Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing

Palma de Mallorca (1972) The memorable event this year had been the Spassky - Fischer World Championship Match (1972), in Iceland, in July-September. Then followed the Olympiad in Skopje, which had ended 13 October. (1) When Jorge Puig Laborda and the enthusiasts in Palma prepared for their event in November, they knew it would compete with an equally strong affair in San Antonio (1972). It also ran concurrently to some extent with the USSR Championship (1972), but Polugaevsky, Korchnoi, and Averbakh were able to come. According to Chessmetrics, (2) the highest ranked of the 16 players were Polugaevsky (#5), Korchnoi (#7), Smejkal (#16), Panno (#22), Ivkov (#24) and Ljubojevic (#25). As in previous years, Jorge Puig was tournament director. Panno again showed his class, and also won the tie-break, unlike in Palma de Mallorca (1971). Hotel Jaime I, Palma, Spain, 27 November - 16 December 1972 Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pts SonBe (3) 1 GM Panno 2570 * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 10 69.75 2 GM Smejkal 2545 ½ * ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 10 69.25 3 GM Korchnoi 2640 0 ½ * 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 10 67.50 4 GM Andersson 2535 ½ 1 0 * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 9½ 5 GM Averbakh 2550 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 9 63.75 6 GM Gheorghiu 2520 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 9 60.50 7 GM Polugaevsky 2645 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 * 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 9 58.55 8 GM Ljubojevic 2550 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 8½ 9 GM Ivkov 2520 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 8 10 Calvo 2330 ½ 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 6 41.00 11 IM Hug 2475 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ 1 1 6 39.25 12 GM Pomar 2460 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 * ½ ½ 1 ½ 6 39.00 13 GM Bilek 2485 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ 6 38.50 14 GM Robatsch 2460 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ 5½ 15 Bellon 2385 0 ½ ½ 1 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 * 1 5 16 IM Medina 2380 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 2½ Ljubojevic won the First Brilliancy price for Ljubojevic vs Panno, 1972. At the annual meeting of the Asociación Internacional de Comentaristas de Ajedrez, held during the event, it was decided that the Chess Oscar silver trophy for 1972 should be awarded to the new World Champion Robert James Fischer. (3) This would be the last of the Palma tournaments. Jorge Puig and the organization moved on to Madrid (1973), where also next year's Oscar was awarded. In addition, with Las Palmas (1972) a series of strong tournaments had started in the Canaries. Tournament books: 8º Gran Torneo Ajedrez Internacional ... Palma de Mallorca, 1972 by Jorge Puig Laborda (Palma Ayuntamiento, 1973. 211 p.); Palma de Mallorca 1972 by A. J. Gillam (The Chess Player, Nottingham. 27 p.). Round dates are mostly from reports in the newspaper La Vanguardia (http://www.lavanguardia.com/hemerot...). (1) http://www.olimpbase.org/1972/1972i.... (2) Chessmetrics November 1972 list, http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/.... (3) La Vanguardia, 19 December 1972, p. 40 (http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/...). Original collection: Game Collection: Palma de Mallorca 1972 by User: Tabanus. Thanks to User: thomastonk, User: crawfb5 and User: Paint My Dragon for help with Round 14.  page 2 of 5; games 26-50 of 120  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 26. Korchnoi vs I Bilek 1-0 43 1972 Palma de Mallorca A10 English 27. Ivkov vs Panno   ½-½ 15 1972 Palma de Mallorca E10 Queen's Pawn Game 28. Ljubojevic vs Averbakh   ½-½ 26 1972 Palma de Mallorca C45 Scotch Game 29. J Bellon Lopez vs Polugaevsky   0-1 71 1972 Palma de Mallorca A01 Nimzovich-Larsen Attack 30. R Calvo Minguez vs Smejkal 0-1 37 1972 Palma de Mallorca B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4 31. Gheorghiu vs W Hug   1-0 52 1972 Palma de Mallorca C15 French, Winawer 32. A Medina Garcia vs Robatsch   ½-½ 18 1972 Palma de Mallorca B56 Sicilian 33. I Bilek vs R Calvo Minguez   1-0 34 1972 Palma de Mallorca A26 English 34. W Hug vs Ivkov   ½-½ 20 1972 Palma de Mallorca A07 King's Indian Attack 35. Panno vs Korchnoi 1-0 42 1972 Palma de Mallorca A07 King's Indian Attack 36. Polugaevsky vs Ljubojevic 0-1 44 1972 Palma de Mallorca A42 Modern Defense, Averbakh System 37. Smejkal vs A Pomar 1-0 49 1972 Palma de Mallorca A06 Reti Opening 38. Averbakh vs Gheorghiu   ½-½ 15 1972 Palma de Mallorca A10 English 39. Andersson vs A Medina Garcia   1-0 53 1972 Palma de Mallorca A13 English 40. Robatsch vs J Bellon Lopez   1-0 40 1972 Palma de Mallorca B27 Sicilian 41. Gheorghiu vs Ivkov   ½-½ 27 1972 Palma de Mallorca C07 French, Tarrasch 42. Korchnoi vs W Hug 1-0 32 1972 Palma de Mallorca C03 French, Tarrasch 43. Ljubojevic vs Robatsch   ½-½ 18 1972 Palma de Mallorca A01 Nimzovich-Larsen Attack 44. Averbakh vs Polugaevsky   ½-½ 23 1972 Palma de Mallorca B44 Sicilian 45. A Medina Garcia vs Smejkal 0-1 52 1972 Palma de Mallorca A07 King's Indian Attack 46. R Calvo Minguez vs Panno   ½-½ 48 1972 Palma de Mallorca A07 King's Indian Attack 47. A Pomar vs I Bilek   ½-½ 9 1972 Palma de Mallorca A40 Queen's Pawn Game 48. J Bellon Lopez vs Andersson 1-0 51 1972 Palma de Mallorca A01 Nimzovich-Larsen Attack 49. Ivkov vs Korchnoi 0-1 43 1972 Palma de Mallorca A77 Benoni, Classical, 9...Re8, 10.Nd2 50. Andersson vs Ljubojevic   ½-½ 36 1972 Palma de Mallorca B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack  page 2 of 5; games 26-50 of 120    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Jul-23-19    diagonal: Palma de Mallorca invitation tournaments, was one of the leading series around fifty years ago: Eight editions, annually from 1965 to 1972 (including the FIDE Interzonal from 1970). Twice winners, sole or shared, at Palma de Mallorca are <Bent Larsen>, <Viktor Korchnoi>, and surprising <Oscar Panno>. All post-war world chess champions (then) did participate at Palma de Mallorca series: <Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal (winner 1966), Petrosian, Spassky, and Fischer (winner of IZT 1970)>, meaning no less than four world chess champions did play but not win at Palma de Mallorca! Mikhail Tal triumphed as clear first in 1966, ahead of Pomar and Portisch who shared second place, followed then by Ivkov. In 1967, Bent Larsen surpassed the two former soviet world champions, Botvinnik and Smyslov, who finished as joint runners-up, followed by some of the usual suspects, Portisch, Gligoric, Ivkov: Palma de Mallorca (1967) The edition of 1968 saw Petrosian the reigning world champion, Spassky his challenger, Korchnoi, the runner-up of the candidate's final and Larsen the previous winner. Viktor Korchnoi who also took Wijk aan Zee in January the same year, won outright and unbeaten ahead of Larsen and Spassky, Petrosian, Gligoric, Ivkov: Palma de Mallorca (1968) Bent Larsen won again outright at Palma de Mallorca in 1969, surpassing Petrosian, Korchnoi, Hort, and Spassky, the new crowned world champion: Palma de Mallorca (1969) The Interzonal in 1970 with 24 players in a round robin, was dominated by Bobby Fischer, he won overwhelmingly at 3.5 points ahead of joint 2.-4. Larsen, Geller, and IM Hübner (Spassky defending world champion, Petrosian, and Korchnoi already qualified for the candidate's matches, thus all absent): Palma de Mallorca Interzonal (1970) Oscar Panno co-won in 1971, together with Ljubomir Ljubojevic, ahead of joint Portisch and Reshevsky, Larsen sharing sixth place, and won again a year later, as best on tie-break in 1972, surpassing three prominent soviet players, co-winner Korchnoi, top-seeded Polugaevsky, and Averbakh. The French Wikipedia provides a good overview, summary of the Palma de Mallorca series: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourn... Jul-23-19    RookFile: Every now and then somebody says: "What if Korchnoi had played Fischer instead?" This tournament gives an objective answer. Put Fischer in this mix and he wins by 3 points minimum. Jul-23-19    keypusher: It's funny how insecure some Fischer fans are. Jul-23-19    Nietzowitsch: <This tournament gives an objective answer.> No it doesn't. But you can make up your fantasy world the way you like it. Jul-23-19    RookFile: The only fantasy here is to believe that a Fischer in this field wins by fewer than 3 points. Jul-24-19    diagonal: In the years 1970 to 1972 (in chess a relatively brief period), Bobby Fischer was certainly a class of his own: <Best Challenger, Worst Champion ever>. People sometimes tend to pick up an anecdote (in chess: tournament / match, even a match who never took part) to generalize it then for a so-called "objective answer" or so. RJF vs. VK lifetime score: +2=4-2 in classical chess (+1-1 in blitz); games played between 1960 Buenos Aires (1960), warning: this tournament gives not an abjective answer of Fischer's strength: as a Candidate, he finished below 50%, Korchnoi won together with Reshevsky, and 1970. Jul-24-19    perfidious: Regrettably, Fischer did not play here--or in a tournament anywhere else--after winning the title. It would have been a positive development for chess had he continued to play after Reykjavik. As matters went, there was nothing for it but to exclaim what was once termed those saddest words of tongue and pen: <Oh, what might have been!> With apologies; but I do not recall the name of the author. Jul-24-19    Retireborn: Whittier. NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members. No trolling. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers. Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times. See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator. NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific tournament only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café. Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors. All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration. Spot an error? Please suggest your correction and help us eliminate database mistakes! Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC