| Skopje (1967) |
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Following the rebuilding of the Macedonian capital Skopje, Yugoslavia organized the first in a series of international chess tournaments to be held in Skopje, as well as the two nearby villages of Krusevo and Ochrid, in 1967. The first "Turnir solidarnosti" featured a field of twelve Yugoslavian chess masters headed by grandmaster Milan Matulovic. Visiting participants included Peter Dely from Hungary, Luben Popov from Bulgaria, and Bela Soos from Romania. As was expected, the Soviet Union sent emissaries to participate as well in the guise of two veteran grandmasters, Efim Geller and Ratmir Kholmov. This was perhaps calculated on the Soviet Chess School's part as the final participant was Bobby Fischer, who participated on behalf of the United States. Fischer had just recently returned to regular international competition and Skopje would be an important stop on his road to the Sousse Interzonal (1967), which he announced he would be participating in later in the year. Going into this event, Matulovic, Geller, and Kholmov all had plus scores against Fischer, making them excellent choices to potentially stifle the upstart American's chances. And stifle it almost did: Fischer lost his second round game to Geller, and after the ninth round, despite being tied for first with Kholmov ahead of Geller, Fischer announced he would withdraw from the tournament unless the chess sets were modified and the spectators removed from further rounds. The organizers were in a panic as they could not meet the second demand and Fischer forfeited his tenth round game. However, upon Fischer's arrival to complete an adjourned game, a compromise within the playing hall was reached and Fischer was allowed to replay his tenth round game. Despite this drama, Fischer found his form, defeating both Matulovic and Kholmov in their encounters in the latter half of the tournament, and securing clear first by a hair's breadth. The final standings and crosstable:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 Fischer * 0 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 13.5
2 Geller 1 * 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 13.0
3 Matulovic 0 0 * ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 13.0
4 Kholmov 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 11.5
5 Bukic 0 0 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 9.5
6 Maric 0 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 9.0
7 Knezevic ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 8.5
8 Popov ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 8.5
9 Minic 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 8.5
10 Damjanovic 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 8.5
11 Sofrevski 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 8.0
12 Dely 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 0 * 0 1 1 1 0 1 8.0
13 Janosevic 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 1 0 ½ 1 * 0 1 1 0 1 7.5
14 Soos 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 * 0 0 1 1 7.5
15 Nicevski 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1 * ½ ½ 1 6.0
16 Ilievski ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ * ½ 1 6.0
17 Panov 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 ½ ½ * 0 4.0
18 Danov 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 * 2.5
Thanks go to <jessicafischerqueen> for providing the historical background for this tournament.Original Collection: Game Collection: Skopje 1967, by User: suenteus po 147.
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| page 1 of 7; games 1-25 of 153 |
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| Game |
| Result | Moves |
Year | Event/Locale | Opening |
| 1. M Damjanovic vs V Panov |
| 1-0 | 39 | 1967 | Skopje | B14 Caro-Kann, Panov-Botvinnik Attack |
| 2. Fischer vs E Bukic |
  | 1-0 | 54 | 1967 | Skopje | B81 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Keres Attack |
| 3. Fischer vs Matulovic |
| 1-0 | 41 | 1967 | Skopje | B47 Sicilian, Taimanov (Bastrikov) Variation |
| 4. K Danov vs Fischer |
| 0-1 | 37 | 1967 | Skopje | A04 Reti Opening |
| 5. B Ilievski vs Fischer |
| ½-½ | 33 | 1967 | Skopje | D78 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.O-O c6 |
| 6. M Knezevic vs Fischer |
| ½-½ | 47 | 1967 | Skopje | B52 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack |
| 7. D Minic vs Fischer |
| 0-1 | 55 | 1967 | Skopje | B96 Sicilian, Najdorf |
| 8. Geller vs B Soos |
| ½-½ | 38 | 1967 | Skopje | D13 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Exchange Variation |
| 9. Geller vs R Maric |
| 1-0 | 42 | 1967 | Skopje | C03 French, Tarrasch |
| 10. Kholmov vs Geller |
| ½-½ | 21 | 1967 | Skopje | C69 Ruy Lopez, Exchange, Gligoric Variation |
| 11. Geller vs L Popov |
| ½-½ | 58 | 1967 | Skopje | B42 Sicilian, Kan |
| 12. R Nicevski vs Geller |
| ½-½ | 55 | 1967 | Skopje | C85 Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation Doubly Deferred (DERLD) |
| 13. J Sofrevski vs E Bukic |
| ½-½ | 19 | 1967 | Skopje | A10 English |
| 14. Matulovic vs K Danov |
| 1-0 | 20 | 1967 | Skopje | C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed |
| 15. R Nicevski vs Janosevic |
| 0-1 | 37 | 1967 | Skopje | A07 King's Indian Attack |
| 16. P Dely vs D Minic |
| ½-½ | 21 | 1967 | Skopje | B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4 |
| 17. Kholmov vs M Knezevic |
| 1-0 | 32 | 1967 | Skopje | D15 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav |
| 18. M Damjanovic vs B Ilievski |
| 1-0 | 38 | 1967 | Skopje | C61 Ruy Lopez, Bird's Defense |
| 19. P Dely vs J Sofrevski |
| 0-1 | 21 | 1967 | Skopje | B65 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...Be7 Defense, 9...Nxd4 |
| 20. Geller vs K Danov |
| 1-0 | 41 | 1967 | Skopje | A35 English, Symmetrical |
| 21. L Popov vs R Maric |
| ½-½ | 18 | 1967 | Skopje | A90 Dutch |
| 22. J Sofrevski vs B Ilievski |
| ½-½ | 25 | 1967 | Skopje | A27 English, Three Knights System |
| 23. B Soos vs M Damjanovic |
| 1-0 | 39 | 1967 | Skopje | D85 Grunfeld |
| 24. K Danov vs E Bukic |
| 0-1 | 30 | 1967 | Skopje | A36 English |
| 25. Janosevic vs V Panov |
| 0-1 | 43 | 1967 | Skopje | D94 Grunfeld |
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| page 1 of 7; games 1-25 of 153 |
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| Jan-27-15 | | zydeco: The Yugoslav players actually put up a pretty good show against Fischer in this tournament -- they seemed to come up with all kinds of opening schemes to wrong-foot Fischer; and Fischer had to work hard for his points. This tournament must have been a major disappointment for Kholmov. He was always a bit suspect with the Soviet chess bureaucrats for his heavy drinking. Then he beat Fischer at Havana 1965, and the aparatchiks seemed to come up with a role for Kholmov as a Fischer-killer -- sort of the way that, in baseball, a pitcher like Frank Lary could have a profitable sideline as a 'yankee-killer'. Unfortunately for Kholmov, chess doesn't really work that way, and, after this disaster, Kholmov vs Fischer, 1967, he probably lost much of his usefulness from the perspective of the Soviet sports federation. Not too many more international appearances for Kholmov after Skopje. |
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| Jul-06-16 | | Resignation Trap: Interesting article about Fischer at Skopje: http://utrinski.mk/?ItemID=64D9D091... |
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Jul-06-16
 | | WannaBe: <Resignation Trap>!!!!! You are back! =)) |
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Apr-20-21
 | | kingscrusher: I had no idea particular players were being sent from the USSR because of their past track record vs Fischer - truly amazing and revealing! :) |
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Apr-20-21
| | kingscrusher: " not only did Matulovic have a plus score against Fischer, but Geller and Kholmov as well, making them excellent choices to potentially stifle the upstart American's chances" - unbelievable - this stuff really happened :) |
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| Apr-20-21 | | Muttley101: Matulovic's plus score against Fischer was based on a match he won 2-1 with one draw, played in 1958 when Fischer was a (strong) junior and travelling abroad. There's no basis for saying he would be any more problematic for Fischer than any other strong player at Skopje tournament, nearly a decade later. For sure Geller could be a problem opponent for Fischer. It would have been a great match if they had played in the candidates matches up to 72. Kholmov's performance was decent, but losing like he did against Fischer would not play well at home, and having Fischer highlight the game in MSMG as his first win against Soviet players in a dozen tries wouldn't have done him any favours either. |
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| Oct-27-21 | | jerseybob: <Muttley101: Matulovic's plus score against Fischer was based on a match he won 2-1 with one draw, played in 1958 when Fischer was a (strong) junior and travelling abroad.> Incorrect, you've got it exactly backwards. Fischer WON that match in '58 by a 2-1-1 score. Unfortunately, the only surviving game, the first, was a win by Matulovic, a King's Indian. Bobby came back in the last 3 games to score 2 1/2-1/2 but none of those scores survived, frustrating in this digital data age! |
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Nov-19-23
 | | FSR: Fischer's antics in this tournament really were a warmup for his even more ridiculous theatrics in the Sousse Interzonal (1967). Amazing that this wackjob ever became world champion. |
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