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TOURNAMENT STANDINGS
Tallinn Tournament

Mikhail Tal12/15(+9 -0 =6)[games]
Lev Polugaevsky10.5/15(+6 -0 =9)[games]
Yuri Balashov9/15(+5 -2 =8)[games]
David Bronstein9/15(+4 -1 =10)[games]
Paul Keres9/15(+6 -3 =6)[games]
Boris Spassky9/15(+4 -1 =10)[games]
Ulf Andersson8/15(+3 -2 =10)[games]
Iivo Nei8/15(+4 -3 =8)[games]
Jan Timman7.5/15(+4 -4 =7)[games]
Helmut Pfleger6.5/15(+3 -5 =7)[games]
Josef Pribyl6.5/15(+3 -5 =7)[games]
Boris Rytov6.5/15(+3 -5 =7)[games]
Luben Popov6/15(+2 -5 =8)[games]
Hillar Karner5.5/15(+3 -7 =5)[games]
Anthony Saidy4/15(+3 -10 =2)[games]
Heikki Westerinen3/15(+1 -10 =4)[games]
*

Chessgames.com Chess Event Description
Tallinn (1973)

In the good old days, Tallinn organized a large scale international tournament every two years. The 1973 edition was the strongest to date, with two ex-world champions, former challenger Bronstein and the local ace Keres. After Sukhumi (1972), the USSR Championship (1972) and Hoogovens (1973), Mikhail Tal scored his fourth tournament victory in a row. There were hopes that he might continue in this vein and rise to challenge Robert James Fischer in 1975, but unfortunately three months later, at the Leningrad Interzonal (1973), he managed only an even score and was never in contention for a spot in the Candidates matches.

Tallinn, Soviet Union (Estonia), 20 February - 13 March 1973

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pts 1 Tal * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 12 2 Polugaevsky ½ * 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 10½ =3 Balashov ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 9 =3 Bronstein ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 9 =3 Keres 0 0 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 9 =3 Spassky 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 9 =7 Andersson ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 8 =7 Nei 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 8 9 Timman 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 * ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 0 7½ =10 Pfleger ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 6½ =10 Pribyl 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 * 1 ½ ½ 1 1 6½ =10 Rytov ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 * 1 1 ½ 1 6½ 13 Popov 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 1 ½ 6 14 Kärner 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 0 * 0 1 5½ 15 Saidy 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 * 1 4 16 Westerinen 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 * 3

Original collection: Game Collection: Tallinn 1973, by User: sneaky pete.

 page 2 of 5; games 26-50 of 120  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
26. Balashov vs Spassky  ½-½311973TallinnC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
27. J Pribyl vs Bronstein  ½-½421973TallinnA54 Old Indian, Ukrainian Variation, 4.Nf3
28. Polugaevsky vs A Saidy 1-0231973TallinnD58 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakower (Makagonov-Bondarevsky) Syst
29. Tal vs H Karner 1-0371973TallinnB06 Robatsch
30. B Rytov vs Timman 0-1241973TallinnE45 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Bronstein (Byrne) Variation
31. I Nei vs L Popov  1-0421973TallinnB84 Sicilian, Scheveningen
32. H Pfleger vs Westerinen  1-0781973TallinnA49 King's Indian, Fianchetto without c4
33. Andersson vs B Rytov  ½-½171973TallinnB15 Caro-Kann
34. Bronstein vs Balashov  ½-½501973TallinnA13 English
35. Spassky vs Keres  ½-½291973TallinnE12 Queen's Indian
36. H Karner vs Polugaevsky  ½-½421973TallinnA04 Reti Opening
37. L Popov vs Tal 0-1431973TallinnA53 Old Indian
38. Timman vs H Pfleger  ½-½481973TallinnA35 English, Symmetrical
39. A Saidy vs J Pribyl  0-1421973TallinnD99 Grunfeld Defense, Smyslov
40. Westerinen vs I Nei  0-1541973TallinnC72 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, 5.O-O
41. H Pfleger vs Andersson  ½-½221973TallinnD34 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
42. Balashov vs A Saidy  0-1411973TallinnB50 Sicilian
43. Keres vs Bronstein  ½-½151973TallinnD38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation
44. Tal vs Polugaevsky  ½-½291973TallinnA17 English
45. B Rytov vs Spassky 0-1291973TallinnA36 English
46. I Nei vs Timman  1-0401973TallinnA34 English, Symmetrical
47. L Popov vs Westerinen  ½-½421973TallinnE83 King's Indian, Samisch
48. J Pribyl vs H Karner  ½-½411973TallinnE24 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch
49. Andersson vs I Nei  ½-½211973TallinnA06 Reti Opening
50. H Karner vs Balashov  0-1301973TallinnA09 Reti Opening
 page 2 of 5; games 26-50 of 120  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
May-03-14  Chessdreamer: For the record, this was Spassky's first tournament since the loss of the world title.
Jan-23-15  mcgee: Hmmm. Is that right? Chessmetrics suggests he played the West German (open) Championship in Dortmund and at Amsterdam (both in early 1973) just prior to this tournament. He didn't play any chess in 1972 other than the Fischer match though.
Jan-23-15  Chessdreamer: <mcgee> The Dortmund tournament ran from the 17th of May to the 2nd of June [Paul Keres, Photographs and games, page 433]. I have not the exact dates for Amsterdam IBM 1973, but it took place in July /August.
Jul-13-16  zanzibar: Hedrick Smith, in a very interesting Special entitled:

<Spassky's Defeat Produces Change

Sovite Chess Circles Feel Shake-up--Loser Chided

Moscow-March 31>

from NY Times 1973.04.01 reports this in the penultimate and closing paragraphs:

<Spassky was not overly impressive in his first outing since the loss to Fischer--the 16-man invitation tournament in Tallinn that ended on March 15. Spassky tied with three other players for third place, well behind the winner, Mikhail Tal, the Soviet national champion and a former world champion, who is reportedly playing in top form.

The 36-year-old Spassky looked healthy, well rested, and not particularly perturbed by the controversy over his loss. ...>

.

Sep-14-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: Not a bad result for Tal. Did this tournament take place during one of his two amazing unbeaten streaks during the early 70s?
Sep-14-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <An Englishman....Did this tournament take place during one of his two amazing unbeaten streaks during the early 70s?>

Yes; the first run.

Apr-12-19  andrewjsacks: Absolutely great tournament result. Performance rating sky high.
Apr-12-19  spingo: When I look at a tournament crosstable I prefer to look at the "+" scores.

Here Tal took first place with +9.

Polu was second with +6, but no one else had better than +3.

1st and 2nd were a long way out in front - but Tal won by a distance.

A starker example in St. Petersburg (1909).

Lasker & Rubinstein were 1st= with +11, but the next best player was +4.

That is a <big> difference.

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