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TOURNAMENT STANDINGS
Palma de Mallorca Tournament

Oscar Panno10/15(+6 -1 =8)[games]
Jan Smejkal10/15(+6 -1 =8)[games]
Viktor Korchnoi10/15(+7 -2 =6)[games]
Ulf Andersson9.5/15(+6 -2 =7)[games]
Yuri Averbakh9/15(+4 -1 =10)[games]
Florin Gheorghiu9/15(+5 -2 =8)[games]
Lev Polugaevsky9/15(+6 -3 =6)[games]
Ljubomir Ljubojevic8.5/15(+4 -2 =9)[games]
Borislav Ivkov8/15(+2 -1 =12)[games]
Ricardo Calvo Minguez6/15(+2 -5 =8)[games]
Werner Hug6/15(+2 -5 =8)[games]
Arturo Pomar6/15(+2 -5 =8)[games]
Istvan Bilek6/15(+2 -5 =8)[games]
Karl Robatsch5.5/15(+1 -5 =9)[games]
Juan Bellon Lopez5/15(+3 -8 =4)[games]
Antonio Medina Garcia2.5/15(+0 -10 =5)[games]
*

Chessgames.com Chess Event Description
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 3 of 5; games 51-75 of 120  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
51. Polugaevsky vs Gheorghiu  1-0351972Palma de MallorcaA34 English, Symmetrical
52. Robatsch vs Averbakh  0-1781972Palma de MallorcaC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
53. Smejkal vs J Bellon Lopez  ½-½401972Palma de MallorcaB27 Sicilian
54. Panno vs A Pomar  ½-½161972Palma de MallorcaA04 Reti Opening
55. I Bilek vs A Medina Garcia  ½-½131972Palma de MallorcaD34 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
56. W Hug vs R Calvo Minguez ½-½861972Palma de MallorcaA26 English
57. J Bellon Lopez vs I Bilek 0-1611972Palma de MallorcaA01 Nimzovich-Larsen Attack
58. R Calvo Minguez vs Ivkov  0-1481972Palma de MallorcaC72 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, 5.O-O
59. Gheorghiu vs Korchnoi  1-0471972Palma de MallorcaA34 English, Symmetrical
60. Ljubojevic vs Smejkal 0-1391972Palma de MallorcaA01 Nimzovich-Larsen Attack
61. Polugaevsky vs Robatsch  ½-½311972Palma de MallorcaA10 English
62. A Medina Garcia vs Panno 0-1471972Palma de MallorcaB87 Sicilian, Fischer-Sozin with ...a6 and ...b5
63. Averbakh vs Andersson ½-½431972Palma de MallorcaD38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation
64. A Pomar vs W Hug 1-0221972Palma de MallorcaA54 Old Indian, Ukrainian Variation, 4.Nf3
65. Andersson vs Polugaevsky 1-0421972Palma de MallorcaA21 English
66. Ivkov vs A Pomar  ½-½341972Palma de MallorcaA04 Reti Opening
67. Korchnoi vs R Calvo Minguez 1-0541972Palma de MallorcaA57 Benko Gambit
68. I Bilek vs Ljubojevic  ½-½191972Palma de MallorcaA07 King's Indian Attack
69. Smejkal vs Averbakh  ½-½421972Palma de MallorcaC91 Ruy Lopez, Closed
70. Panno vs J Bellon Lopez 1-0481972Palma de MallorcaA31 English, Symmetrical, Benoni Formation
71. Robatsch vs Gheorghiu  0-1381972Palma de MallorcaB98 Sicilian, Najdorf
72. W Hug vs A Medina Garcia 1-0551972Palma de MallorcaC68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange
73. A Medina Garcia vs Ivkov  ½-½261972Palma de MallorcaC84 Ruy Lopez, Closed
74. A Pomar vs Korchnoi 0-1501972Palma de MallorcaD90 Grunfeld
75. Ljubojevic vs Panno 1-0431972Palma de MallorcaB06 Robatsch
 page 3 of 5; games 51-75 of 120  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
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
Premium Chessgames Member
  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
Premium Chessgames Member
  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
Premium Chessgames Member
  Retireborn: Whittier.

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