More than 60 years after Monte Carlo (1901), Monte Carlo (1902), Monte Carlo (1903) and Monte Carlo (1904), the principality of Monaco hosted three GM tournaments: Monte Carlo (1967), Monte Carlo (1968) (this page) and Monte Carlo (1969). The event in 1968 was organised by the French chess magazine Europe Echecs. (1) The first two rounds of the GM event were played at the stately Hôtel Hermitage, (4) whereafter the contest was moved to the Hall du Centenaire where the Masters, Open and Junior events started later in the week. (2) A dozen strong GM's were invited, but Harry Golombek was critical of the inclusion of the two French players, describing it as absurd and a waste of valuable places. (3)
Larsen won again! C. W. Anderton reported in the CHESS magazine that it was his fifth successive first place, after Havana (1967), Winnipeg (1967), Sousse Interzonal (1967), and Palma de Mallorca (1967). Botvinnik came second, as at Palma in December. He beat Portisch brilliantly. A good result for Hort also, after his relative lack of success in the Los Angeles Interzonal Playoff (1968). He did not really exert himself - except at the casino! Smyslov looked unbeatable and remained good humoured throughout. Byrne made one of his best results. He chain smoked throughout, but revived his rating by beating Larsen in the last round. Benkö amused people with his time trouble antics. Uhlmann was off-form, and his play was unrecognizable compared with Zagreb (1965). (2)
A noticeable absence in this tournament was that of Robert James Fischer. The American had won the previous year, but due to his demands, the organizers were adamant that he not be part of the tournament. In 1967, they had been insistent that he attend. In 1968, however, they were just as insistent that he NOT attend.
Hôtel Hermitage (1-2) and Hall du Centenaire (3-13), Monte Carlo, Monaco, 3-17 April 1968
Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
1 GM Larsen 2650 * ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 9½
2 GM Botvinnik 2690 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 9
=3 GM Hort 2570 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 8½
=3 GM Smyslov 2630 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 8½
5 GM Byrne 2520 1 ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 8
=6 GM Portisch 2610 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 0 1 7½
=6 GM Gheorghiu 2530 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 7½
=6 GM Benkö 2580 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 7½
9 IM Forintos - 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ 1 1 6½
=10 GM Damjanovic 2420 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ * 0 ½ 1 1 5½
=10 GM Uhlmann 2530 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 * 0 1 1 5½
12 GM Padevsky 2480 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * 1 ½ 5
13 Letzelter - 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 * ½ 1½
14 Zinser - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ * 1
GM Alberic O'Kelly de Galway was Tournament Director. (5) The Masters tournament was won by Karoly Honfi ahead of Predrag Ostojic. The Open tournament was won by George Kuprejanov, and the junior event was won by Georg Eppinger ahead of Aldo Haik. (2)Photo from Round 5: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jjgksVeNn...
Tournament books: Bulletin du grand prix international de Monaco 1968 (Europe-échecs, Besançon 1968. 128 pp.); Monte Carlo: Grand Prix D'échecs de Monaco, April 3-17, 1968 by Robert Wade and Leslie Stephen Fraser Blackstock (Chess Player (No. 69), Nottingham 1968. 52 pp.). Elo is from the unofficial FIDE Rating List April 1968: http://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/Elo196.... Round dates are from British Chess Magazine, June and July 1968.
1) La Vanguardia, 6 April 1968, p. 63: http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/....
2) CHESS magazine, May 1968, pp. 234-237; End May 1968, pp. 263-270.
3) British Chess Magazine, June 1968, pp. 163-169; July 1968, pp. 207-210.
4) Wikipedia article: H%C3%B4tel Hermitage Monte-Carlo.
5) Chess Life, July 1968, p. 239.
Original collection: Game Collection: Monte Carlo 1968 by User: Tabanus. Thanks to User: TheFocus for providing round dates, User: Chessical for information from Chess Life, and User: Paint My Dragon for information from CHESS and the British Chess Magazine.
Kibitzing
