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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 3 of 5; games 51-75 of 120  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 51. Bronstein vs B Rytov   1-0 25 1973 Tallinn E70 King's Indian 52. A Saidy vs Keres   0-1 39 1973 Tallinn A22 English 53. Spassky vs H Pfleger 1-0 58 1973 Tallinn B17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation 54. Westerinen vs Tal 0-1 24 1973 Tallinn B40 Sicilian 55. Timman vs L Popov   ½-½ 70 1973 Tallinn A26 English 56. Polugaevsky vs J Pribyl   ½-½ 21 1973 Tallinn A16 English 57. Balashov vs Polugaevsky 0-1 40 1973 Tallinn B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb (Fianchetto) Variation 58. H Pfleger vs Bronstein   ½-½ 13 1973 Tallinn A04 Reti Opening 59. Keres vs H Karner 1-0 31 1973 Tallinn B15 Caro-Kann 60. I Nei vs Spassky   ½-½ 14 1973 Tallinn B52 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack 61. Tal vs J Pribyl 1-0 52 1973 Tallinn A15 English 62. Westerinen vs Timman 1-0 37 1973 Tallinn B02 Alekhine's Defense 63. L Popov vs Andersson   ½-½ 31 1973 Tallinn E11 Bogo-Indian Defense 64. B Rytov vs A Saidy   ½-½ 74 1973 Tallinn B95 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6...e6 65. J Pribyl vs Balashov   ½-½ 31 1973 Tallinn D31 Queen's Gambit Declined 66. Bronstein vs I Nei   ½-½ 21 1973 Tallinn C55 Two Knights Defense 67. Polugaevsky vs Keres 1-0 42 1973 Tallinn D41 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch 68. Spassky vs L Popov   ½-½ 54 1973 Tallinn A56 Benoni Defense 69. Timman vs Tal 0-1 32 1973 Tallinn A56 Benoni Defense 70. Andersson vs Westerinen   1-0 73 1973 Tallinn A13 English 71. H Karner vs B Rytov   0-1 28 1973 Tallinn C00 French Defense 72. A Saidy vs H Pfleger 0-1 34 1973 Tallinn D34 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch 73. Timman vs Andersson 1-0 42 1973 Tallinn B46 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation 74. Tal vs Balashov   ½-½ 28 1973 Tallinn B67 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...a6 Defense, 8...Bd7 75. L Popov vs Bronstein   ½-½ 41 1973 Tallinn D90 Grunfeld  page 3 of 5; games 51-75 of 120    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   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    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    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. 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. 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