The first in this series of highly important tournaments. There was also a round of 32, in which SK Eupen ’47 won by forfeit from a Luxemburgian team. It was a knock-out tournament, held in venues all over Europe. That the Belgian team was quickly eliminated and that the Soviet team reached the final was no surprise, but the German team, with Belgian grandmaster O’Kelly in their squad, managed to keep up with the Russians. Each match was held in two rounds with over six boards. By a 6-6 stand, victories on higher boards were used as a tie-break. On this criterion, SG Solingen should have been pronounced the winner after their final match had ended in a tie, as they had won on board 4 and lost on board 6. For some reason, a third rubber was held, but all games were drawn. In the end, it was decided that Burevestnik and Solingen would share the title.

O’Kelly’s results in the German team are widely available. He played every round, with the exception of the second bout of the final, when his replacement Lehmann lost, costing Solingen an unshared title. I took this information from [1].

[2] gives the results of the match between Eupen and Haifa, which was played in Haifa at the end of September 1975, but not round-by round. The Belgian team was not very strong and led a resounding defeat. Only Schumacher on board three scored a win. I have no games, unfortunately.

Wanted

• All the games of the Haifa vs. Eupen match.
• First names for Bonte, Koskis, Barziv, and Gora as well as some confirmation for those of Bernstein and Minsker.
• Most of O’Kelly’s games.

Sources

1. OlimpBase
2. Maandelijks inlichtingsblad van de koninklijke Belgische schaakbond No.11