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Winnipeg (1967) Canada celebrated in 1967 the 100th anniversary of their Confederation. (1) On this occasion, it was decided to hold a GM tournament, the first of its kind in Canada. The organizer was Canada's only GM, "Abe" Yanofsky (who played in the tournament), assisted by FIDE representative John Prentice and others. (2) The opening ceremony on 2nd October was attended by Jack Willis, chairman of the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg, James Cowan from the Winnipeg Centre (representing the local government), Maitland Steinkopf, chairman of the Manitoba Centennial Corporation (which underwrote some of the tournament expenses), John MacDonald, and about 50 others. (2, 3) Six of the players arrived on 2nd October, but Matanovic, Szabo, Darga and Gheorghiu did not arrive until hours before the event started because their plane was delayed in Amsterdam. When the drawing of lots was being made they requested that they play each other in the first round since all were equally tired. But the draw was ruled inflexible, with Darga and Gheorghiu pitted against rested competitors. (3) Play commenced on 3rd October in Fort Garry Hotel, (4) at 1 pm (5) (playing time for rounds 5 and 6). There was a 5-hour time limit on each game, in which the players had 40 moves and 2½ hours to make them. Spectators (entrance fee: $2) could watch the play on vertical boards on a stage behind the competitors. Several brought chess boards to study each move of their favorites at close range. It was allowed to wander in the room, but the spectators were admonished to be quiet and not crowd the players. Prize money pot: $4000. 1st price: $1000. (3) Fort Garry Hotel, Winnipeg, Canada, 3-12 October 1967 Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 =1 GM Darga 2520 * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 6 =1 GM Larsen 2620 0 * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 6 =3 GM Keres 2610 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 5½ =3 GM Spassky 2670 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 5½ 5 GM Benko 2570 ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 5 =6 GM Szabo 2530 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 0 1 4½ =6 GM Gheorghiu 2500 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 4½ 8 GM Matanovic 2530 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ 1 4 9 GM Yanofsky 2490 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ * ½ 3½ 10 Kagan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ * ½ Tournament Director: Jack Woodbury. (2) Yanofsky won the brilliancy price for Szabo vs Yanofsky, 1967. (2, 6) Photos (Round 1): http://umanitoba.ca/libraries/units... and http://umanitoba.ca/libraries/units... Tournament book: Canadian Centennial Grand Masters Chess Tournament, Winnipeg, 1967 by Daniel Yanofsky (Chess Player (No. 61), Nottingham 1968. 47 pp.). Elo is from the unofficial FIDE Rating List of June 1967 (http://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/Elo196...). (1) Wikipedia article: Canadian Centennial. (2) Chess Canada, 2007-01, p. 16: http://canadianchess.com/pdf/Chess-.... (3) Brandon Sun, 4 October 1967. (4) Winnipeg Free Press, 30 September 1967; Wikipedia article: Fort Garry Hotel. (5) Winnipeg Free Press, 9 October 1967. (6) Foreword to 2nd ed. of Yanofsky's book Chess the Hard Way. Original collection: Game Collection: Winnipeg 1967 by User: Tabanus. The introduction is largely based on a report in Brandon Sun, 4 October 1967. This was not written by a chess player and should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt.  page 2 of 2; games 26-45 of 45  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 26. A Matanovic vs K Darga   ½-½ 22 1967 Winnipeg B09 Pirc, Austrian Attack 27. Szabo vs Larsen   ½-½ 47 1967 Winnipeg E45 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Bronstein (Byrne) Variation 28. Keres vs Yanofsky   1-0 42 1967 Winnipeg B11 Caro-Kann, Two Knights, 3...Bg4 29. S Kagan vs Spassky 0-1 30 1967 Winnipeg A21 English 30. Gheorghiu vs Benko   ½-½ 27 1967 Winnipeg B89 Sicilian 31. Yanofsky vs A Matanovic   ½-½ 19 1967 Winnipeg B18 Caro-Kann, Classical 32. Benko vs S Kagan   1-0 46 1967 Winnipeg B18 Caro-Kann, Classical 33. K Darga vs Gheorghiu   ½-½ 20 1967 Winnipeg B17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation 34. Spassky vs Szabo   ½-½ 28 1967 Winnipeg C67 Ruy Lopez 35. Larsen vs Keres   ½-½ 45 1967 Winnipeg A30 English, Symmetrical 36. S Kagan vs K Darga 0-1 35 1967 Winnipeg B47 Sicilian, Taimanov (Bastrikov) Variation 37. A Matanovic vs Larsen 0-1 33 1967 Winnipeg B32 Sicilian 38. Spassky vs Benko   ½-½ 27 1967 Winnipeg D58 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakower (Makagonov-Bondarevsky) Syst 39. Gheorghiu vs Yanofsky   ½-½ 42 1967 Winnipeg E25 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch 40. Szabo vs Keres ½-½ 35 1967 Winnipeg A13 English 41. Yanofsky vs S Kagan   ½-½ 41 1967 Winnipeg E84 King's Indian, Samisch, Panno Main line 42. K Darga vs Spassky   ½-½ 18 1967 Winnipeg A31 English, Symmetrical, Benoni Formation 43. Larsen vs Gheorghiu 1-0 43 1967 Winnipeg A17 English 44. Benko vs Szabo   ½-½ 21 1967 Winnipeg A26 English 45. Keres vs A Matanovic   ½-½ 29 1967 Winnipeg C94 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer Defense  page 2 of 2; games 26-45 of 45    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Apr-01-18    GrahamClayton: Looking at the crosstable, it seems that Shimon Kagan, the 1967 Israeli champion, was a bit out of his depth in this tournament. Was he one of the original invitees, or did he play because another player pulled out? Apr-02-18    Howard: Interesting point! He was clearly the tournament punching bag in this event. Mar-25-25    ozmikey: Nice film record of the tournament: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qh... 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. 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