This introduction will be finished in 2014-2015
From "Interzonal Sousse 1967", ed. by Walter Kühnle-Woods. Schweizer Schachdienst, Zürich 1967. 94 pp.:
"The 7th Interzonal took place in Sousse (Tunisia) from October 15 to November 16, 1967. Four of the six forerunners had been organized by Sweden. For the first time a FIDE-Tournament took place in Africa, a remarkable propagandistic success for the FIDE. Out of the 66 member nations only two are from Africa, Tunisia and South Africa. They are integrated into the West European Zone. It is not the fault of the organizers, who have really given their best, that Sousse received great publicity, not only because of the chess deeds, but above all because of the "Fischer case". Robert Fischer, US Champion and one of the best players of our times, but unfortunately bare of sporting spirit and diplomatic ability, opposed himself wholly unjustified to the tournament regulations, which had been bent especially for Fischer and Reshevsky to meet their religious feelings. It seems obvious that such far-reaching concessions - Friday no play, Saturday begin only after 7 p.m., no play on four special Jewish holidays - anticipates also adaptations by the players. Reshevsky honoured the concessions made, Fischer did not. Not even when the secretary of the US Embassy in Tunis reminded him to think himself a representative of the Unites States. He answered: I am here as a representative of Robert Fischer! After Fischer did not appear three times for play, he had to be eliminated. As sad and regrettable the elimination of Fischer is - maybe he would have become the first non-Russian World Champion since 1948 - it is obvious, that no player, not even the World Champion himself, can put himself above the regulations of the FIDE. Fischer barred himself from becoming World Champion for five years, the title fight after the present cycle will take place in 1972." (p. 5)
"Bent Larsen scored a decisive victory, underlining his class yet another time after his co-victory at the 6th Interzonal in Amsterdam 1964, his match wins against Ivkov and Geller, his winning series Havana - Winnipeg. Gligoric managed to leave his younger fellow-countrymen behind him, last time Ivkov squeezed him out. For the Russians, Sousse is not a memorable tournament. Only Geller and Kortschnoj qualified outright, but Soviet Champion Stein, whom many experts considered being the favourite, narrowly attained the tiebreak level. If Fischer had not dropped out, Stein would have been out. Portisch once more qualified, last time he had to beat Reshevsky in a tie-break. Also this time a tie-break is necessary, which Hort, Reshevsky and Stein will contest in the US in February. Narrowly out this time are Matulovic, Matanovic and Ivkov, and also the 15 year old Brasilian Mecking, who showed a remarkable performance in this monster tournament." (p. 6)
"The first five rounds. Panno (ARG) withdrew only a few days before the tournament started. As a replacement from South America was impossible to get, the FIDE gave Tunisia the right to nominate a player which gave Bouaziz this rare chance. Bolbochan (ARG) became ill on his journey, was drawn however, but after three rounds had to be struck off the list. The draw was made in such a manner that players of the same country would meet in the early rounds. The Russians divided the points evenly amongst themselves, only Stein snatched the full point from Gipslis. Did he know, how decisive that half point would become later on? After five rounds Fischer is clearly in the lead, however he scored against outsiders." (p. 15)
"The rounds 6 to 9. These four rounds produced three hattricks. The 15 year old Brazilian Mecking scores three times and seems to have recovered from his shaky start. Also Stein joins in with a hattrick, but his are three defeats, which are inflicted by Fischer, Hort and Larsen. Larsen scores 3,5 points out of four and is the new leader. Fischer with one game less lies half a point behind him. Hort and Portisch are the closest rivals. The Russians, not only because they had to play themselves, are all placed in the middle field." (p. 27)
"Round 10. A remarkable round, in many respects. After having had the tournament schedule (page 14) from the start, Fischer suddenly had the idea that "his" schedule is far too strenuous and should be altered. Naturally his argument found no support, which induced him to forfeit his game against Gipslis, which in turn resulted in a zero in his score card. The Russians - in view of their miserable placing - showed a special performance. Stein beat Mecking, Kortschnoj defeated Larsen, and Geller won against Hort. Ivkov met defeat unexpectedly by young Mjagmarsuren." (p. 38)
"Round 11. In the mean time Fischer had departed for Tunis, but could there be persuaded by the Tunisian officials to return to the tournament, his forfeiture against Gipslis to be reviewed by FIDE-President Folke Rogard. At the start to round 11 Fischer was not to be seen however, and Reshevsky sat alone at the table. Fischer's clock was started. Only minutes before the decisive hour was over, Fischer appeared in the tournament hall and started his game crushing Reshevsky in the remaining 1,5 hours. The game was adjourned in a hopeless position for Reshevsky, who avenged himself by not appearing the next morning for the resumption, which forced Fischer to sit alone for an hour, until he could claim the point. The Russians could not repeat their winning streak of the round before. Kortschnoj was even beaten by Mecking. However the Yugoslavs won all their four games and polished up their score." (p. 44)
"Round 12. Only 3 games out of 11 end drawn. An eventful round! Fischer beats Byrne, Larsen defeats Gipslis, Geller wins over Mecking. Also victorious are Stein, Kortschnoj, Gligoric, Ivkov. Matanovic loses against Cuallar, Reshevsky and Hort draw, Portisch-Bilek also half the point" (p. 47)
"Round 13. Although Fischer is free on the unlucky number 13, the tournament will bring him no luck. Larsen wins against Reshevsky and leads the field. Gligoric has now won five in a row and reinforces the spearhead. Geller, Kortschnoj, Hort and Portisch also score the full point, bringing them valuable improvement of their position. Stein loses for the fourth time in this tournament." (p. 49)
"Round 14. FIDE-President Folke Rogard refers back to the chief arbitre Sajtar (CS) (= Jaroslav Sajtar) the decision about Fischer's forfeiture against Gipslis, who confirms it. Fischer once again withdraws from the tournament and departs for Tunis. Accordingly his game against Hort is again noted as forfeiture. Larsen and Geller score their third consecutive win. Of the favourites Reshevsky and Matulovic better their chances, whilst Mecking loses ground." (p. 52)
"As to schedule the 15th round starts on Saturday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. Fischer is still in Tunis and had received final conditions by the tournament responsibles under which he could re-enter the tournament, although his two forfeitures against Hort and Gipslis would have been ground enough for his expulsion. He must sign a declaration to accept the schedule as it stands and to accept the two forfeitures. At first Fischer refuses and so expresses himself in a phone conversation with a journalist at Sousse. At 7 p.m. the round begins, Fischer's clock is started. At half past seven Fischer is again on the phone talking to the journalist. He surprisingly declares that he would accept the conditions but his game against Larsen must be postponed some hours enabling him to come to Sousse. It does not seem imperative to Fischer to negotiate with the tournament responsibles, and Fischer's drama comes to an end. At 8 p.m. he receives his third forfeiture, he is at the same time expulsed finally from the tournament. His results are annulled because he has played less than half of the games. New placings are set up. Of the favourites Ivkov gains an important win against Kortschnoj. Matulovic obtains his third consecutive win. Gipslis loses for the fifth time and should be out of the race to become a Candidate." (p. 57)
---
Fischer had been granted a day off to observe the Sabbath, postponing his eighth round game with Victor Korchnoi. According to Brady, his ninth round game with Efim Geller unnecessarily also had been postponed, resulting in six consecutive days without a break. When Fischer sought to remedy this error, he was refused without being offered an explanation (Brady, Bobby Fischer: Profile of a Prodigy), http://chessskill.blogspot.no/2008/....
Sousse, Tunisia 15 October - 15 November 1967
Elo# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 Pts Son-Be
1 GM Larsen 2620 * 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 15½
=2 GM Korchnoi 2620 1 * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 14 136.00
=2 GM Geller 2630 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 14 135.75
=2 GM Gligoric 2570 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 14 135.00
5 GM Portisch 2620 1 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 13½
=6 GM Reshevsky 2580 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 0 1 1 ½ 13 129.75
=6 GM Hort 2580 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 13 120.25
=6 GM Stein 2640 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 13 117.00
9 GM Matulovic 2530 0 1 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ * 0 1 1 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 12½
10 GM Matanovic 2530 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 12
=11 GM Ivkov 2570 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ * 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 11 103.50
=11 IM Mecking ---- 0 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 * 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 11 102.50
=13 GM Gipslis 2580 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 10 93.75
=13 GM Kavalek 2530 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 1 10 90.00
15 Suttles ---- 1 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 0 1 ½ * ½ 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 9½
16 GM Bilek 2510 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 9
17 GM Barczay 2490 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 8
18 GM Byrne 2540 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ 0 7½
=19 IM Cuellar ---- 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 0 0 * 0 1 1 6½ 61.00
=19 IM Myagmarsuren ---- 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 * 0 1 6½ 54.50
21 IM Sarapu ---- 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1 * ½ 4
22 Bouaziz ---- 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 ½ * 3½
GM Fischer* 2670 - ½ - - ½ 1 - 1 - - - - - ½ - - 1 1 1 1 1 - 8½
<Interzonal tie-breaker play-off>Reshevsky, Hort and Stein (the former kept his better tie-breaker performance in this tournament, and therefore advanced) played their Los Angeles Interzonal Playoff (1968) in February and March to determine which seed would advance.
Candidates matches
"The draw for the matches that go to make up the Candidates was made at the final banquet after the end of the Interzonal Tournament at Sousse" (Golombek in The Times 30 December 1967 p. 16)
Boris Spassky beat Efim Geller 5½-2½ at the Sukhumi Candidates Quarterfinal (April, 1968 - see the Spassky - Geller Candidates Quarterfinal (1968) for details).
Bent Larsen beat Lajos Portisch 5½-4½ at the Porec Candidates Quarterfinal (May, 1968 - see the Larsen - Portisch Candidates Quarterfinal (1968) for details).
Viktor Korchnoi beat Samuel Reshevsky 5½-2½ at the Amsterdam Candidates Quarterfinal (May, 1968 - see the Korchnoi - Reshevsky Candidates Quarterfinal (1968) for details).
Mikhail Tal beat Svetozar Gligoric 5½-3½ at the Belgrade Candidates Quarterfinal (April - May, 1968 - see the Tal - Gligoric Candidates Quarterfinal (1968) for details).
In July, Spassky beat Larsen 5½-2½ at Malmö in the semifinals (see the Spassky - Larsen Candidates Semifinal (1968) for details), Korchnoi beat Tal 5½-4½ at Moscow in June and July in another set of semifinals, and Spassky went on to beat Korchnoi 6½-3½ at Kiev (see the Spassky - Korchnoi Candidates Final (1968) for details) in September of 1968 to qualify for the Petrosian - Spassky World Championship Rematch (1969).
Interzonal cycles
The Amsterdam Interzonal (1964) was the previous Interzonal, and the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal (1970) was the next Interzonal.
*Fischer withdrew while leading after a dispute with the organizers.
#Unofficial FIDE Rating List June 1967: http://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/Elo196....
Original Collection : Game Collection: Sousse Interzonal, 1967, by User: Resignation Trap
Kibitzing
