ½ 0 6½
15 Dreyer          ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ x ½ ½ 1 6
16 Catozzi         0 1 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ x 1 1 5
17 Conrady         0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 x 1 3½
18 O'Sullivan      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 x 2

The Irish Olympiad player and Irish Chess Union secretary Enda Rohan was the driving force behind the tournament. Rohan began to plan for the tournament in 1954. He approached the Bord Fialte (Irish Tourist Board - ed.) to provide the bulk of the sponsorship. In 1955 they agreed to incorporate chess as part of their wider strategy to promote Irish culture and tourism.

Even so, FIDE still had a rival bid to consider, according to Rohan,

"While in Gothenberg at the FIDE congress I expected confirmation from them but instead I got a cable saying the matter had not yet been decided. In any case, I made a conditional claim to the FIDE meeting but unfortunately so did Spain, so it was decided to defer a decision until the next FIDE meeting in Moscow. Soon after my return I received positive approval from Bord Fialte and passed the news to FIDE headquarters in Stockholm. Later I got a strong indication that the French vice-president of FIDE was trying to get the Zonal for the Spanish so I immediately wrote to the president pointing out that the decision had to await the congress in Moscow. That put a stop to any such shenanigans. I also wrote to all the delegates asking for their support for Ireland. In the end, the Moscow congress decided to draw lots and Ireland won." 1

The venues were the Four Courts Hotel, first two weeks, (15-17 Merchants Quay, Dublin - ed.) and Newman House (85–86 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin - ed.)

The tournament:

"Alongside opera, ballet dancing, folksong, Ireland's An Tostal spring festival is again featuring chess. Last Sunday, there started in Dublin the biggest chess event Ireland has ever had. No fewer than eighteen different countries (seventeen European and South Africa) are represented in a tournament which may set any of the players on the road to the world championship. Each contestant is meeting each of the others once. From France comes Catozzi; from Spain, Llado ; from Yugoslavia, Gligoric, who has just won the tournament at Bognor Regis. Portugal sends Durao, who was also there ; Holland, Van Scheltinga ; Belgium, Dunkelblum; Luxemburg, Conrady; Czechoslovakia, Pachman; Western Germany, Schmid; Poland, Plater; Switzerland, Walther; Italy, Giustolisi; Sweden, Stenborg; Hungary, Benkd. C. H. O'D. (for O'Donnell) Alexander, England's nominee, is Connemara-bom, son of a Cork professor. Like Thomas Moore, G. Bernard Shaw, and a few hundred distinguished Irishmen before him, he opted for his fame across the water. He has even played for Britain in team tournaments vis-d-vis Irishmen. Scotland's nominee, W. A. Fairhurst, is English-bom ! A bridge designer living in Glasgow, he has won the Scottish Championship repeatedly. Ireland's own man, quiet, likeable D. J. O'Sullivan, was down with pneumonia barely a week before the start. He is now convalescing. His doctor, a chess player himself, has pronounced will be fit! Those who have seen seasoned campaigners lose half a stone in a fortnight's master play, which may mean ten hours' concentrated brainwork a day, are worried about him, for he is not of robust physique.

Ireland gained the right to stage this zonal tournament after a tug-of-war in international chess federation councils with Spain. Other zonal tournaments are being held in Amsterdam and Sofia. The three top players from each join issue with similar qualifiers from other zones (the U.S., the U.S.S.R., South America, etc.) in an interzonal tournament in 1958. The most successful from this inter-zonal compete in a World Championship Candidates' Tournament in 1959, the winner of which becomes official challenger to a match with the world champion in 1960. Smyslov, who has just taken the world championship from Botvinnik, qualified to challenge him in just this way, by winning a Candidates' tournament.

The lone South African, Kurt Dreyer, from Johannesburg, is there because Africa has too few national chess federations to form a zone of its own. Only South Africa and Egypt were officially organised by the time of closing date for entries. Since then the Ghana Chess Federation has come into being actually before Ghana was itself officially inaugurated as a nation! That Ireland has secured this important event is a tribute firstly to the Irish Chess Union's secretary, Enda Rohan, and the group of young men around him. Their enterprise is unbounded; as I once mentioned in these Notes, when told Ireland could not possibly support a printed chess-players' magazine, they bought an amateur printing outfit and set one up by hand! And secondly, to the Tostal festival council, who are footing most of the £1,3OO cost." 2

The equivalent cost in 2020 would be £31,550/$41,200.

Notes:

1 https://www.icu.ie/articles/73

2 "Illustrated London News", Saturday 25 May 1957, "Chess Notes" by Baruch H. Wood.