1973 in chess

Events in chess in 1973;

Top players

FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - January 1973

# Bobby Fischer USA 2780
# Mikhail Tal URS 2660
# Anatoly Karpov URS 2660
# Boris Spassky URS 2655
# Viktor Korchnoi URS 2650
# Lajos Portisch HUN 2650
# Tigran Petrosian URS 2640
# Mikhail Botvinnik URS 2630
# Lev Polugaevsky URS 2625
# Bent Larsen DEN 2620

Chess news in brief

*For the first time, the Interzonal phase of the new world championship cycle is expanded to fill two tournaments, as FIDE are determined to make more places available to zonal qualifiers. Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov dominate the Leningrad Interzonal, each scoring 13½/17, ahead of Robert Byrne on 12½/17. Surprisingly, Brazilian newcomer Henrique Mecking steals the show at the Petropolis Interzonal, with 12/17, ahead of such luminaries as Efim Geller, Lev Polugaevsky and Lajos Portisch (all 11½/17). A play-off is held in Portoroz to determine the Petropolis second and third qualifying places and Geller is eliminated. [CHESS magazine - Vol 39, October 1973, pp 8-9]
*The final stage of the European Team Championship is held at City Hall, Bath. Seven of the twenty-four teams that contested the preliminaries join the reigning champions (the USSR) in the final. Tragically, grandmaster Leonid Stein dies suddenly of a heart attack the evening before the Soviet team sets off. Nevertheless, the USSR go on to take the gold medal with 40½/56. Yugoslavia narrowly capture the silver medals with 34/56, ahead of Hungary (33/56). Efim Geller scores 90% to be the best individual performer. Despite being one of the world's top 20 grandmasters, he is playing on board seven and for the most part, faces relatively weak opposition. Seven of the Soviet ten-man squad take home individual gold medals, such is their dominance of the event. Most countries send their best players, with the exception of West Germany, who are missing Robert Hubner and Klaus Darga. ["The European Team Championship, Bath 1973" (Keene, Raines & Cromblehome - Batsford, 1974)]
*Former world champion Mikhail Tal is the winner of several important tournaments. At Sochi, with 11/15, he outperforms recently deposed world champion Boris Spassky, (10/15) and Jan Smejkal (9/15). At Wijk aan Zee, he wins with 10½/15, ahead of Yuri Balashov (10/15) and at Dubna, shares the honours with Ratmir Kholmov (both 11/15). With further successes at Tallinn and Hastings (1973/74 edition), he may be in the best form of his career. Between July 1972 and April 1973 he plays 86 games without defeat, winning 47 and drawing 39. [ [http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lab/7378/tal.htm Bill Wall on Tal] ]
*Boris Spassky comes back from his disappointment of 1972, to win the 41st Soviet Championship, a full point ahead of the USSR's other leading players. In an effort to re-establish the USSR's supremacy at the top of world chess, their federation officials, led by Viktor Baturinsky, decide to get 'tough' on the players. Those wishing to play abroad next year are ordered to take part in the national championship. Short draws are outlawed and the players encouraged to be more ruthless and serious in their future endeavours. In the context of a previous disagreement between Spassky and Baturinsky, insiders interpret the new doctrine as an ill-fated attempt to expose Spassky as the weakness in the camp. ["The Soviet Championships" (Cafferty & Taimanov - Cadogan, 1998) p. 160]
*A strong double round robin tournament is sponsored by AVRO and held at Hilversum. Laszlo Szabo and Efim Geller share first place with 9½/14, ahead of Ljubomir Ljubojevic on 8½/14.
*Anatoly Karpov continues his rapid rise in the rankings, winning a Category 12 event at Madrid with 11/15, ahead of Vladimir Tukmakov (10½/15) and Semyon Furman (10/15).
*At Las Palmas, Tigran Petrosian and Leonid Stein share victory with 9½/15. Petrosian also succeeds at Amsterdam, this time shared with Albin Planinc (both 10/15), ahead of Lubomir Kavalek (9½/15).
*Efim Geller wins a strong tournament in Budapest with 10½/15, ahead of Anatoly Karpov (9½/15).
*Alexander Beliavsky (8½/11) fights off the twin challenge of Tony Miles (8/11) and Michael Stean (7½/11), to win the World Junior Championship in Teesside. Beliavsky loses both individual games to the Englishmen, but deals more ruthlessly with the tournament tail-enders.
*At the Hungarian Championship, held in Budapest, there is a three-way tie for first place between Andras Adorjan, Istvan Csom and Zoltan Ribli (all 10/15).
*The first World Open chess tournament is held in New York and is won by Walter Browne. 732 players participate in the event.
*Having missed out on their bid to host the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match, organisers in Dortmund remain upbeat and arrange a tournament at Westfalenpark. It results in a three-way tie for first place, between Hans-Joachim Hecht, Ulf Andersson and Boris Spassky. The event doubles as the second Open German Championship and becomes the catalyst for a new series of annual events, known as the "Dortmunder Schachtage".
*Bent Larsen wins the Manila tournament with 12½/15, from Ljubomir Ljubojevic (11½/15) and Lubomir Kavalek (10½/15).
*At Tbilisi, IM Roman Dzindzichashvili shows he is comfortable in grandmaster company, sharing victory with Rafael Vaganian (both 11½/17), ahead of Evgeny Vasiukov (10½/17), Semyon Furman, David Bronstein, Eduard Gufeld and other established masters. ["The Chess Player" (Nottingham), Vol 5, 1973b (crosstable)]
*London plays host to the Guardian Royal Exchange (GRE) tournament. In the Masters section, Jan Timman takes first (7/9) from Raymond Keene (5½/9), Samuel Reshevsky and Hans-Joachim Hecht (both 5/9). In the Masters Reserves section, John Nunn wins with 7/9. [CHESS magazine - Vol 39, January 1974, pp 105-108]
*Georgy Tringov and Bruno Parma (both 9/14) fight off the challenge of fellow grandmasters Hans-Joachim Hecht, Ivan Radulov and Dragoljub Velimirovic (all 8½/14) at the annual tournament in Vrsac. Pre-tournament favourite, Wolfgang Uhlmann finishes mid-table.
*Bent Larsen wins the Scandinavian Championship, held in Grenaa, Denmark, with 9/11. The 13,000 D Kr. prize fund attracts 111 entries. Larsen's share of the prize money amounts to 6,000 D. Kr. (about £420). [CHESS magazine - Vol 39, December 1973, p.81]
*Following William Hartston's 4½-1½ play-off win against Michael Basman in the British Championship, he and Jana Hartston become the first husband and wife pair to simultaneously hold men's and women's national championship titles. [CHESS magazine - Vol 39, February 1974, p. 128]

Births

*Joel Lautier, a leading French GM, once a regular player on the elite tournament circuit - April 12
*Vladislav Tkachiev, Soviet-French GM, former European Individual Champion - November 9
*Sergei Tiviakov, Soviet-Dutch GM, former Dutch Champion - February 14
*Peter Heine Nielsen, Danish GM, former highest rated Nordic player - May 24
*Aleksej Aleksandrov, Belarusian GM, former national and European junior champion - May 11
*Peng Xiaomin, Chinese GM, former national champion - April 8
*Jacob Aagaard, Danish-Scottish GM, former British champion - July 31
*Jose Gonzalez Garcia, Mexican GM - August 12
*Stanislav Kriventsov, Soviet-Canadian IM, a chess coach and world series poker player - November 2

Deaths

*Leonid Stein, a leading Soviet GM and former world championship candidate - July 4
*Vasily Panov, Soviet IM, renowned as a theoretician, writer and journalist - January 13
*Hans Kmoch, Austrian IM, chess writer and occasional second to Alekhine - February 13
*Folke Rogard, Swedish lawyer and former President of FIDE - June 11
*Braslav Rabar, Croatian IM, former national champion, writer and theoretician - December 6
*Al Horowitz, American IM, renowned writer and chess columnist - January 18
*Manuel Golmayo Torriente, Cuban-Spanish master and International Arbiter - March 7
*Alexandru Tyroler, Hungarian-Romanian master, winner of first Romanian Championship - February 3
*Markas Luckis, Lithuanian-Argentine master, Olympiad medal winner - February 9

Notes

References

*cite book | author=Burgess, Graham | title=Chess Highlights of the 20th Century | publisher=Gambit Publications | year=1999 | id=ISBN 1901983218
*CHESS magazine - December 1973, pp. 82-83 - "The Best in 1973"
*"The Chess Player" (Nottingham), Vol 5, 1973b (crosstables)
* [http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/history.txt Chess History & Chronology - Bill Wall]
* [http://www.olimpbase.org Olimpbase - Olympiads and other Team event information]
* [http://chess.eusa.ed.ac.uk/Chess/Trivia/AlltimeList.html FIDE rating list data 1970-97]
* [http://www.olimpbase.org/doc/elo1971-2000.zip Elo ratings data 1971-2000 (for download)] .