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Petropolis Interzonal (1973) In the preceding FIDE cycles there had been one Interzonal, such as the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal (1970). The year of 1973 marked the debut of two Interzonals. As was the Leningrad Interzonal (1973) (in June), the Petropolis Interzonal was an 18-player round robin with the top three players qualifying for the Candidates matches. The winner was Mecking with 12.0/17 (+7 =10 -0), and there was a three-way tie for second place - Polugaevsky, Portisch and Geller. Since only three players could qualify for the Candidates matches, a playoff was held later in the year. Petropolis, Brazil, 23 July - 17 August 1973 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts SonBe 1 Mecking * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 12 =2 Geller ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 0 1 1 1 11½ 89.50 =2 Polugaevsky ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 11½ 88.00 =2 Portisch ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 11½ 85.50 5 Smyslov 0 ½ ½ ½ * 0 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 11 =6 Bronstein ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 * 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 0 10½ =6 Hort ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 * 1 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 10 8 Savon 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 9½ =9 Ivkov ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 9 72.75 =9 Ljubojevic ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ * 0 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 9 67.50 11 Reshevsky 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 * 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 8½ =12 Panno ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 8 62.50 =12 Keres ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 1 8 54.25 14 Gheorghiu 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 7½ 15 Biyiasas ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 1 6½ =16 Tan 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ 0 3 22.00 =16 Hug 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ * ½ 3 20.25 =16 Kagan 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ * 3 19.50 Chief arbiter: Walter Kühnle-Woods. Chief organisers: Washington de Oliveira and Ronald Camara. (1) Mecking qualified directly, whereas Portisch and Polugaevsky qualified via the Portoroz Interzonal Playoff (1973) (eliminating Geller). The three were joined by Anatoly Karpov, Viktor Korchnoi and Robert Eugene Byrne (from the Leningrad Interzonal) for play against Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (who qualified as losing finalist in 1971) and Boris Spassky (who qualified as ex-World Champion in 1972) in the next year's Candidates matches: Spassky - Byrne Candidates Quarterfinal (1974) Petrosian - Portisch Candidates Quarterfinal (1974) Karpov - Polugaevsky Candidates Quarterfinal (1974) Korchnoi - Mecking Candidates Quarterfinal (1974) (1) World Championship Interzonals. Leningrad-Petropolis 1973 by Robert Wade, Leslie Stephen Fraser Blackstock and Alexander Kotov (Batsford, London 1974), p. 159. Original collection: Game Collection: Interzonals 1973: Petropolis, by User: capybara.  page 1 of 7; games 1-25 of 153  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. L A Tan vs Smyslov 0-1 37 1973 Petropolis Interzonal B07 Pirc 2. Savon vs Bronstein ½-½ 60 1973 Petropolis Interzonal C96 Ruy Lopez, Closed 3. P Biyiasas vs S Kagan 1-0 40 1973 Petropolis Interzonal B31 Sicilian, Rossolimo Variation 4. Panno vs Gheorghiu   ½-½ 12 1973 Petropolis Interzonal A13 English 5. Hort vs Geller   ½-½ 16 1973 Petropolis Interzonal A38 English, Symmetrical 6. Reshevsky vs Polugaevsky   ½-½ 27 1973 Petropolis Interzonal E17 Queen's Indian 7. Ljubojevic vs Hug   1-0 53 1973 Petropolis Interzonal C17 French, Winawer, Advance 8. Ivkov vs Mecking ½-½ 35 1973 Petropolis Interzonal B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation 9. Portisch vs Keres 1-0 39 1973 Petropolis Interzonal A17 English 10. Gheorghiu vs Hort   ½-½ 19 1973 Petropolis Interzonal B52 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack 11. Hug vs Ivkov   ½-½ 17 1973 Petropolis Interzonal C68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange 12. S Kagan vs Ljubojevic 0-1 40 1973 Petropolis Interzonal A10 English 13. Smyslov vs Portisch   ½-½ 41 1973 Petropolis Interzonal A29 English, Four Knights, Kingside Fianchetto 14. Geller vs L A Tan 1-0 52 1973 Petropolis Interzonal B01 Scandinavian 15. Keres vs Reshevsky ½-½ 24 1973 Petropolis Interzonal C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 16. Polugaevsky vs Savon   ½-½ 32 1973 Petropolis Interzonal A29 English, Four Knights, Kingside Fianchetto 17. Bronstein vs P Biyiasas   ½-½ 43 1973 Petropolis Interzonal C77 Ruy Lopez 18. Mecking vs Panno   ½-½ 41 1973 Petropolis Interzonal C67 Ruy Lopez 19. P Biyiasas vs Ljubojevic   0-1 40 1973 Petropolis Interzonal A07 King's Indian Attack 20. L A Tan vs Gheorghiu   ½-½ 81 1973 Petropolis Interzonal B44 Sicilian 21. Panno vs Hug 1-0 30 1973 Petropolis Interzonal E61 King's Indian 22. Reshevsky vs Smyslov ½-½ 47 1973 Petropolis Interzonal E17 Queen's Indian 23. Hort vs Mecking   ½-½ 41 1973 Petropolis Interzonal A30 English, Symmetrical 24. Portisch vs Geller   ½-½ 23 1973 Petropolis Interzonal E92 King's Indian 25. Savon vs Keres   ½-½ 16 1973 Petropolis Interzonal C69 Ruy Lopez, Exchange, Gligoric Variation  page 1 of 7; games 1-25 of 153    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Sep-05-13    Penguincw: In the game Reshevsky vs Savon, 1973 Reshevesky should've won, but he didn't. He lost. If he won that game, he would finish ahead of Savon in the standings instead of behind. Still not good enough to qualify, but still. Feb-15-14    Everett: Bronstein missed a mate vs Savon in the first round as well. Feb-15-14    Phony Benoni: <Eerett> I took a look at Savon vs Bronstein, 1973, and don't see where Bronstein missed a mate. Feb-16-14    Everett: <Phony Benoni: <Eerett> I took a look at Savon vs Bronstein, 1973, and don't see where Bronstein missed a mate.> I took a look at your kibitzing, and you are splitting hairs to the point of obtuseness. My belief is that if Bronstein noticed the mating <pattern> he would have seen the forced win starting with. <52..g4>. As you know, a potential mate in a position does not always result in mate, but often creates losing positions when trying to avoid it. This is just such a case, if Bronstein saw the mate. But, if you are so inclined to say the point of your statement is "there is no immediate mate," with best play,you are correct. Next time you can kibitz <Everett, saw your post, but noticed a way for Savon to avoid the mate, yet he would still be dead lost. Thanks for pointing out the game to me.> If you are to say that the recognition of the possibility of mate has no bearing on the position, then we disagree. So, in my opinion, Bronstein missed direct threats to his opponents king, didn't see the potential mate, and did not reap the benefits. Feb-16-14    Phony Benoni: <Everett> Thank you for explaining that. Obviously, I misunderstood your statement. Whenever I see the phrase <"missed a mate">, I interpret that to mean an immediate forced mate such as the one Reshevesky missed against Savon. Feb-16-14    Everett: <PhonyBenoni> I should have been more precise. I'll try to be so in the future. Thanks for pointing it out. In any case, Savon had his fair share of luck in this tournament. Sep-11-14    perfidious: <Penguincw: In the game Reshevsky vs Savon, 1973 Reshevesky should've won, but he didn't....> Reshevsky was clearly worse in the middlegame before his opponent pitched it back to him; it was not quite so clear-cut as your portrayal. May-24-18    gmgomes: Mecking became a kind of National Hero in Brazil after this triumph. Petropolis is known as a Imperial City, just one hour away (by car) from Rio de Janeiro. His win against former world champion Smyslov is a very interesting game. 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. 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