Teesside (1972) |
The embryo of this tournament was formed in 1970 when Gligoric gave a simul in Finnigan Hall, Eston, Teesside. During a conversation with Tim Thornton, the Mayor of Guisborough, Gligoric suggested the area should host a GM tournament. Thornton, not knowing what this involved, was supplied with details, and then asked Gligoric if he would play in such an event. He said he would. Whereafter Gerry Walsh, an organizer of the simul, had meetings with John Pinches, a finance officer of Teesside Borough Council, and it emerged that the council would provide the finance. Finally, Walsh had a meeting with Harry Golombek, England’s chess statesman organizer and International Arbiter, and they decided who should be invited to play. (1) Their aims were to procure as strong a competition as possible, and to have players whose style of chess was exciting. (2) This succeeded, except that the Soviets Mikhail Tal and Evgeni Vasiukov withdrew two days before the tournament started. (3) They were replaced by Sax and Ree. (4) Intriguing points were to see how much, if at all, Larsen's confidence had been restored since the Fischer - Larsen Candidates Semifinal (1971), whether Portisch would be able to repeat his triumph at Hoogovens (1972), and how the British champion Keene would fare. (2) In addition to the venue and other essential aids, £4000 were given by the County Borough of Teesside. First prize was £500. There were eight more prizes, and non-prizewinners got £10 a point. (4) Thornaby Pavilion, Thornaby-on-Tees, England, 17 April - 5 May 1972 Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 GM Larsen 2660 * 1 ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 11
2 GM Ljubojevic 2510 0 * 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 10
3 GM Portisch 2630 ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 9½
=4 GM Gligoric 2600 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 9
=4 GM Tringov 2490 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 9
=6 IM Andersson 2510 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 8½
=6 GM Parma 2530 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 8½
8 GM Gheorghiu 2530 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ * ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 8
=9 Keene 2465 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 7
=9 Sax 2400 0 0 0 1 0 ½ 0 1 1 * ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 7
=11 GM Bilek 2490 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ * ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 6½
=11 IM Hecht 2470 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 6½
=11 IM Wade 2365 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ * 0 ½ ½ 6½
14 IM Ree 2430 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 * 1 ½ 6
15 Bellin <2200 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 4
16 Cafferty 2440 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 3 Chief arbiter: Harry Golombek. (1) The tournament was followed up with the World Junior Championship (1973), World Student Team Championship (1974), and Teesside (1975).Tournament books: Teesside, 1972 (Chess Player, Nottingham 1972. 24 pp.); Teesside Grand Master Tournament 1972 and Birmingham International Tournament 1972, ed. by William Ritson-Morry and Peter C Griffiths (Chess, Sutton Coldfield 1972. 35 pp). There is an account of the event in CHESS magazine, June 1972, pp. 250-273. All rounds were covered by Harry Golombek in The Times. (1) Ernie Lazenby in Cleveland Chess Association homepage #2009: https://web.archive.org/web/2016031....
(2) Golombek in The Times, 15 April 1972, p. 12.
(3) Golombek in The Times, 17 April 1972, p. 4.
(4) Golombek in The Times, 13 May 1972, p. 7. Original collection: Game Collection: Teesside 1972 by User: Tabanus. Thanks to User: Paint My Dragon for help with two of the games.
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page 1 of 5; games 1-25 of 120 |
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Game |
| Result | Moves |
Year | Event/Locale | Opening |
1. Andersson vs H Hecht |
| ½-½ | 53 | 1972 | Teesside | E17 Queen's Indian |
2. Larsen vs Ljubojevic |
 | 1-0 | 40 | 1972 | Teesside | A05 Reti Opening |
3. I Bilek vs Parma |
| ½-½ | 21 | 1972 | Teesside | A00 Uncommon Opening |
4. G Tringov vs Gheorghiu |
| 0-1 | 39 | 1972 | Teesside | B48 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation |
5. Gligoric vs B Cafferty |
| 1-0 | 26 | 1972 | Teesside | E43 Nimzo-Indian, Fischer Variation |
6. Keene vs R Bellin |
 | 1-0 | 38 | 1972 | Teesside | A04 Reti Opening |
7. Sax vs R G Wade |
| 0-1 | 24 | 1972 | Teesside | B01 Scandinavian |
8. Portisch vs Larsen |
| ½-½ | 38 | 1972 | Teesside | D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav |
9. R G Wade vs Andersson |
| ½-½ | 41 | 1972 | Teesside | E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 |
10. Ljubojevic vs I Bilek |
| 1-0 | 33 | 1972 | Teesside | B32 Sicilian |
11. Parma vs Gligoric |
| ½-½ | 22 | 1972 | Teesside | C93 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Smyslov Defense |
12. B Cafferty vs G Tringov |
| 0-1 | 27 | 1972 | Teesside | B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack |
13. Gheorghiu vs Sax |
 | 0-1 | 34 | 1972 | Teesside | A88 Dutch, Leningrad, Main Variation with c6 |
14. R Bellin vs H Hecht |
| ½-½ | 18 | 1972 | Teesside | B05 Alekhine's Defense, Modern |
15. Keene vs H Ree |
| ½-½ | 16 | 1972 | Teesside | A05 Reti Opening |
16. Larsen vs Keene |
 | 1-0 | 58 | 1972 | Teesside | A01 Nimzovich-Larsen Attack |
17. Andersson vs Gheorghiu |
| ½-½ | 26 | 1972 | Teesside | E94 King's Indian, Orthodox |
18. Gligoric vs Ljubojevic |
| ½-½ | 35 | 1972 | Teesside | B06 Robatsch |
19. G Tringov vs Parma |
| ½-½ | 25 | 1972 | Teesside | C93 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Smyslov Defense |
20. I Bilek vs Portisch |
| ½-½ | 41 | 1972 | Teesside | A15 English |
21. H Hecht vs R G Wade |
| ½-½ | 48 | 1972 | Teesside | B12 Caro-Kann Defense |
22. H Ree vs R Bellin |
| 1-0 | 65 | 1972 | Teesside | E33 Nimzo-Indian, Classical |
23. Sax vs B Cafferty |
 | 1-0 | 37 | 1972 | Teesside | B02 Alekhine's Defense |
24. H Ree vs Larsen |
| ½-½ | 42 | 1972 | Teesside | A10 English |
25. B Cafferty vs Andersson |
 | 0-1 | 55 | 1972 | Teesside | A41 Queen's Pawn Game (with ...d6) |
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page 1 of 5; games 1-25 of 120 |
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Jun-11-20
 | | Troller: <The tournament was not as strong as planned, there were last-minute cancellations from Russia, for unknown reasons Tal and Vasiukov were unable to attend. Perhaps the explanation came ten days later when the "Times" ' Moscow correspondent was expelled. The organizers called around the world and got hold of Ree and Sax. I won the tournament rather convincingly when you just look at the numbers. I was two points ahead before last round, where I lost against Parma. But in the first half of the event I should evidently have lost against Gligoric and Ree, perhaps also against Ljubojevic and Bellin. But I scored 6/8 and was the leader, followed by Ljubojevic and Gligoric. The latter was probably a little tired after a tour of the US and towards the end he fell back. Portisch had started with five draws but then he got going and almost took second place. Only those three were real competitors for first place.> Bent Larsen "Skakbladet" July 1972. |
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