Schacksnack

Presented by IM Thomas Engvist, this video explores one of the greatest yet often overlooked chess tournaments in history: the First Piatigorsky Cup, held in Los Angeles in July 1963 and edited by Isaac Kashdan. This double round-robin, 14-round event featured eight legendary grandmasters: Tigran Petrosian (Soviet Union), Paul Keres (Soviet Union / Estonia), Miguel Najdorf (Argentina / Polish-born), Friðrik Ólafsson (Iceland), Samuel Reshevsky (USA / Polish-born), Svetozar Gligoric (Yugoslavia), Pal Benko (Hungary), and Oscar Panno (Argentina).

With 1.d4 as the most popular opening and the King’s Indian Defence leading the charge, this tournament continued the revolutionary ideas first seen in Bronstein–Neuhausen, Zürich 1953. This video is suitable for chess players of all levels, from beginners to advanced, and offers a fascinating insight into how chess was played in the 1960s.