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Eight players, two directly seeded (Robert Huebner and Viktor Korchnoi) and two from each of three interzonal tournaments, had qualified for the Candidates matches that would be held in 1983. Should any of the eight get sick or decide to withdraw, one had to have reserves. There had to be a playoff between the third placed in the interzonals: Mihai Suba from the Las Palmas Interzonal (1982), Boris Spassky from the Toluca Interzonal (1982) and Tal/Andersson from Moscow Interzonal (1982). Since Tal and Andersson had shared the third place in Moscow, FIDE decided that there should be a playoff between them first. (1) Two months later, it was announced that the playoff would take place in early January in Malmö, Sweden, in the "Rosengårds Centrums Fritidsgård". (2) It would decide who would be the reserve for Garry Kasparov and Alexander Beliavsky (who had qualified in Moscow), whereas the playoff with Tal/Andersson, Suba and Spassky would materialize only in case of a withdrawal by Huebner and/or Korchnoi. (3) The match was organized by Malmö Schackförbund and chess clubs in the area. It was sponsored by Malmö Municipality, the newspaper Sydsvenska Dagbladet, OK, Sydkraft, Solidar, HSB, Domus, and Hotel S:t Jörgen. The latter had three distinguished guests: Tal, Tal's second, and the match referee <Nikolaj Sacharov>. (4) According to Lars Grahn, Sacharov was also "assigned by Soviet authorities to keep an eye on Tal". (5) The drawing of colors was on 1 January, and it was not clear by then who would win the match in case of 3-3 (of six games). (4) The Swedish Chess Federation had announced that Andersson would win, thanks to a better tie-break score in Moscow, (4) and this was the general belief. (4) The match started 2 January, and it got financed by the about 200 spectators who came to watch every day. The fans could play blitz chess or listen to Harry Schussler who was explaining the moves. Tal won Game 1, after Andersson with 15 minutes left on the clock played 23...Ne8? instead of the natural 23...Ng4 (24.f4 g5!). (6) In Game 2, Andersson played aggressively out of the opening, but ended up defending. This position occurred: 
click for larger view23.Ke1!! A genious move, according to Tal. (7) Stockfish agrees, and it also agrees on the last moves that were played: 23...h6 24.Ne4 Re8 25.Nxf2 gxf2 26.Rxf2 Be6
27.Rf4 Re7 and Tal's draw offer was accepted. Game 3 was a short draw. Game 4 was adjourned on 6 January with Andersson a pawn up in a winning position. Game 5 was a short draw, and Game 4 was resumed on 8 January. Andersson lost his advantage with 51.Bf1? and had to accept the draw. (8) Later in the day, he and Tal played in a blitz tournament. (9) Andersson apparently thought he would win the match if he could win Game 6 the next day. (10) Tal was playing fast, made a mistake by 25...a5? and Andersson grinded him down in the endgame. Andersson was visibly happy and was congratulated by Rolf Martens. Everyone was happy for him - including even Tal! (11) It soon transpired, however, that Tal had the better tie-break score in the Interzonal. (4) So he was declared the winner. It was speculated that Tal knew about the tie-break score and that he would not have played blitz games the day before the last game if there was something at stake. (10) The last game was not necessary for the purpose of the match. Malmö, Sweden 2-9 January 1983 Elo* 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pts
1 GM Tal 2620 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 3
2 GM Andersson 2630 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 3
Jon Arnason gave his impression in the Icelandic newspaper Vísir: The truth was not revealed until the awards ceremony. The Soviet referee (Sacharov) objected to the Swedish calculations, and insisted that Tal should be given the victory. The tie-break in Moscow with 47 points for Tal and 46.5 points for Andersson was carefully argumented for on stage. In the end, it was decided to divide the prize between the competitors. But the Swedish calculation had to give way, so that Tal could 'warm the bench'. Perhaps Andersson believed that he would be considered the winner in case of a tie, like a board meeting and the Swedish media had interpreted it. Clever tactic on part of the Soviet Union to tell the truth only at the awards ceremony! (12)Andersson went on to win the Hoogovens (1983) tournament which started 5 days later. Tal won the Tallinn Keres Memorial (1983) in February. None of the eight Candidates players withdrew. Suggested reading: the magazine Schacknytt should have more about the match. *FIDE Rating List January 1983 (http://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/Elo198...). 1) Tidskrift för Schack, vol. 88 (October 1982), p. 249. 2) Also called RoCent: http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums.... 3) Tidskrift för Schack, vol. 88 (December 1982), p. 318. 4) Tidskrift för Schack, vol. 89 (January 1983), pp. 3-9. 5) Grahn's blog at http://larsgrahn.blogspot.no/2009_1.... 6) Ove Kinnmark in Tidskrift för Schack, vol. 89 (January 1983), p. 4. 7) Tal in Tidskrift för Schack, vol. 89 (January 1983), p. 6. 8) Andersson in Tidskrift för Schack, vol. 89 (January 1983), p. 8. 9) http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bvZQwiW3n.... We see Bo Plato, Gunnar Klasen, Dragutin Dolenec (in checkered shirt) and Sacharov standing behind the grandmasters. 10) Tidskrift för Schack, vol. 89 (January 1983), p. 8. 11) Tidskrift för Schack, vol. 89 (January 1983), p. 9. 12) Dagblaðið Vísir 15 January 1983 p. 20. Original collections: Game Collection: 1983 match:Andersson-Tal by User: capybara and Game Collection: Malmö Candidates Reserve Playoff 1983 by User: Tabanus. Game dates are from Morgunblaðið (Iceland) and El Mundo Deportivo (Spain).
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Kibitzing
