The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 7

THE GUARDIAN Miscellany Wednesday May 9 1962 7 Bobby Fischer suggesting a move during a postmortem between Geller and Gligoric at Stockholm ALL-AMERICAN CHESSMAN by Leonard Barden IN the Soviet Union chess enjoys greater popularity than any other indoor or outdoor game, except soccer so that for an American to defeat the top Russian grandmasters in a world chess event will be for some Russians the biggest moment of truth since the Twentieth Congress. This upheaval could well come to pass in the Candidates' Tournament for the world championship, which began last week in Curacao and continues until the end of June. Curasao is the last stage of a triennial series of eliminating events which will produce a fresh title challenger for Mikhail Botvinnik, the holder. All the grandmasters at Curacao have qualified either from the last Candidates' event or from the Interzonal in Stockholm earlier this year. They are Geller, Keres, Korchnoi, Petrosian, and Tal (all from the Soviet Union), Benko and Fischer (both United States) and Filip (Czechoslovakia).

Each contestant plays the others four times in a marathon contest of 28 rounds. The Russians will not lose much sleep over Benko and Filip the threat to their world supremacy comes from Bobby Fischer, who is already, at 19, among the game's greatest masters. In his last eight games against Soviet grandmasters, he has won four and drawn the rest while he swept through the field in the Interzonal, enishmg 2i points clear of his closest rivals, Geller and Petrosian. On his way to the top he has broken a string ci records, winning the United States championship at 14, qualifying for the Candidates' when 15, and now winning the Interzonal at 18. He still has plenty of time to become the youngest world champion Tal was 23 when he defeated Botvinnik in 1960.

Fischer is a chess genius. Technically, his outstanding qualities are his rapid sight of the board, his flair for finding both simple and incisive plans, his mature endgame technique, and his knowledge of opening variations combined with a facility for discovering new moves. All this adds up to a great player the extra qualities which make him a potential world champion are his single-minded devotion to chess, his fierce ambition, and the self-assurance with which he already regards himself as the greatest player of all time. Asked for his verdict on former champions, he ot thousands of new enthusiasts. To combat the second part of the image American tournament organisers have introduced faster time limits up to 30 moves in half an hour which enables whole tournaments to be played off completely in a weekend.

This has proved a boon to addicts who like to play competitively while returning home early enough to retain the goodwill of their wives. In the Soviet Union chess has mass support, and among all outdoor and indoor games it ranks second only to soccer in active participants. Ten million Russians are registered members of chess clubs. By contrast, the United States Chess Federation, though rapidly expanding, still has under six thousand members. These differences are reflected in the earnings and status of leading players.

A top Russian master can earn the equivalent of around 4,000 a year by playing and writing, and the best players have a State pension of 25 a month. By contrast, Fischer, the leading American player, averages, 2,000 a year in prize money other American grandmasters havetull-time jobs outside chess. -It could be that not only the world championship but the future status of the game in the United States and Russia will be decided in Curacao. THESE implications of a Fischer victory ensure that the five Soviet grandmasters will try strenuously to stop his winning. Their exemplary sportsmanship in previous events argues against deliberate collaboration by the Russians to ensure the success of one of their players, even though the stakes have never before been so high.

Another factor which may help Fischer is that each Russian has a reasonable chance of winning, and so will most likely play as hard against his compatriots as with the American. In his 1959 form Tal would win, but since losing the return match with Botvinnik his health has been uncertain and his form inconsistent. Chess history shows that Botvinnik apart grandmasters knocked off the top rung of the ladder can rarely find the renewed mental energy to climb back, and Tal seems less eager for a continual round of tournaments and for spending his off-duty hours playing five-minute games than when he was heading for the championship. Keres, who at 46 has ien a title contender for a quarter" ot a century, would be a most popular winner, but I feel that 1959 was his last chance and that his age handicap will prove too great Korchnoi is an imaginative and artistic player, but his style of balancing on the edge of complications and egging on his opponents to attack is self-exhausting, and he was already showing signs of wear in the closing rounds at Stockholm. Geller is a daring but inconsistent attacking player who can be very dangerous given the impetus of a winning streak; but it is the fifth Russian who seems most likely to keep out Fischer.

Tigran Petrosian has an ultrasound style, very handy for qualification tournaments but less adaptable to outright wins. His great psychological weakness is to retreat into his shell after a defeat and to become overcautious. As Fischer said: "Petrosian is one of the strongest grandmasters, hut he lacks courage." Petrosian is trying to remedy this failing; when he lost a game in last year's Soviet Championships, he deliberately played the next few games in extra sharp style to offset his own timidity. Petrosian's bored expression when analysing a move and the scepticism which his eyebrows register at other masters' positions gives him an air of effortless superiority which can demoralise opponents as much as Tal's glare and Fischer's references to "weakies." I take him to win, partly because he has been the most consistent Russian player during the last two years, and partly because I cannot quite believe in the idea of a 20-year-old world champion though Fischer should be very close to the top. My forecast of the result is: 1, Petrosian; 2, Fischer; 3-4, Keres and Tal 5-7, Filip, Geller, and Korchnoi; 8, Benko.

miscellany by Michael Frayn TAKE it I can put you down fof a couple of stalls at ten guineas each (said Christopher Crumble) For the Midnight Matinee they're doing at the Metropolitan in Edgware Road next week in aid of Centre 42 this sensational thing of Arnold Wes-ker's for bringing culture to the ordinary people, I mean, this is our sort of charity. They're doing an Edwardian drama of sporting life." I should think it'd be a real hoot. And everyone's in it Peggy Ashcroft, Jonathan Miller, Spike Willigan, Dons Lessing, RitaTushingham, Christopher Logue, George Devme, Peter Sellers oh, practically everyone you've ever heard of. And almost everyone else you've nvev heard of is a member of the Friends of Centre 42, who are sponsoring the show Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir John Rothenstein, Sir Charles Snow, the Countess of Albemarle, Ken Tynan, Raymond Williams, J. B.

Priestley, Sir Herbert Read, John Berger I mean, it's really our side, out in force. What, me Good God, no, I'm far too ordinary to aspire to such heights. I'm just one of the Friends of the Friends of Centre 42. Don't get me wrong they're not snobbish or anything I mean, they've got an ordinary worker on the committee. Let's see.

Yes, here we are R. W. Brigin-shaw. He's just an ordinary coal-miner, or a steelworker, or something like that. I'm told the Countess of Albemarle thinks he's marvellous.

The proceeds are going towards holding six People's Festivals. No, I don't think this Midnight Matinee counts as a People's Festival itself, exactly. I mean, it's something a bit more cultural the ordinary people need. They've obviously got to put on something entertaining at the charity show just to get an audience. That's all right for people like us, of course we've got all the culture we want already.

Not that there's anything to stop ordinary people coming to the Midnight Matinee too if they want to. No one's going to laugh at them if they haven't got evening dress, or if they clap in the wrong places. I expect Mr Briginshaw will be there, anyway bringing one or two of his fellow-miners along, probably. If know a worker you think might like to come, just let me have his address. He could get into the unreserved standing-room for ten bob.

No, I'm afraid I don't know whether Mr Briginshaw will be wearing evening dress or not. Perhaps you'd like a box, at 20 or 25 guineas, so you can bring a party of workers? It really is a cause we can all get behind, bridging the cultural gap between us and the ordinary people. I suppose there's a certain amount of cultural stuff on the television they could watch if they wanted to. But it's not quite the same on television, somehow. However well they put it on, I always feel it's slightly vulgarised.

I suppose it's because they're catering for the mass market Anyway, there's obviously a big difference between just having culture shovelled out to you on the telly and knowing you're getting it thanks to the charitable endeavours of people who really care. If you're an ordinary, well, miner, say, it must make all the difference in. the world to know that people like Sir Herbert Read and Jonathan Miller are worried about you, and are actually trying to share with you the culture 'feat springs from their own background. Anyway, if this Charity Matinee's a success, I expect we shall go on to other new ways of raising money a sale of work, perhaps, where we all rally round and sell one another little things like pokerwork CND signs and samplers worked with texts from Lenny Bruce. Yes, there's an exciting new spirit abroad.

We're making a complete break with the old tradition of an upper-class minority culture rammed down the throats of the working class by philanthropists trying to ease their guilt feelings. Well, I'll make it a box, then and-can I put you down for distributing the Works of Arnold Wesker to the poor of Camberwell next Sunday Most players would have their concentration disturbed by such events, but Fischer does not appear in the least affected. He scored one of his biggest tournament successes when the controversy following on his match with Reshevsky was at its height. Undoubtedly he has the capacity to shut off his mind from extraneous cir- curastances and, indeed, to reject unpleasant facts. Last year the BBC commissioned a radio consultation between Bobby and two leading British players.

The game was unfinished, and was sent to ex-world champion Dr Euwe for adjudication, with Fischer firmly convinced that his position was won. Dr Euwe, however, analysed the position deeply and published extensive variations demonstrating a draw. At Stockholm I showed Fischer the chess magazine containing the analysis. His first reaction was that the decision must be wrong and that he could disprove it just by studying the diagram of the position. However, as he turned over the pages of packed analysis his expression became thoughtful.

Finally, he turned to me and asked Why do the.v have to publish such boring endings SOVIET reaction to Fischer's successes has changed as the American's threat to Botvinnik's title has become more obvious. Five years ago, it was customary for Russian magazines to contrast the flourishing conditions of Soviet chess, recognised as a cultural activity by a Socialist State, with the distressed condition of Western professionals struggling to earn a living. As late as 1959, when Fischer finished fifth in the Candidates' Tournament, he was underestimated. Tal then commented: Fischer's ambition was to win the Candidates' and become world champion. He would have done better first to have won the junior championship." In the summer of 1960, the United States student team (without Fischer) shocked the Russians by winning the world title in Leningrad of all places.

The Soviet chess magazine criticised their players for insufficient training TELE VIS rON CASUALTIES by Mary Crazier THERE was really no need for anxiety about how they would fill the beds when Emergency Ward 10 came back. How explain the lapse of time, how account for all the months since November? Last night they did something nearly as dastardly as the BBC's putting paid to Grace Archer, they started bang off with a casualty, an operating theatre, a fire, a badly burned sister and visitor, and an injured doctor. This not only filled all the requisite beds with grimly interesting patients, but set in train the various cross currents of love interest, with Carole Young pouting whimsically at Dr Chris Anderson and his injured hand and Dr Frances Whitney sitting on his bed alarmed at the possible damage to the nerve which may make the hand useless. When the serial started with all those surgeons in masks in the theatre and ping-pong music like the space theme in Hoyle's Andromeda," my hopes sagged but In no time at all disasters had multiplied. The child in the theatre had fallen out of its cot but survived.

The anxious father in the MANCHESTER THEATRES, ETC OPERA HOUSE. iBLA 17371 Evenings it 7 Sit. si uu p.m. uurtsiAWias cubuukub PAUL MASSES. GEORGE PRAVDA In a New Pliy by Aldous Huxley and Beth Wendel.

TUE GENIUS AND THE GODDESS. Prices S0. 58. SrO, 26. Next week at 7.

Mat Sat. 2.30. SADLER'S WELLS OPERA Moo lolanlhe, Tues. The (take's Progress, Wed. The Hagio Flab, Tburs.

The Bxrlertd Bride, Frl. La Trarlats. Sit lilt. lolmoUie. Sat.

ire. The Bartered Bride Prices 136 10-, 76. 6-. 48. Maj 21 Wit al 7.

Sat 5 ti EVELYN LA YE. HUGH McDZTtMOTT. BARRY SINCLAIR. WALTER FITZGERALD, la the Record-breaking Laughter Kit Tilt AMOROUS PRAWN Direct from Seville and Piccadilly theatres Pricea 109. 90 56 30.

28 PALACE Cen 0184 Our Cay Spectacutai. UJNN1E DONEGAN in THE SPRINO SHOW Willi JEWEL ct WARRISS Jimmy James. Audrey Jeaus D'Angokys and Rcglne ana Andre Berny The Debutantes Weds and 5at i p.m and 8 P.m Other Eves (.15 p.m Mon to Frl S6 to 10S. Saw 4- to 126 June 4 and Wk JOHN HANSON in "The Student prince." June 11 and Wk "The London Ballet." June 23 wxa.l DAVID WHITFIELD In The Ueaetl Sena." LIBRARY THEATRE. CENtral 1405.

Evening at aiau. weui. 2.su. sau a tlVE PINGKR EXERCISE ry Peter SbiTTef OLOUAU COLISEUM. MAIu 2130.

fApprj now tor CluD Meniberablpl All This Week at 7 30 m. A OAV IN TUE LIFE OP by Jadt Poppievell Next Week i The Oawbo BELLI; VUE (1AKDESB, ZOO AQUA El DM. Open dally trom 10 i.m DANCING NIGHTLY in tbe NEW ELIZABETHAN BALLROOM. WRESTLING Every Siturday 7 p.m SPEEDWAY Saturday. 7 om BINGO CLUB Every Friday 7 30 and Suoday al 7 p.m (for members only) FOOD FAIR OF THE NORTH Dally except Sundays.

May B-18. Flrit-c3a Catering service Superb facilities available for Conferences. BAeeUngs Trade Shows. Cocktail Parties Apply raterlne and Hanquertnc Manager MANCHESTER tCIS PALACE. TODAY 2.5 2-; MO, 2s Restaurant snacft Bar.

car Park BLA vsgg LIVERPOOL THEATRES L1VHIPOOL PLAYHOUSE. IRojal 8363.) EVHUmis at 7.30 Saturdays it A fie 8 m. Thurxdiy Matinee at 2.30 p.m THE INN." Opening Hay 20 THE ftAZEBO MANCHESTER CINEMAS A.B.U DtANSOATK IDEA S25JI FINAL WEEK. Peter Sellers. ONLY TWO CAN flay IX).

at 3.ia ft .15 833 Conutmouj Perls CLNEPHONE. A1ABKE1 bTRrtl UEAnxalp 4771 A rllro achievement Prujcd aoa Acclaimed by rne Pra -f rbe World 1 THE MANY AWARD WINNER BALLAD OF A nOLPIEB lUI 2 20 .1 51 6 55 Also P.CGBR VADUZ'S Greatest Sucocnt and starring Dnrttte Bardot-BEAVKN FELL THAT NlrUIT IX) 13 30 3 50 7 10 ODEON. Oxford st. Coot 1 2b Klchael Craig. Mary Peadi.

Brcnda de Einxle A PAIR OF briefs. I A) 1 18.15 iSO Tail to Tohras IU1 3 20 SO REX. W1LMSLOW! THE DEVIL AT 4 O'CLOCK tk (Tech.) Spencer Tracey, Frank Slnarra. Mat. Today 2.30.

Tonight 5.40 and 7 50. MANCHESTER UMVEnsiTT UNION. Film: LET MY PEOPLE GO." Spejtkcj-a RONALD SEGAL (dtor of Africa South ENOCH DUMBETSHENA of Southern Rbodeala. MAim odbaittjk; hall. 7,30.

Thursday, may 10. Sponsor: Uoivcraky Urnon Awtl-Aparthcld Committee Eoler.Ratfa.1 Cound and pointed out how the Americans had made a thorough study of Russian theoretical research. The trauma of Leningrad stimulated Soviet self-criticism. Botvinnik himself remarked that enthusiasm for the game was declining, and other grandmasters commented that Soviet young players lacked the incentive to devote much time to chess owing to the complete dominance of the national team by established world title contenders. After Bled and Stockholm the Russians take Bobby seriously.

Alexander Kotov, the Soviet team captain, claimed that many Soviet chess players had written to congratulate the American on his successes, commented favourably on Fischer's study of Soviet chess literature, and said that, whereas Russian magazines praised his creative successes, the New York newspapers were only ready to write anecdotes about their young champion. The Soviet line on Bobby Fischer, indeed, is changing if he wins the Candidates' I half expect to find Schachmatny claiming that he is descended rrom Tchigorin, the Karl Marx of Soviet chess. Individual chess successes often lead to a surge of enthusiasm for the game in the country producing the champion. When Euwe won the world title in 1935 clubs, tournaments, and newspaper columns flourished as never before, and Dutch chess organi-sation is still the best in Western Europe. The holding of the Candidates' in Curacao marks a new stage in the growing interest of Dutch commercial sponsors.

The victories of Botvinnik and other grandmasters raised Soviet chess to a new level, and similar developments occurred in Yugoslavia when that country won the world team title (Russia not competing) in 1950. If Fischer wins the Candidates' and defeats Botvinnik it may dispel the still current view in the West of chess as a game played by absent-minded elderly gentlemen at a funereal pace Fischer himself refutes the first part of the legend, and if chess in schools in the United States achieves the popularity it has already gained in England it could bring in hundreds corridor lit a cigarette (against the rules) and set fire to a trolley with inflammable things on it; the theatre went up in flames, the child was rushed out by Dr Anderson, the sister was burned, the father was burned, and the doctor's wrist was cut. I think this may al! be a warning against smoking, or it might be a warning not to leave trolleys with dangerous contents In corridors. Morals apart, it was a lurid number crammed with ghastly events, particularly good for the tots who watch television at this time. For light relief there were two Welsh patients, one new and one the amiable Mr Pritchard who was "bundled out last November as not very urgent." He was the lifeline with prestrike days, and has come back to have his operation Immediately.

This guarantees good fun on Friday. Roll up and see Mr Pritchard wheeled off to the theatre with many a brave jest, The BBC's "Compact" will have to look to its laurels on Tuesdays. Their only good riposte would be to send the whole staff of "Compact" into hospital, but that might mean the end of the magazine HALLE HALLE FR2E TRADE HALL it 1 p.m. Friday, 11 WILSON'S BREWER in laodltlCQ wits HALLE CONCERTS SOCIETY MAURICE HANDFORD Overture, The ttutenlnivn WAGNER Walls to tne Paradise Garden DELIU3 RhawcOy on a Theme of Paf antra RACHMANTNOFI Symphony No. 5 In Minor TCHAIKOVSKY Solo Piano JOHN OGDON JOINT WINNER fNTERNATIONAL TCHAIKOVSKY COMPETITION.

lBJ. TtcxetA. 108 8- 56 4- J- NOW ON SALE rrom trie HnJle Bookmg Omce si Peter's Square. Manchester 2 (Tel CEN 20231. Members' Notice CENTRAL BRIDGE CLUB, 81 Central Road, Didsbury, Manchester 20 CHEMIN DE FER wilt tx played TONIGHT, WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, from 10.30 p.m.

AND EVERY WEDNESDAY, SATURDAY SUNDAY EVENING. For Membership details tel, DID'fturr 7107. EXHIBITIONS Architects are invited to premiere ot an unerenuriK uuw tUm. Tl A Selectiw. ol Todaj'i Archlteciuril Uses of SiAintes Steel in Europe' shown by tine Stalnlesa Steel Manufacturers' AssocUtloo The Mancbcate? BulltUor Centre, U5 Portrand Street Manchester i on Maj 14 ftDd is (mm 5 30 to 13 pjn.

R.S.V P. Mr M. Dract Room 377. Thame House Mil) bank London 3 1 ST PETER'S GALLERY, 1 OXFORD STREET aTArf CHESTER PAINTINGS and DRAWINGS by RICHARD WEISBROD Sth M3fw23h MM Dal It Silt. EDUCATION IN LENINGRAD Exhibition of photographs and examples of students' work.

Regional College of Art. All Salrjti. JWJ Olh to 18th Monday to Thursday 10.0 a.m. to 8.0 m. Fridays 10.0 a.m.

to 6.0 p.m. OFFICIAL OPENING Wednesday. 91h May. at u.o a.m., toy Mb s. nesteiiov, First Secretary.

Embaisy of the TJ.3S.H. STRATFORD-ON-AVON THEATRES Royal ShJiXfsowire Theatre's 103rd Shlkepeojc season with Judl Dcnch. Derek Godfrey. Gorier; Paul Vanessa Ttedgrave Bh aela or pox nfflcy Seata 4 to gft OLDHAM CINEMAS CONTINENTAL, Oldhim. rEMSIE DK PABIS' and award wumtne CAIURIA (X).

Ralph Ginzburg of "Harper's Magazine asked him in an interview last year: "Can you beat Botvinnik, Tal, and Keres, the Russian men champions?" They have nothing on me, those guys. They can't even touch me. Some people rate them better than me. That really bugs me. They think that no Americans play chess.

When I meet those Russian potzers I'll put them in their place." His single-minded approach is Bobby's own explanation of why he left school at 16 after an undistinguished career They couldn't teach me how to become world champion." While some 90 per cent of grandmasters are highly educated, the exceptions indicate that chess is a special ability which need not correlate with general intelligence. Sultan Khan, an Indian who reached world class a couple of years after learning the moves, was illiterate. It would be interesting to have Fischer's abilities assessed by a psychologist talking to him, one's impression is not one of a lack of intelligence but one of his direct and almost childlike absorption in his own needs. A person of this nature will lack interest in subjects which require to be studied for their own sake. For Bobby, chess is a means of winning and he can demonstrate his skill by the objective test of a point on the score table.

Other champions, like Botvinnik and Euwe, view chess partly as a scientific discipline, while the imaginative Tal sees his combinations as being minor works of art. Fischer has an intense streak of stubbornness and persistence which helps to explain his apparently petulant reactions when things go wrong. As a schoolboy he used to burst into tears whenever he lost a game. Last year, he refused to turn up for one of his match games with Reshevsky when he claimed that the playing time had been altered to suit his opponent. The case has now been transferred to the law courts, with Fischer suing for breach of contract and asking that Reshevsky be suspended from tournament competition until the match is completed.

of a blonde gentile ambulance driver. I asked a Jewish friend in the interval what is the meaning of shicksie which it what they seemed to be calling the blonde and how to spell the word. He said "we were never taught how to spell them Just to keep away from them It has a fragment of a Churchill wartime speech to make middle-aged eyes brim with tears and a song by Vera Lynn to Tnake them flow. It even has a bagpiper apparently from the Black Watch and apparently-leading a section of a platoon from the Cameronians to Victoria Station. It has the Bank Underground station with trains passing by and the shelter population acting cosy together.

Sean Kenny's settings will seem staggering to a generation which never saw the sinking of the 'Lusitania' or the Tay Bridge disaster on the stage of Drury Lane. It is the best stage engineering since the blitz. It has a group of street urchins of the "Under Milk Wood" type piping touching tunes. It has everything. If it does not entirely hang together that will hardly deter the normal audience for musicals.

If Amelia Bayntun is not exactly perfect as the Yiddisher momma that will not disappoint the crowds as long as she belts out her songs. If the choreography is a long way behind any American musical that will hardly matter as long as the pretty girls, especially Tom Palmer, show their legs. I can't see how it could fall and would need another thousand words to explain why it should. the Royal Festival Hall will bear numerous interpretations, and BartOk, with his immense thematic fertility and his ability to control an abundance of thematic material within a compact form, was the ideal composer for it. Each new "door" brings new music, but the seven different spheres of music are wonderfully unified by Bartok's use of the "blood" motive, which appears in each scene and interlude as at the climax of the duet, where Judith wheedles for the last key in tenderly melodious phrases, while in the orchestra the "blood" motive, as if at the back of her mind, grows ever more insistent Now half a century old, contemporary with "Erwartung," "Bluebeard's Castle" stands out with that work as one of the operatic masterpieces of its time, and even of this century.

Last night it was given an equally masterly performance, especially on the part of Mihaly Szfikely, the finest interpreter of the role of Bluebeard, who sings it with the perfection and freedom of style born of long experience. Judith was sung' by Olga Szflnyi, who gave a sympathetic and highly capable interpretation, but was not always able to hold her own against the splendid and often exceedingly fierce sound that Mr Dorati drew from the orchestra. The programme was completed with a later BartOk masterpiece, the Music for Strings and Percussion. Mr Dorati and this orchestra gave a brilliant performance of this work some time ago, which they did not quite equal this time. Liverpool pleads for help from the messianic beggar whose neck had for some time been in peril.

A sample exchange between the magistrate and beggar reads: "Where is justice?" "in our hearts. Sir." The usurer asks the barmaid's penniless lover." Haven't you got what gold can never buy These are lines such as one can find on the cheaper kinds of calendar and the plav has to be Very well produced to make them At th0 Playhouse the glaringly obvious seems only dimly to be illuminated. JHwSycr' a Plc of topnotch performances relieve the triteness a little. Produced a brilliantly a drv and callous rXtEK; scholarship and Philosophy lead him monotonously to gnawer- Comic relief is twwE1 rih measure with David cKy CstyFe.makCr in is decidedly cool: Alekhme was "mechanical" Lasker a "weak player." He has little respect, either, for the 51-year-old Botvinnik. whom he dismisses as old if'iovuuu ulivc aiiu uige to rcauii the top in chess is reflected at the board.

While he lacks the demon glare and hooked nose which helped to unnerve Tal's opponents three years ago, his intense hunger for points communicates itself to his opponents and both Keres and Petrosian, normally among the most imperturbable of masters, have shown distinct signs of nerves against him. Just as Alek-hine prepared for his match with Capablanca by a close study of his rival's games, Fischer has absorbed the opening variations published in the Russian Schachmatny Bulletin and has caught out the Russians by improvements on their own analysis. review BLITZ at the Adelphi by Gerard Fay THERE are at least two ways of looking at Lionel Bart's "Blitz!" the new musical at the Adelphi. Let us dispose of the scholarly one first. Those-who have read a lot of C.

E. Montague and James Agate and even more severe critics will say that it is loosely constructed, that the music apes opera, but gets nowhere near the desired effect, that it is derivative, grossly, or even unfairly sentimental and that it adds nothing to the art of the theatre. I would go quite a long way on such a line of criticism. But it is a musical in the Strand, not an opera at Covent Garden, so one should consider another point of view. The people who have read little or no Montague and think Agate is a preciou.3 stone are not concerned with the "art" of the theatre but with the theatre as a place of entertainment.

Such people, "who must be in the majority, are entitled to a completely different view of "Blitz!" First it is almost all pure schmaiz which most theatregoers adore as much as most non-gourmets love tinned salmon and vinegar. It Is our answer to "West Side Story in more than one respect It is a tale about the pretty Jewish girl who fell in love with the goy next door, was blinded in the blitz but lived to become a bride In a long white dress. It is about her hard working Yiddlsher momma who ran a pickled herring stall in Petticoat Lane and brought up seven children on it and devoted in the most schmalzy manner to her departed husband and her errant son who not only deserted from the army but did it for the sake BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE at by Colin Mason THANKS to Sadler's Bartok's solitary one-act opera Bluebeard's Castle" has in the last few years become fairly well known here, so that there was some point last night in a concert performance in the original language, presented by the London Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival HalL With two soloists from Budapest, and Antal Dorati conducting, we were assured of an authentically Hungarian performance, and for those who already knew the work in the English version this chance of hearing Bartok's melodic lines with their natural and proper accentuation was an enjoyable enhancement of their musical experience of the work. Listeners who did not know it before may not have fared so well, for in no other opera is the action more exclusively in the dialogue. It is one of the remarkable and original operatic conceptions of this century, an extended love duet for Bluebeard and his new bride Judith, in a musical and erotic style blending the influences equally of Pelleas and Meiisande and "Salome (and of Hungarian folksong), within this love duet there are seven "scenes," plus a tongish prelude and one interlude, each "scene" beinp the opening of one of the doors in Bluebeard's castle, revealing in turn his -torture chamber, armoury, treasure house, garden, domain, his lake of tears, and finally his three former wives still living whom Judith must now Join behind the seventh locked door.

It is an interesting allegory which THE INN at the Playhouse, by John O'Callaghan NHE farther east one goes in Europe today the simoler art seems to become. In sympathy with this general principle Fritz Hochwalder. the Austrian author, sets his scene at an inn well peyontt uie eastern borders of Germany thn naivete of the whole has de affinities with the steppes inite and A pathologically suspicious usurer arrives at the seedy inn with a box of money. His servant neglects the box to attack the barmaid; the barmaid's Jover steals the money. Many are suspected, and the village magistrate noJds an Impromptu Inquiry and trial which reaches its climax just before dawn.

The proposition, which is wordily andwooUily weighed, is that It is a greater crime to op-tn a bank than to rob one. In the end the crimes of the rich are shown to be greater than those of the poor, and the subtle magistrate at the London Building Centre to its theme, however, is the great army of Britons who wage war against rising damp in the walls of their appalling houses. BRS not only offers a series of illustrated instructions for inserting a damp-proof course into an existing wall but supplements it with a lecture at 6 p.m. on May 15. Other lectures, on high flats and sound insulation, will be given on May 16 and 22, and there will be six lunch-hour film shows.

The researches of the BRS are not limited to physics and chemistry, or even to the impure sciences of architecture and planning. For one survey which was carried out into the merits and drawbacks of the four usual types of refuse disposal, 1,450 housewives were interviewed from 53 local authority estates. One of the most instructive exhibits for laymen will probably be the BRS index of publications. I expect the length of this list and the scope of the detailed information available, not only on complicated building techniques but on such domestic problems as how to buy paint, will be an eye-opener to most people. THEATRES quKEN-b UU.

won to Frl evija. at B. THE WOULD I WAN1 TO GET OFF NwIeT'l musical post-war best" Dalljr Mali. BO? AL COUBT. (SlO.

1745.) 730. Sat. 3 8.15. TtL Wetter'a CHIPS With EVERYTHING. "Superb, torching over belnuni 0 bso Sua.

Times. 8T HAETTN'S. tTem, 1443.) Mod. to Prt. t.

Sit. at 530 and 830. Tuea. 230. Donald SiaAm.

Hugb Sinclair. Ralph Michael, Frances Hove in GUILTY PARTY -one or the best puzzle plays for' rears." Illustrated London Hews SAVILLE (Teca. ioii.l Eves at a. itata. Wea.

ana Sit. 3. Peter Ustinov Diana Wynyud Paul Rocms tn Peses usuiot's photo fiNisu STRAND. (Tem. 2660.) Eves.

8.0. Sit. 5.15 anrl 8.30. Mir. Thur.

130. Alec Clunes In THE AFFAIR, "A most pleasurable evenlna." Sunday Times, 6563. VAUDEVILLE. ITem. 4971.) S.O S.

o. 8.15. rh CM Ian CarmlctueL Muriel Pavloi CRITIC'S CHOICE. If Dacka tn laurhs." Peonle, Over 150 oerls vicioeia PALACE. IVIc 1317.) Mon.

to Thor. evri. at 8J0, Fri. and Sat. and 6.15 and B.45.

Jack Hylton presents The Crazy GanK in their Farewell Know rauNG IN HEART. Last 1 weeks, Opcnlnj Friday, May 25, TV's fastest spectacular, BLACK AND VmiTE MINSTREL SHOW. Book Now. WESTMINSTER. IVlc.

02S3.) Evenlnts at 6 0 Wed. and Sit. 3.43. MDS1C AT MIDNIGHT. Non Swlnburno.

Norm in Wooland. Philip Bond. WHITEHALL (WW, 6602.) Erss. 7.30 S. 3J5, BJJ1.

W. 2.30 ONE FOR THE POT. "Funniest Unas Brtin Rhc has done Mir. So stood." Sun. Times WINDMILL.

Non-Stop Revue 2.15 to 105. list Keck.) Clxc Ektjie GBR 713 or Aleuts WVNIlHAM'S 'Teta sua I Evw 8.50 Wed a Sat 6 and 30 LONDON'S MOST DARING COMEDY CORAI BROWNE to BOSNE SOUPE with Erica Roeere Huirtrrua very funny 1 enjoyed every minute," Harold Hobson Sunday Ttzoea TALK OF THE TOWN. Dne. Dot 10 o'el Heme Finlarlra." 11 30 EABTtlA KITT. Uei.

5031 OPEKA AND BALLET COVENT GARDEN OPERA. Tonltht It Mon. nott 7 30 La Bobcme with de Los Armeies, Collier, Turn. Shaw Sarolc. Rouleau.

Cond: Downes, Frl. Tue. next at 7 Aids. Sat. 7.30 Manama Butterfly.

Seats iMilible (except tonight). Now booking to July 13. COVENT GARDEN. THE ROTAL BALLET. Thur.

St Wed. next 7.30 Lea Sylpbldes, The Rile ol Sprint. Sat. 2.15 Giselle with Neflna. Bruhn.

All 6oats sold lexcept for Sat.1. Cov. 1066 SADLER'S WELLSt ITer. 1672.1 Eviil. 7.30 mats Sit 20.

until May 13 thtn May 21 to 28. Often- tMCh'S ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD. May 14 to 10. tVflsh National Opera Company. LONDON CLUBS EDMUNDO BOS SUPPER CLUB.

Dine ana dance Irom nm in our fully alr-condlUoned starlit room. CABARET CI BO RIMAC REVUE. Res 7673 RESEARCH IN BUILDING by Diana Rowntree 'TpiIE London Building Centre In Store Street, WC 1, classes the exceptional Research in Building exhibition, which will be on until May 23, as "suitable for builders, architects, and local authorities." This seems an absurdly narrow view to take of the appeal that the too-little publicised work of the Building Research Station could have. Any ratepayer, for example, who grudges a thoughtless investment of his money in the less economic types of structure for public housing will find the analysis of costs and plan types clearly illustrated, while the published reports of the research findings are available with the same exhibit Workers who feel that their office wallpaper may drive them mad can learn all that the scientists and BRS architects have to say about day lighting and colours for Interiors. This is not only explained in words, but eloquently illustrated by a couple of models of office interiors.

Model fanciers form one incidental group who would enjoy this lucid and well designed exhibition. More central LONDON ADELT11I. (Tern, 7611.) Eva. 7.30. Sit.

3. LIONEL BART'S NEW MUSICAL BLITZ ALDWYCH. Tern. (MO ibarp. W.

3. SJ0). Rcyal Shaxeapeara Co. In CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE I Today, then May 17-15) Patsy Byrne. Michael Flinrlen.

Huih Griffith. Also A3 SOU LIKE IT (May 10-181. AMBASSADOBS. ITem. 1171.1 Eve.

1.30. Tuts. 3.30, Sat. 5.15 H. The Mousetrap by Asatha ChrUtie TENTH IMPERISHABLE YEAB.

Al'OLLO. iCcr. 2683.) 8.3U. Th. 2.30.

3t. 0.30. 8.30. DAVID TOMUNSON In BOEING-BOEING. CAMBRIDGE.

ITem. 6050.1 ErffS. 8.0. Thur. 2.45, bat.

b.o and 8.40. aiirtzaret lockwooo. jerfs err In SIGNPOST TO MURDER. Slzapott to thrills and suspects." Erenlng News. CASINO lG 'Mr! CiNMUMA UUL1UA1 IUI Dam 2.3U ti ana o.w sunaiy ana jo.

Ends May 19. 1 WONDERS OF WORLD Mar 20. COMEDY IWh! 2578.1 En. 8. Sat, 5,30.

8.30. Wed. Slocrnan muudqi in nay ivim a urer. Tender yet starkly comic." OOserver. Last week CBITEKION.

tWhl. 3216.) Era. it 8.40. Sit- 8 and 8.40. Ian Wallace.

BJackbum and Reeves. Rose Bill in 4 To THE BAR. Sometimes side-splittlni. often brilliant, always pleaslne." Dally Sketch OUURY LANK. ITem, 8108.) Charles stapley.

Tonla Lee. Junes Hayter In tlY PAIR LADY wltb Zena Dare. 7.30. Sit. 2.30.

Now In 5th crest year. DUCHtSS ITem. S243HI 8.0. Sat. 5.15, 8.30.

Th. 3.45. Irenr Hanoi in OOONIG1IT MRS rUFFIN. FUN FOR THE FAMIL." Over 300 pertormincea, DUKE OF YORK'S ITem. 5122.) Mon.

to Frl. 8.0. Sat 0. and 8.40. Kamelh Connor.

ONE OVEE TUE EIGHT, with Sheila Hancock. Last oeek of London's loosest running revue. May 16, EVERYTHING IN TUE GARDEN. FORTUNE, nan 2238.) Tour, and Sat. 6.0.

8.40. The Revue BLYOND THE FRINGE. GABItlCK. (Tem 4601.1 Eta. 8 Thurs.

5.30. Saturday 6 and 8.45. Trevor Howard In TWO STARS FOR COMFORT by John Mortimer. Gl.out tGer. 1502.) Tomor.

it 7.30. subs. evai. 8, bat 5.30 and 8.30. Wed.

3.30. Kenneth Williams. Smith in THE PRIVATE EAR AND THE PUBLIC EYE. by Peter Shaffer. UAY.MAUKET.

tWhl. 4833.) EvenWO at 7.30, Wed. and Sat 20. M. lUohaxdson.

Al. Ruthcrtord. HER MAJESTY'S. Whl. 6806.1 Evt.

it 0 0, Sat 5.0 ana oo, wca. 2.du. umitea season, uiiocrt ana Suiman. Tyrone Guthrie'i H.M.S. PINAVORE.

From tomorrow THE PIRATES OF PLNANCE, L1UIC IGer. iOti 7.45. S. 5.30. 8.30.

To. 2 30. Loudon's most ingenious thriller WRtTE ME A MURDER." This one Is coins to run and run and run." Dally Sketch, LYRIC. H'imtlh iRlv 4132) Eva. 8.

lb, i. Sal. 0. 8.15. All For Truth from Moliere'a Le Misanthrope.

MEBMAtD. (Ctt 76S8.I Lst wk ROCKETS IN URSA MAJOR. 5 45 8 15 Com Hay 17 LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS. NEW ITem. 3878.) Evs.

7.45 sharp. Sit. and Whit Mon. 4.30 OLIVER 1 Lionel Bori'a Oliver I A mielcal musical "Sunday Dispatch. OLD VIC.

(Wit. 7616. (TWELFTH NIGHT tonlcht then May 19). (MACBETH Thur. Mon.

rwxu- JULIUS CAESAR Frl. (RICHARD III rues, de wca. next last pens. i. v.

i.au. xnur. Sat. 2.30. PALACE.

tUal ISAM.) Kvjls. IJSO. Mats. Wtd. and Sal 2.30.

THE HOUND OP HISIC. Hit Musical by Rodeeis and Hiromcuicio Liuosay ana arouse PAL1.AUIUM, (Get. 7373 I A OF ALL-STAB lAlllirTV Hkohtlv ills ana 8 45 SaL 3.40. Shirley D.usey, Temperance Seveu. Mon, nest Helen Shapiro, Mat Monro June 1 Bruce Forsyth and Great Co In blBncw production, EVERY NIGHT AT THE PALLADIUM.

PHOENIX. ITem. 5011.) Laat wk 8.0. 3. 016.

8.30, Wed 2.30. Miry Eilia. Andrew Crulckshank, Richard Pasco. Peter McEnery In LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL 1 mnvna anf hnMl mn." HftRTil. TtlD ChCCT- inc win the loudest In rannj Trewto.

riCCADIIXY. (Gor. fi06.) Evx 8, rrnU. Tliur. Sat.

1 in tj.h IJnhjfr Mnrli? Cllcn Lslne. A TIME TO LAUCllt Dir. Tyrone Giithrl. lauifmer alio mucn to minx atMjuu ocL-ii. PRINCE OF WALES (Will SCSI Eves 4t tU5.

Wed. ThUaV Sat 6.10 0 too MonivnuuMr. David KosiLrfl In Londcui'i btgri lauehieT hit COMB BLOW TODE HORN -TtM- audience tovefl It." Eveivnit New Absolutely sure to run." DaJlr Tdirrph. fipmiin'l'? wllrt tDaloctir Evcnlnc Stanoira PIIINCES. (Tem.

8.0. Wed. snrt Snt 615 uifl 5.50. Musical Rcnis. ENOLANIJ, uim unuinu-.

ENGLAND, OUR ENGLAND, ENGLAND. OUtt ENGLAND. LONDON CINEMAS ACADEMY, IGer. 2361.) THE IADS WITH THE LITTLE HUG (A). 2.37.

5.53. 9.7. THE MUSIC ROOM IU). 1.0. 4.15, 7.30.

Late nhcht snows tally (ex Suns. I at 11 p.m. Mlzofuchl'i UGETSU UUNIHJATAUI IX). ASTORIA Char. Rd.

IGer. 5335.) WEST SIDE STORT IA). PauavlsloD-70 and Tcctinlcttlor. Bvts. S.O.

uus Sits. 2.45. Sun. 4.30.-8.0. All seats bkble In idvance it theatre and Meats.

CAMEO Poly, Ox. Cir. Winner ol 8 lnternitiobil Awards HAND IN HAND IU) PLEASURE CRUfSK (U). Fross. 12.45.

3.15, 5.15. tU5. Hurra. TruSant's JULES JIM IX). CAMEU Bora), Cn.

Bd. BllzaCs ootorltrus Story now set in 1P62 THE GIRL WITH THE OOLDEN EYES IXI BIG GIRL IX). ProES. 10.30. 125.

3.35. 7,10. CARLTON. Last day. Fat Boone.

Bobby 'Darin In Hoaxers and Hammersteln's STATE FAIR' (U), Colour. Prois. 1.0. 3.0, 5.30. 8.5.

Last tcrnc. s.0. CASINO. IGer. 6877.) CINERAMA HOLIDAY U1.

Dally 2.30 S.O and 8.40 Sundays 4.45 and'- 7.30. Ends May IS. 7 WONDERS OP WORLD. May 20. CINEFHONE (Opp SelfrUlxes! MAT 472L WOMAN IN THE W1HUUW (X) t.

tit (JH bUNDAT UK), COLISEUM. (Tent 8161.) Peul Newman Gertldme nee in husvs bwtbi uiav or uu. Continuous prolamines at 2.30. 5.15 ind COLUMBIA, IREG 5414.) LES LIAISONS DANGEREllSES IXI 1 45. 355.

(UO. 8.25. -COMFTON. (Cer. .4555.) ADULTERY AT NIGHT and LIGHT ACROSS THE Members 10-.

CORZOS. (Gro. 3737.) V1BIDIANA (X). Pros. 12.25, 3J0.

4.35. 6.40. 8JS0 Late show Saturdlys 11 pjn. DOMINION. Toll.

Court Rd. (Mill. 2175.1 5th year. In Todd-AO. Rodeers and Hammersteln's SOUTH PACIF10 Itl); Tech.

Wkdys. 7.45. Sun. 0.0 SaL 2 JO; B'kble thtitre 4 ntnti. LEIC.

SO. (WhL 6252.) Kirk Douslss, Lonely Are The Breve (A). Fross. 1.10. 3.10.

5.45, 8.30. LONDON PAVILION. GERONIMO (A). Showinj at 11.0. L20.

3JjO. 620. and 8.50. METROPOLE. (Vic.

020679.) Samuel Bronrton'i EL Pin (Til suraer Tephnlrania-70. Tech." Wkdls 7.40. Sun, 6. Mats. Tue.

Sat. Z30. All okble. ODEON. Leicester Square.

(Whl. Also at ODEON. Muole Areri IPld. SOU Petet Sellers. Dany Robin.

Walls ol fh Toreadors IX). Colour. Proirrammes at 1.0. 3.25. 6.55, B.25.

PLAZA. James Stwart John Wayne. John Ford's THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (Ul. Proirammes at 12 45. 2 55.

5 JO and 8.10 pjn. KITZ, Leicester Sn. LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA IA). Proirammes it 1.0 3.20. -55 8 25.

Sit 11.15-WARNER. IGer. 3423.) 4tli mat week. Alan Bltei, June Ritchie. A KIND OF LOVING (XI.

Pron. 1.0. 3.25. 5.55. 8.25, Last screenlns 8.55.

EXHIBITIONS SEVGENI YEVTUSUENKO. the Soviet poet, rcadlns from his own works with translations by Peler Levi Chairman, Stephen Spender. 7 30 p.m.. Sundy May 13. it the Royal Court Theatre.

Sloanc Square. London s.w. 1, Admission by proeramme. price 5-. from the Great Britain USSR.

Association. 43 Parliament Street, London, S.W. 1. S.a.e. please.

MOLTON GALLERY. AMERICAN PAINTERS untn May 10: dally 10-0. Saturdays 10-1. 44 South Molton Street. London W.

1. NEW LONDON GALLEttx, 17 Old Bond W. IGro 67551. KENNETH ARMITAGB. New Sculpture, Dally 10-5, Sits.

10-12 Adm free. From Msy 0 ROBERT PHASER UALLtKV. Duke Grcsvenor Square London W.I.. Openim Exhibition DUBUFFET. Recent Gouaches and Drawings April 10-ua 12.

Dally Sats 10-1. BID OALLEUl. ti (ark Street W. tirsi cxniuuLou ul lauoou- r-nuuuKS. rwui, raid Oaioches by Ule American painter THOMAS GEORUE, In ODUlboMllon With tbs Betty Parsons Gallery, New York Until Siturday.

May 28. Dully 9 SaU, S30-L ROLAND BROWSE DELBANCO, 19 Cork Street, W. 1. MAX ERNST and ET1ENNE COURNAULT. Weekdays 10-5 30.

Saturdsys 10-1 0. ROYAL ACADEMY SUMMER EXHIBITION. 00-7. Sun. 2-8 Admission 3-.

SEVEN ARTS GALLERY, 30 Old Bond Street. W. 1, BAJ-Coaites" ULTRA-BODIES AND FURNITURE PIECES." Dally 10-8 Sttiv J.30-1. TOOTHBt PABIS-LONUKES." IncSudlng oilaUugs by COHOT. COURBET BOUDIN JONCK1ND.

PISSARRO BONNARD. VUILLARD. MAKQUET. CHAGALL SEGONZAC Dally 30-0 Sau 9 30-V, 31 Bruton Street. 1 WAUDINGTON GALLERIES, Collates 1TALO VALENTI.

10-8, Sats. 10-1. 2 Cork Street, W. i. ART EXHIBITIONS ALFRED BROD GALLERY, 36 Sidcville Street.

Piccadilly. London W. 1. Annual Spring extubitton ol 17lh'ccntury Dutch and Flemish Paintings. FROST di REED LTDv, 41 New Bond W.

I. 3rd Annual Exhibition ol ECOLE DE PARIS. Closes June 5. Lst London Exhibition JOHN HERITAGE. CImcs Msj 23.

Joint Private Views Wednesday. Miy o.m. DLj. OJ0-530. Sals.

ll-l. riKOSVENOR. UALLEUX. 15 Divles Street. W.

Paintings nd Sclpture FOB CONTEMPORARY COLLECTOR' Janoeek. Appcl. De Smet. Perm eke. Hoflehner.

Wecscus. Badlf etc Daily 10-6. SaU. 0.30-1. JOHN DUGUID RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION.

Canning House, 2 Bclsrave Square, Miy 1-12. 10-5 30. Sat. 10-1. KAPLAN GALLERY, 0 Duke Street.

St James's, SW. IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS. AND SCULPTURE. Weekdays 10-6. Saturdlys 10-1.

LEFKVRE GALLERY, 30 Bruton Street. W. 1. A SELECTION OF XIX 4 XX CENTURY FRENCH DRAWINGS it WATEBCOLOURS ON VIEW. Dally 10-5.

Sat. I0-L. MARLBOROUGH, 39 Old Bond'SU W. 1. (HydoTK).

VAN GOGH and SIGNAC Van GoKh'a'Ute in hla drawings and his relatlonsrdn to Stgnac In aid of Looturdo Appeal Fund. Adm 3-. students 1-. Daily 10-6. SaU.

10-13. From May 11. MANCHESTER INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS TONIGHT, IfJl nu AT 7t P.M. CONCERT OF WORKS BY AARON COPLAND SOLOISTS; IIEU.IWEI.L (piano). MERIEL ELIZABETH IIOUIIKKIK Moll), CIIK1STOPIIEB COUGH (cello).

JOHN MeCAUE (piano) PROGRAMME: PIANO VARIATIONS (10J0) PIANO QUARTET (1050) SSH Jl DICKINSON (1350) VIOLIN M1NATA (11M2) Royal Mancheiler Coltece of MauIo. Devaa Street. Manctcr 15. Adnrliaton by programme iviUahJe at doop-membtn 3 Od, non-mcmbera i Od. MICA.