Mikhail Botvinnik of Russia regained his World Chess Championship title from countryman Vassily Smyslov in Moscow, Russia, March 9 through May 9. After winning 3 straight games with openings he had never or rarely used, Botvinnik played conservatively with few lapses and, with a game to go, clinched the 24-game match 12½-10½ (7 wins, 5 losses, 11 draws)

Fifteen-year-old Bobby Fischer, winner of the 1957 U.S. Open Championship, tied F. Olafsson of Iceland for 5th in the Interzonal Tournament at Portoroz, Yugoslavia, which ended on September 11. He thus became an International Grandmaster and qualified to play in the 1959 tournament to pick the next challenger for the world championship.

The Soviet Union's International Grandmasters team easily won the International Team Championship. Its game score in four board matches in the finals was 34½-9½, ahead of Yugoslavia 29-15, Argentina 25½-18½, and the United States 24-20.

The 1959 Compton Yearbook Chicago: F.E. Compton & Company, 1959

In the Year 1958

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