Early Years
Evgeni Vasiukov was strong enough, certainly National Master strength, by 1954 to represent Moscow in the Soviet Team Championship finals in Riga. He scored his first important chess success in 1955 by winning the Moscow City Championship with 10.5/15, ahead of Salo Flohr who was second. He played in the Soviet Championship semi-final at Yerevan 1955 and finished in the middle of a powerful field.
Vasiukov represented the Soviet Union twice in Student Olympiads. In 1955 at Lyon, he was first reserve, and scored 5.5/6 (+5 =1 −0). Then at Uppsala 1956, he made exactly the same score as first reserve, this time winning a board gold medal. Both times, the Soviet Union won team gold medals.
Although scoring respectably in his first two attempts at qualifying for the Soviet Final (10/18 at Kharkov 1956 and 10.5/19 at Kiev 1957), he failed to advance, but was gathering experience and strength at high levels.
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