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TOURNAMENT STANDINGS
Subotica Interzonal Tournament

Gyula Sax10.5/15(+7 -1 =7)[games]
Nigel Short10.5/15(+7 -1 =7)[games]
Jonathan Speelman10.5/15(+7 -1 =7)[games]
Mikhail Tal10/15(+6 -1 =8)[games]
Zoltan Ribli10/15(+7 -2 =6)[games]
Amador Rodriguez8.5/15(+5 -3 =7)[games]
Slavoljub Marjanovic8/15(+4 -3 =8)[games]
Vasily Smyslov7.5/15(+3 -3 =9)[games]
Alexander Chernin7.5/15(+5 -5 =5)[games]
Petar Popovic7/15(+4 -5 =6)[games]
Alonso Zapata6.5/15(+5 -7 =3)[games]
Thomas Ernst6/15(+5 -8 =2)[games]
Lev Alburt5.5/15(+2 -6 =7)[games]
Jun Xu5/15(+2 -7 =6)[games]
Devaki V Prasad4/15(+2 -9 =4)[games]
Ahmed Ibrahim Hamed3/15(+1 -10 =4)[games]
Lubomir Kavalek3/6(+1 -1 =4)[games]
*

Chessgames.com Chess Event Description
Subotica Interzonal (1987)

In addition to five seeded players from the previous cycle (1985-87), three players from the Szirak Interzonal (1987), three players from Subotica (this page) and three players from Zagreb Interzonal (1987) would advance to the seven Candidates eighthfinal matches in 1988. The eighthfinal matches replaced the Candidates tournament, which had been reinstated with the Montpellier Candidates (1985), and aimed to select a challenger for the World Champion, i. e. the winner of the upcoming Kasparov - Karpov World Championship Match (1987). The loser of that match (which was Anatoly Karpov) would join the seven eighthfinal winners for the quarterfinal matches, and so on, until the knockout system had produced a challenger in 1990.

The players were accomodated in the town of Palić, a quiet place with huge parks in front of Lake Palić. Mosquitoes attacked frequently, and the nearest telephone to the rooms was about 200 m away, which made it impossible to receive calls. The tournament was held in Subotica, a city near to the Hungarian border with about 150,000 inhabitants. The City Hall, built by architects between 1908 and 1910, was spacious enough to room the players, the press and a good number of fans. FIDE president Florencio Campomanes greeted the participants at the ceremonial opening on Monday (June 22). He announced that Robert Huebner had forsaked his right to participate so late that the number one reserve Vladimir Tukmakov could not replace him. The tournament therefore started with one bye each round, and after Kavalek withdrew due to illness before Round 8, two byes each round. Tal postponed his opening game against Sax due to illness. Alburt was also ill and postponed his Round 8 game against Rodriguez. It was not always easy to tell who was in the lead.

Short and Speelman and their seconds Daniel King and William Watson formed a cheerful quartet, but when Short turned up in shorts before Round 13, it was too much for Ribli. Ribli was assisted by Gabor Kallai. Kavalek was assisted by Vlastimil Hort, Alburt by Gennadi Sosonko, Tal by Vladimir Bagirov, Sax by Pal Petran, Ernst by Conny Holst (replacing Tom Wedberg). Main organizers were Ivan Sedlak and Adrian Táncos. Chief arbiter Milos Petronic was assisted by Ernő Benedek and József Színes. Ribli had a bye the last round and had to sit and watch the Englishmen draw their games. Sax won his last four games and rocketed to the top of the table.

Subotica, Yugoslavia (Serbia), 22 June - 13 July 1987

Age Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— =1 Sax 36 2570 • 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 10½ =1 Short 22 2615 0 • ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 10½ =1 Speelman 30 2550 ½ ½ • 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 10½ =4 Tal 50 2605 ½ ½ 1 • ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 0 1 10 =4 Ribli 35 2580 ½ 0 0 ½ • ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 6 Rodriguez 30 2495 0 0 ½ ½ ½ • ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 8½ 7 Marjanovic 32 2505 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ • ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 8 =8 Smyslov 66 2550 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ • ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 7½ =8 Chernin 27 2570 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ • 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 7½ 10 Popovic 28 2540 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 • 1 0 0 ½ ½ 1 7 11 Zapata 28 2505 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 • ½ 0 1 ½ 1 6½ 12 Ernst 26 2465 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 ½ • 1 1 1 0 6 13 Alburt 41 2575 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 0 • ½ 0 ½ 5½ 14 Jun Xu 24 2495 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 0 ½ • 1 ½ 5 15 Prasad 25 2425 0 ½ 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0 • ½ 4 16 Hamed 33 2310 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ • 3 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Kavalek 43 2560 - ½ - - - - ½ - ½ 0 - 1 - - ½ - 3

Sax and Short went to the Short - Sax Candidates Eighthfinal (1988), and Speelman to the Speelman - Seirawan Candidates Eighthfinal (1988). Tal and Ribli (who shared 4th) were supposed to play against each other, in a 6-game match, in order to have a reserve player should any of the Candidates players withdraw or become unable to attend. But Ribli refused to play this match, and Tal was not much interested either.

Sources

Mark Weeks' website (https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/88...)
Борба (Borba), daily reports (https://xn--80aafkgm9bibt.xn--90a3a...)
FIDE Rating List January 1987 (https://web.archive.org/web/2022100...)
Népszabadság, 30 June 1987 (https://adt.arcanum.com/en/view/Nep...)
Népsport, 24 June 1987, p. 8 (https://adt.arcanum.com/en/view/Nem...)
Hungarian newspapers at Arcanum (https://adt.arcanum.com/en/search/r...)
Jaque 225, 15 September 1987, pp. 490-496 (https://www.olimpbase.org/leagueES/...)
Tidskrift för Schack, August 1987, pp. 235-236 (https://tfsarkiv.schack.se/pdf/1987...)
Zsuzsa Veroci in Népszava, 22 June 1987, p. 12 (https://adt.arcanum.com/en/view/Nep...)
Zsuzsa Veroci in Népszava, 27 June 1987, p. 15 (https://adt.arcanum.com/en/view/Nep...)
Gabor Kallai in Sakkélet, 25 September 1987, pp. 281-288 (https://adt.arcanum.com/en/view/Sak...)

Original collection: Game Collection: Subotica Interzonal 1987 by User: Tabanus. Round dates (June 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, July 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13) are from daily reports in Борба (Borba) (Serbia), and from Hungarian newspapers at Arcanum.com.

 page 3 of 6; games 51-75 of 126  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
51. Short vs J Xu 1-0321987Subotica InterzonalC86 Ruy Lopez, Worrall Attack
52. D V Prasad vs Speelman 0-1381987Subotica InterzonalB57 Sicilian
53. Tal vs A I Hamed  1-0461987Subotica InterzonalC72 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, 5.O-O
54. Kavalek vs T Ernst  1-0371987Subotica InterzonalB04 Alekhine's Defense, Modern
55. P Popovic vs Sax 1-0381987Subotica InterzonalB76 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack
56. Ribli vs A Rodriguez  ½-½401987Subotica InterzonalE15 Queen's Indian
57. Speelman vs Marjanovic  ½-½361987Subotica InterzonalE17 Queen's Indian
58. Smyslov vs P Popovic  0-1631987Subotica InterzonalB58 Sicilian
59. A Zapata vs Tal 0-1571987Subotica InterzonalB03 Alekhine's Defense
60. J Xu vs D V Prasad  1-0371987Subotica InterzonalD11 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
61. A I Hamed vs Ribli  0-1491987Subotica InterzonalB93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4
62. A Rodriguez vs Chernin  ½-½491987Subotica InterzonalC14 French, Classical
63. D V Prasad vs Alburt  1-0951987Subotica InterzonalB04 Alekhine's Defense, Modern
64. Marjanovic vs J Xu  ½-½631987Subotica InterzonalB50 Sicilian
65. Short vs A Rodriguez 1-0311987Subotica InterzonalB62 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer
66. P Popovic vs Speelman  ½-½111987Subotica InterzonalC07 French, Tarrasch
67. Chernin vs A I Hamed  1-0181987Subotica InterzonalA80 Dutch
68. T Ernst vs Sax ½-½461987Subotica InterzonalB42 Sicilian, Kan
69. Ribli vs A Zapata  1-0551987Subotica InterzonalE62 King's Indian, Fianchetto
70. Alburt vs Marjanovic  ½-½121987Subotica InterzonalD26 Queen's Gambit Accepted
71. A I Hamed vs Short 0-1391987Subotica InterzonalA84 Dutch
72. Smyslov vs T Ernst 1-0281987Subotica InterzonalD41 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch
73. Tal vs Ribli  ½-½171987Subotica InterzonalE17 Queen's Indian
74. J Xu vs P Popovic  ½-½411987Subotica InterzonalD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
75. A Rodriguez vs D V Prasad  1-0721987Subotica InterzonalC53 Giuoco Piano
 page 3 of 6; games 51-75 of 126  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
Sep-24-21  stridergene: A 66 year old Vasily Smyslov still getting 50% in this elite event. Amazing
Sep-24-21  fabelhaft: It was a good result but not an amazingly strong field, most of the players were rated well below Smyslov. But the next year he faced a very strong field with Kasparov and Karpov in the top two in the Soviet Championships. The only player of the 18 participants to be ranked below Smyslov was Smirin (who won his game against Smyslov). So that -1 score was quite impressive, with wins against players like Ivanchuk and Ehlvest:

55th USSR Championship (1988)

Mar-17-25  YallaTV: Tal's match against a little knows Indian Prasad was the game that cost him his spot on the candidates. Feel bad

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