Singer Cup 1958
The following extract appeared in Queensland Chess magazine (July 1959, Vol 1 No 1). It formed part of the report of the Gambit Chess Club.
“As this is the first set of club notes it is appropriate to survey events over the last year or so.
In winning all four matches and so regaining the Singer Cup last year, the Gambit Club showed that it is still Brisbane’s strongest club. The loss of the Cup, in 1957, which is for inter-club competition in Brisbane, meant that for the first time since the Singer Cup competition was restarted after the war, it was not won by the Gambit Club, so we were particularly pleased to see the Cup come back to its true home.
Last year’s wins were: v Brisbane 3½-2½, x Postal Institute 5-1, v Waterloo 3½-2½, and v Kedron 6-0. Particularly noteworthy was the performance on top board of Max Salm, who won all his four games.
A further article mentioning the Singer Cup appeared on page 9 of Queensland Chess magazine (July 1959, Vol 1 No 1). It listed the five events controlled by the CAQ and staged each year.
1. City of Brisbane Championship
This competition belies its name for it is open to all except the State Champion. It is very popular and always attracts a large field. This year, the entry of 15 players was the smallest for several years. Run under the same conditions as the State Championship, it is used as a practice gallop, but it is always full of surprises, insofar as the winner invariably fails to fill a place the following year, and seldom if ever, goes on to State Champion honours. The present holder of the trophy (an antique chess set) is Jim Shaw, of Gambit Club.
2. Singer Cup
A cup donated by Dr Singer (now a resident of NSW) for interclub matches, metropolitan and Ipswich. This cup is always keenly contested. The number of players per side is fixed each year by the Council, generally four, five or six. Some interesting gerrymandering goes on at this meeting, each delegate pumping for the size team most favorable to his club. Waterloo lost the cup to Gambit last year, and next November will witness another struggle for it.
3. State Championship
This is the main event of the year. The number of entries decides if it is run on a round-robin or Swiss System. Present State Champion is Vasily Lapin (20), or Brisbane Club.
4. North v South
North of the river v South of the river, a revived annual event that has the biggest round up of all. Whether you are N or S is of secondary importance and anyway the main thing is a good attendance and a good game. Last year’s event was a tie, 26 all!! We have plans to hold the next N v S in the open air at New Farm Park but it is held up for the time being by a City Council by-law.
5. The Queensland Lightning Championship
After a series of elimination rounds played by the Clubs, four finalists met at Gambit Club on June 15 to compete for this fine trophy which will be held by the winner for a year.
J Tarnowski of Brisbane Club was the winner with A Vilnius, of Gambit, second. D Smyth, of Gambit, and J Kozaki, of Brisbane, tied for third place, with Smyth winning the play-off.
It is hoped that this new annual fixture will become one of the most interesting and well contested events in future years.
CITY OF BRISBANE CHAMPIONSHIP 1959 – RESULTS
6.0 J Shaw, Gambit
5.0 A Vilums, Gambit; J McCulloch, Waterloo
4.5 J Kozaki, Brisbane
4.0 J Quinn, Waterloo; K Keyzer, Waterloo; J Jones,Gambit
3.5 P Nielsen, Brisbane; J Tarnowski, Brisbane; N Latinovitch, Brisbane
3.0 G Birks, Brisbane; H Humfress, Gambit; F Castagnola, Gambit
1.0 L Berne, Gambit; L Gregore, Gambit
This tournament was played on the Swiss system over seven rounds.