The Courier-Journal Louisville, Kentucky Sunday, August 27, 1961
“It is now pretty generally recognized that America's top chess players are among the best in the world, and the best in the world, of course, includes the Russians, who have dominated the royal game longer than most of us can remember.
Indeed, Grandmaster Samuel Reshevsky of New York holds a memorable victory over World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik of Russia, and has never been defeated in match play.
And this country's other grandmaster and reigning champion, Bobby Fischer of Brooklyn, is expected by many observers to win the world title, possibly within this decade.
But how good are America's women experts?
The answer will be found this fall when a United States team, headed by 22-year-old American champion Lisa Lane, plays in the Women's Chess Olympics in The Netherlands.
After the Olympics, Miss Lane will go to the mountain resort of Vrnjacka Banya in Yugoslavia, where the world's finest women players will hold an international tournament.
The winner will go to Moscow for a month-long battle with Elizaveta Bykova, present women's world champion.
The glamorous Lisa has been playing chess only a little more than four years, and her rise through the ranks, therefore, was meteoric.
