Sousse Interzonal (1967) After Robert James Fischer withdrew, Bent Larsen, Viktor Korchnoi, Lajos Portisch, Efim Geller, Svetozar Gligoric and Samuel Reshevsky qualified to compete in an eight-player candidates series of knock-out matches. Boris Spassky and Mikhail Tal qualified directly to these candidates matches due to their semifinal wins in the previous candidates matches: Spassky-Geller Candidates Semifinal Match (1965) and Tal-Larsen Candidates Semifinal Match (1965). The Amsterdam Interzonal (1964) was the previous Interzonal, and the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal (1970) was the next Interzonal in the FIDE cycle. Crosstable: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 Pts 1.Larsen * 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 15½ 2.Korchnoi 1 * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 14 3.Geller ½ ½ * ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 14 4.Gligoric ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 14 5.Portisch 1 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 13½ 6.Reshevsky 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 0 1 1 ½ 13 7.Hort 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 13 8.Stein 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 13 9.Matulovic 0 1 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ * 0 1 1 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 12½ 10.Matanovic ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 12 11.Ivkov 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ * 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 11 12.Mecking 0 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 * 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 11 13.Gipslis 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 10 14.Kavalek ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 1 10 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.Bilek 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 9 17.Barczay ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 8 18.Byrne 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ 0 7½ 19.Cuellar 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 0 0 * 0 1 1 6½ 20.Myagmarsuren 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 * 0 1 6½ 21.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 Fischer ** - ½ - - ½ 1 - 1 - - - - - ½ - - 1 1 1 1 1 - 8½ Efim Geller went on to beat Svetozar Gligoric later on in one set of quarterfinals, Viktor Korchnoi beat Samuel Reshevsky in another, and Bent Larsen beat Lajos Portisch in a 3rd set. There was no 4th set of quarterfinals between Spassky and Tal, who were directly seeded into the succeeding semifinals from their results in the previous FIDE cycle. ** Bobby Fischer withdrew while leading after a dispute with the organizers. Original Collection : Game Collection: Sousse Interzonal, 1967, by User: Resignation Trap  page 1 of 10; games 1-25 of 241  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. S Bouaziz vs Reshevsky   ½-½ 58 1967 Sousse Interzonal C96 Ruy Lopez, Closed 2. Fischer vs Myagmarsuren 1-0 31 1967 Sousse Interzonal C00 French Defense 3. Reshevsky vs O Sarapu   1-0 35 1967 Sousse Interzonal D32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch 4. Fischer vs L Barczay 1-0 24 1967 Sousse Interzonal C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 5. Reshevsky vs Myagmarsuren 1-0 33 1967 Sousse Interzonal D35 Queen's Gambit Declined 6. Suttles vs Gligoric 0-1 34 1967 Sousse Interzonal C49 Four Knights 7. S Bouaziz vs Ivkov 0-1 22 1967 Sousse Interzonal B06 Robatsch 8. Gipslis vs M Cuellar Gacharna 1-0 37 1967 Sousse Interzonal C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed 9. R Byrne vs Portisch   ½-½ 30 1967 Sousse Interzonal B47 Sicilian, Taimanov (Bastrikov) Variation 10. Geller vs O Sarapu 1-0 56 1967 Sousse Interzonal A09 Reti Opening 11. Mecking vs A Matanovic   0-1 70 1967 Sousse Interzonal A56 Benoni Defense 12. Korchnoi vs Kavalek   1-0 35 1967 Sousse Interzonal E61 King's Indian 13. Hort vs I Bilek   ½-½ 17 1967 Sousse Interzonal D97 Grunfeld, Russian 14. Larsen vs Matulovic   1-0 76 1967 Sousse Interzonal A04 Reti Opening 15. Myagmarsuren vs R Byrne   ½-½ 40 1967 Sousse Interzonal B08 Pirc, Classical 16. Matulovic vs Mecking 1-0 41 1967 Sousse Interzonal C98 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin 17. Kavalek vs Geller   ½-½ 18 1967 Sousse Interzonal B64 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack 18. A Matanovic vs S Bouaziz   ½-½ 48 1967 Sousse Interzonal B31 Sicilian, Rossolimo Variation 19. Stein vs Korchnoi ½-½ 23 1967 Sousse Interzonal B19 Caro-Kann, Classical 20. L Barczay vs Hort   ½-½ 42 1967 Sousse Interzonal C07 French, Tarrasch 21. Ivkov vs Suttles   1-0 52 1967 Sousse Interzonal A42 Modern Defense, Averbakh System 22. O Sarapu vs Gipslis 0-1 43 1967 Sousse Interzonal B28 Sicilian, O'Kelly Variation 23. I Bilek vs Larsen 0-1 37 1967 Sousse Interzonal B02 Alekhine's Defense 24. M Cuellar Gacharna vs Reshevsky 1-0 42 1967 Sousse Interzonal A56 Benoni Defense 25. Portisch vs Fischer ½-½ 46 1967 Sousse Interzonal E69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line  page 1 of 10; games 1-25 of 241    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)     Nov-08-12    Benzol: For Fischer fans this tournament was tragic. Nov-08-12    AylerKupp: It was tragic for Fischer also. He was obviously in fine form and had already accomplished one of the usual requirements for winning a top-level tournament, beating 5 of the 6 eventual tail enders. He had also beaten both Reshevsky and Stein. If he had only drawn his remaining 12 games he would have scored 14.5 and come in second to Larsen. But, given his fine form, it would not have been unreasonable to expect him to win several more games, particularly against some of the lower-performing players, and finish the tournament undefeated, in clear first place ahead of Larsen. It is not inconceivable that he could have beaten both Spassky and Korchnoi, Larsen's opponents, in the candidates' matches although he had never beaten Spassky in their previous games and had "only" an even record against Korchnoi, and played Petrosian for the World Championship in 1969. Of course, with Fischer, no one could predict whether he would have shown up for any of the matches if his "requests" (the most polite term I can think of) had not been met. Nov-08-12    Benzol: I think his real tradegy was that he didn't play for twenty years after he won the world title. Nov-08-12    Shams: So what was Fischer's beef with the tournament organizers? Nov-09-12    HeMateMe: I think he forfeited a game due to either scheduling problems (his Church of God Sabbath) or refusal to play early in the morning (before 2:00Pm, for him), just more Fischerisms. Fill in the blanks, another tournament or match walked out on. Maybe Korchoi is the strongest player to never win the WC, but Fischer is the strongest plyaer to never DEFEND the WC!! Nov-09-12    Olavi: <Bobby Fischer withdrew while leading after a dispute with the organizers.> Technically Fischer had been overtaken by Larsen at the precise time of withdrawal, with the two forfeits against Gipslis and Hort. Nov-09-12    Benzol: <Shams> Apparently the tournament could have better organized than it was. The lighting was generally poor and when Fischer played Sarapu the game was actually played on three tables. See the game for more details on that. In the sixth round Fischer was playing Kavalek when a photographer was roaming the playing area and Fischer was upset by his presence. Fischer demanded he be expelled but the tournament director explained to Fischer that the man was an official photographer of the Soviet Embassy in Tunisia and nothing could be done to make him leave. Also because of his religious observances his playing schedule resulted in him having to play six games in a row without any rest days. Fischer asked for his schedule to be changed again but the tournament committee wouldn't grant his request. Fischer had finally had enough and gave notice that he was withdrawing from the tournament. He then left Sousse and made his way to Tunis. Next day even though he was officially withdrawn from the tournament the directors set up a board, clock and scoresheets for him and his opponent Aivar Gipslis. After an hour Gipslis was awarded the win. One of the directors R. Belkadi convinced Fischer to return to the tournament and promised that Fischer could have one or two of the rest days he had requested. Fischer also wanted the Gipslis forfeit removed but Belkadi told him FIDE would have to rule on that. Fischer thought that FIDE would see it his way and he returned to Sousse just in time to play his eleventh round game against Reshevsky. In regard to the Gipslis forfeiture FIDE referred the problem back to the organizing committee and their ruling was that Fischer had forfeited the game. Fischer, in my opinion correctly pointed out that "At the moment when I was supposed to have lost a game by default I had already withdrawn from the tournament. How can a player lose a game when he is not even in a tournament?" On the day before his scheduled game against Hort, Fischer again asked the question about the forfeiture of the committee. By this time the Soviet contingent let it be known that if the committee ruled in Fischer's favour they would withdraw en masse. The forfeiture stood and Fischer left the tournament for the second time. Not appearing for his game with Hort he was forfeited again. It became an impossible situation. When Fischer failed to appear for the next game against Larsen he was scratched from the tournament permanently. Nov-09-12    AylerKupp: <Shams> Here are two articles with additional information but I can't comment on their accuracy. Matanovic's article in particular seems overly dramatic, but this may just be a matter of his writing style. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/va... http://bobbyfischer.net/bobby31.html Oct-31-13    RedShield: After 46 years, Sousse is back in the headlines: <Suicide Bomber Blows Himself Up on Empty Mediterranean Beach> http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/... I heard a newsreader pronounce Sousse as Soo-say. Is this correct? Oct-31-13    TheFocus: He did it on an empty beach because he was practicing for the real thing. I don't think he really thought it all the way through. Dec-25-13    offramp: I would pronounce Sousse to rhyme with obtuse. Mar-26-14    offramp: It's a great shame for the players who actually bothered to stay and play chess under these apparently mephistophelian conditions that the tournament is remembered solely for one person quitting. This was a great result for Larsen - 13 wins! Mar-26-14    Petrosianic: <This was a great result for Larsen - 13 wins!> It was a great tournament. Maybe greater than you think. According to the myth, Fischer withrew while leading, but Larsen was actually 2 points ahead of Fischer when he sat down to play their Round 15 game (3 points after the forfeit). The last time that Fischer was in clear first place was at the end of Round 8. Of course, it's not Larsen's only interzonal win. He also won in 1976, and in 1964 (four-way tie for first). Incidentally, Larsen also won 13 games in the 1964 Interzonal (Spassky did too). Mar-26-14    Petrosianic: Percentagewise, I believe the best Interzonal result ever is still Kotov in 1952: (+13-0=7). Fischer also scored slightly over 80% in an interzonal once (1970, but not 1962). And Timman scored exactly 80% in one interzonal in the 1980's (but I'm forgetting which one). I think those are the only three 80% results. No, wait. Tal was +11-0=6 in 1979, which beat Fischer's 1970 score, but didn't quite match Kotov's. Mar-26-14    Petrosianic: Fischer's 80% result gets an asterisk though, because it depends on counting that forfeit against Panno. If we count only games actually played, Fischer scored exactly the same at Palma as he did at Stockholm (slightly under 80%). I just looked it up. It was at the 1985 Mendetaxco Interzonal that Timman scored 80% (+9-0=6). HOWEVER, that score also includes a forfeit win (against Balashov). So really, Kotov and Tal are the only ones to cleanly score 80% in an interzonal. NOTE: You need to pick a username and password to post a reply. Getting your account takes less than a minute, totally anonymous, and 100% free--plus, it entitles you to features otherwise unavailable. Pick your username now and join the chessgames community! If you already have an account, you should login now. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. 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