In addition to five seeded players from the previous cycle (1985-1987), three players from the Subotica Interzonal (1987), three players from Szirak Interzonal (1987) and three players from Zagreb (this page) would advance to the seven Candidates eighthfinal matches in 1988. The eighthfinal matches replaced the Candidates tournament, which had been revived 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.
On the evening of 31 July, FIDE Secretary General Kok Ann Lim welcomed the players in Zagreb's brand new "I Hotel". Round 1 started there the following day. Some players had been given incorrect starting date, and arrived on the scene to discover that the event was starting earlier than anticipated. FIDE had its back against the wall. The Interzonal had to be organized, and it was already two months late. Not everything was in order, and the complaints ranged from bad lighting to dogs barking in the night. Boris Spassky declined his invitation to play. He had not expressed a keen desire to reclaim his title, and the prize fund of about $32,000 did not rekindle his ambition. His replacement was not found in time, and the resulting 17 players meant one bye each round.
The three Soviet players were assisted only by Anatoly Vaisser, though Ehlvest's coach Alexander Veingold arrived when five rounds left. Korchnoi was helped by Petra Leeuwerik (his wife) and Dmitry Gurevich. The players had an extra free day on August 11. Two vans filled with players, seconds, reporters and guides set out to discover Zagreb. They stopped at the new Mimara Museum, but it had yet to open. They continued to St. Stephen's Church, but it was also closed. The
day ended with a tour through Stori Grad (Old Town). Chief arbiter: Zlatko Sašek.
Zagreb, Yugoslavia (Croatia), 1-22 August 1987
Age Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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1 Korchnoi 56 2630 • ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 11
2 Ehlvest 24 2540 ½ • ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 0 10
3 Seirawan 27 2600 0 ½ • 1 ½ ½ 1 0 0 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 1 10
=4 Nogueiras 28 2555 1 ½ 0 • 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 9½
=4 Nikolic 26 2620 ½ 0 ½ 0 • ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 9½
=4 Granda Zuniga 20 2525 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ • ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 1 1 9½
7 Torre 35 2540 1 1 0 ½ 1 ½ • ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ 1 9
=8 Polugaevsky 52 2595 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ • ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 8½
=8 Eingorn 30 2575 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ • ½ 0 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 8½
=8 Gruenfeld 31 2545 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ • 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 8½
=8 Pinter 33 2575 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 • 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 8½
12 Hulak 36 2495 0 0 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 0 0 • ½ 1 ½ 1 1 7½
13 Inkiov 31 2485 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ • ½ ½ ½ ½ 7
14 Miles 32 2585 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ • 0 0 1 6½
15 Barlov 30 2555 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 1 0 0 ½ ½ 1 • ½ 1 6
16 Hickl 32 2455 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ • 1 5
17 Baragar 31 2320 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 • 1½
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Korchnoi qualified for the Hjartarson - Korchnoi Candidates Eighthfinal (1988), where he lost to Johann Hjartarson. Ehlvest and Seirawan also got knocked out in the next stage: Yusupov - Ehlvest Candidates Eighthfinal (1988) and Speelman - Seirawan Candidates Eighthfinal (1988). Granda Zuniga, Nogueiras and Nikolic went to the Havana Candidates Reserve Playoff (1987) to qualify as a reserve player should any of the Candidates players withdraw. Best game prize: Korchnoi vs Seirawan, 1987.
Sources
Mark Weeks' website (https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/88...)
FIDE rating list July 1987 (https://web.archive.org/web/2022100...)
Борба (Borba), daily reports (https://xn--80aafkgm9bibt.xn--90a3a...)
Rahva Hääl, 19 August 1987, p. 3 (https://dea.digar.ee/cgi-bin/dea?a=...)
Rahva Hääl, 30 August 1987, p. 1 (https://dea.digar.ee/cgi-bin/dea?a=...)
Magyar Szó, 30 July 1987, p. 15 (https://adt.arcanum.com/en/view/Mag...)
Magyar Szó, 2 August 1987, p. 18 (https://adt.arcanum.com/en/view/Mag...)
Sakkélet, 25 November 1987, pp. 346-352 (https://adt.arcanum.com/en/view/Sak...)
Jaque 226, 1 October 1987, pp. 522-524, 540 (https://www.olimpbase.org/leagueES/...)
Tidskrift för Schack, September 1987, pp. 246-249 (https://tfsarkiv.schack.se/pdf/1987...)
Gina Linn (Gina L Finegold) in Chess Life, December 1987, pp. 26-29, 38, 68 (https://uscf1-nyc1.aodhosting.com/C...)
Original collection: Game Collection: Zagreb Interzonal 1987 by User: Tabanus. Round dates (August 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22) are from the Serbian newspaper Борба (Borba).
Kibitzing
