The 21st running of Mar del Plata's great international tournament belonged to a 23-year-old visitor from Denmark. Bent Larsen went 12 from 15 in a sixteen-player field to take the title outright — by Wikipedia's account his maiden major individual international success — a point clear of the reigning World Junior Champion, William Lombardy, who went through the whole event unbeaten.
The 21st Mar del Plata
By 1958 the Mar del Plata tournament was already an established fixture of the international calendar, and its twenty-first edition drew a sixteen-player field for a full single round-robin of 120 games. The visiting strength came from Denmark's Bent Larsen and the United States' William Lombardy, set against a deep home contingent led by the veteran Erich Eliskases, the young Oscar Panno, Raúl Sanguineti, and Hermán Pilnik.
Larsen was on his first trip to Argentina. He had taken the International Master title at nineteen with a bronze-medal board-one performance at the 1954 Amsterdam Olympiad, then the grandmaster title in 1956 after winning the board-one gold medal at the Moscow Olympiad, where he drew with world champion Mikhail Botvinnik.
A big result for the young Dane
Larsen went 12/15 to win Mar del Plata 1958 outright, a full point ahead of the field. Per Wikipedia, it was his maiden major individual international tournament victory — the first outright win of a strong international event, and an early marker of the fighting style that would soon make him the leading Western challenger to Soviet dominance.
Lombardy pushed him all the way. He arrived as the reigning World Junior Champion, having scored a perfect 11/0 in Toronto the year before to become the first American to hold that title, and he went through Mar del Plata unbeaten for second place on 11/15 — still an International Master at the time; his grandmaster title would follow in 1960.
Eliskases, Panno and Sanguineti shared third on 9½, with Pilnik just behind on 9. Sanguineti, an International Master since the year before, went on to win the Argentine championship seven times, and Mar del Plata 1958 was an early sign of that strength.
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Larsen, Bent | 12/15 | +10 -1 =4 | games |
| 2 | Lombardy, William James | 11/15 | +7 -0 =8 | games |
| =3 | Eliskases, Erich Gottlieb | 9½/15 | +6 -2 =7 | games |
| =3 | Panno, Oscar | 9½/15 | +6 -2 =7 | games |
| =3 | Sanguineti, Raul | 9½/15 | +6 -2 =7 | games |
| 6 | Pilnik, Hermann | 9/15 | +6 -3 =6 | games |
| 7 | Rossetto, Hector | 8½/15 | +5 -3 =7 | games |
| 8 | Emma, Jaime | 8/15 | +3 -2 =10 | games |
| =9 | Reinhardt, Enrique Heinrich | 7/15 | +6 -7 =2 | games |
| =9 | Foguelman, Alberto | 7/15 | +4 -5 =6 | games |
| =11 | Letelier Martner, Rene | 6½/15 | +4 -6 =5 | games |
| =11 | Casas, Fernando | 6½/15 | +3 -5 =7 | games |
| 13 | Sumar, Julio | 5/15 | +2 -7 =6 | games |
| 14 | Olivera, Alfredo | 4½/15 | +2 -8 =5 | games |
| 15 | Behrensen, Jorge | 4/15 | +0 -7 =8 | games |
| 16 | Pelikan, Jorge | 2½/15 | +0 -10 =5 | games |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Larsen, Bent | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Lombardy, William James | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 3 | Eliskases, Erich Gottlieb | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 4 | Panno, Oscar | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 5 | Sanguineti, Raul | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | |
| 6 | Pilnik, Hermann | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | Rossetto, Hector | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 8 | Emma, Jaime | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 9 | Reinhardt, Enrique Heinrich | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 10 | Foguelman, Alberto | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 11 | Letelier Martner, Rene | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 12 | Casas, Fernando | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 13 | Sumar, Julio | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 14 | Olivera, Alfredo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 15 | Behrensen, Jorge | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 16 | Pelikan, Jorge | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.