Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing

Riga Interzonal (1979) To have a challenger for World Champion Anatoly Karpov it was necessary to qualify eight players for the Candidates quarterfinal knockout matches that would be held in 1980. Viktor Korchnoi and Boris Spassky had qualified by having reached the Korchnoi - Spassky Candidates Final (1977/78). The other six players would qualify from two interzonal tournaments: Riga (this page), and Rio de Janeiro Interzonal (1979). From Rio, Robert Huebner, Lajos Portisch and Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian qualified. To play in the interzonals the players had to qualify from zonal tournaments. For the Riga interzonal, Miles had qualified from the Amsterdam Zonal (1978) tournament. Grünfeld qualified from the Lucerne Zonal (1979), Tarjan and Mednis from the US Championship (1978), Rodriguez from Ito Zonal (1978), Adorjan, Ribli and Gheorghiu from Warsaw Zonal (1979), Ljubojevic and Bouaziz from Praia da Rocha Zonal (1978), Tseshkovsky, Romanishin and Kuzmin from Lvov Zonal (1978) and Trois and Riemsdijk from Tramandai Zonal (1978). (1) Larsen and Polugaevsky qualified from reaching the Candidates matches in 1977. (2) Mikhail Tal from the host country had a wild card, which had caused protests in Russia. (3) Roman Hernandez was originally situated in the draw as no. 1, but on his failure to arrive his name was withdrawn and the draw was modified. Lubomir Kavalek had qualified from the USA zone, but due to an injury to a leg, while playing tennis as part of his physical preparation, he could not travel and his place was taken by Mednis. Vlastimil Hort withdrew at the last moment through sickness, and was replaced by Romanishin. (4) Arbiters: Miroslav Filip (chief) and Lev Yakovlevich Abramov (deputy), assisted by Vladimir Dvorkovich (secretary), Vladas Mikenas, Zigfrid Rekshan, and Paul Podniyek. (4) The venue was a scene in the newly constructed "Rajnis-teatern" (5) (Daile Theatre (6)). According to the drawing system, players from the same country could not meet in the last six rounds. Tal met Tseshkovsky, Polugaevsky, Kuzmin and Romanishin in the first four! After his draw offer in Round 1 was rejected, he defeated them in succession, (3) and in the end he won an interzonal for the third time, and by 2.5 points, one of the largest margins in history. "Perhaps because of a close professional and personal relationship with World Champion Anatoly Karpov, Tal's play has steadied and his results improved. According to the Soviet grandmaster and writer Alexander Kotov, Tal is now playing the best chess of his life". (7) Riga, Soviet Union (Latvia), 5-29 September 1979 Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts 1 GM Tal 2615 * 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 14 2 GM Polugaevsky 2625 0 * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 11½ =3 GM Adorjan 2525 ½ ½ * ½ 0 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 11 =3 GM Ribli 2595 ½ ½ ½ * 1 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 11 =5 GM Gheorghiu 2540 0 ½ 1 0 * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 0 1 10½ =5 GM Romanishin 2560 0 0 1 1 ½ * 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 10½ 7 GM Larsen 2620 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 * 0 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 10 =8 GM Kuzmin 2565 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 9 =8 GM Miles 2560 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 * 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 =8 GM Tseshkovsky 2560 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 9 11 GM Tarjan 2525 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 * 0 1 0 1 0 ½ 1 8 12 IM Grünfeld 2430 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 * 0 1 1 0 ½ 1 7½ 13 GM Ljubojevic 2590 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 * ½ ½ 1 1 0 6½ =14 IM Bouaziz 2420 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 1 0 ½ * 0 ½ 1 1 5½ =14 IM Mednis 2510 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 * ½ ½ 1 5½ =14 IM Riemsdijk 2435 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 1 0 ½ ½ * ½ 0 5½ 17 IM Trois 2415 0 0 0 0 1 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ 5 18 IM Rodriguez 2370 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 0 1 ½ * 4 Tal and Polugaevsky advanced to the Polugaevsky - Tal Candidates Quarterfinal (1980). The shared third place had to be decided by a playoff a few weeks later. Condition: best of six games, or first to get 3,5 points. If 3-3, the winner would be the one with better Sonneborn-Berger score in the interzonal (Adorjan). (8) Playoff in Budapest 20 October - 4 November 1979 (see Budapest Interzonal Playoff (1979) for games): Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 GM Adorjan 2525 0 ½ 0 1 1 ½ 3 2 GM Ribli 2595 1 ½ 1 0 0 ½ 3 Adorjan advanced to the Hübner - Adorjan Candidates Quarterfinal (1980). Tournament books: Interzonal tournaments. Riga -79. Rio de Janeiro -79 by V. I. Chepizhny (Physical Culture and Sports, Moscow 1980. 415 p.) (in Russian, covers the playoff, not seen); Riga Interzonal 1979 by Anthony Miles and Jonathan Speelman (Batsford, London 1979. 80 p.) (with round dates). Notes 1) Mark Weeks at https://web.archive.org/web/2013101.... 2) Tidskrift för Schack, vol. 85 (1979), p. 11. 3) Tidskrift för Schack, vol. 85, p. 237. The text says "in Soviet". 4) Miles' tournament book. 5) Tidskrift för Schack, vol. 85, p. 240. 6) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped.... 7) Shelby Lyman in Springfield Union, 7 October 1979, p. 111. 8) Harry Golombek in The Times, 17 November 1979, p. 13. Original collections: Game Collection: Interzonals 1979: Riga by User: capybara and Game Collection: Riga Interzonal 1979 by User: Tabanus.  page 1 of 7; games 1-25 of 153  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Y Gruenfeld vs Adorjan   ½-½ 15 1979 Riga Interzonal B33 Sicilian 2. Ljubojevic vs Larsen   ½-½ 19 1979 Riga Interzonal B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation 3. Miles vs R Rodriguez 1-0 38 1979 Riga Interzonal D85 Grunfeld 4. F Trois vs Polugaevsky 0-1 45 1979 Riga Interzonal E15 Queen's Indian 5. Gheorghiu vs Romanishin   ½-½ 24 1979 Riga Interzonal E12 Queen's Indian 6. Tal vs Tseshkovsky 1-0 42 1979 Riga Interzonal B33 Sicilian 7. H van Riemsdijk vs Tarjan 1-0 65 1979 Riga Interzonal B95 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6...e6 8. E Mednis vs S Bouaziz   1-0 61 1979 Riga Interzonal B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation 9. Ribli vs G Kuzmin   ½-½ 19 1979 Riga Interzonal A16 English 10. Adorjan vs R Rodriguez   ½-½ 18 1979 Riga Interzonal A16 English 11. Y Gruenfeld vs Ljubojevic 0-1 37 1979 Riga Interzonal B03 Alekhine's Defense 12. Tseshkovsky vs Miles   0-1 34 1979 Riga Interzonal B77 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack 13. Polugaevsky vs Tal 0-1 28 1979 Riga Interzonal A34 English, Symmetrical 14. Romanishin vs F Trois   1-0 46 1979 Riga Interzonal A14 English 15. Tarjan vs E Mednis 1-0 38 1979 Riga Interzonal B67 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...a6 Defense, 8...Bd7 16. S Bouaziz vs Ribli   0-1 34 1979 Riga Interzonal B84 Sicilian, Scheveningen 17. G Kuzmin vs Gheorghiu   0-1 37 1979 Riga Interzonal B99 Sicilian, Najdorf, 7...Be7 Main line 18. Larsen vs H van Riemsdijk 1-0 23 1979 Riga Interzonal A00 Uncommon Opening 19. Ljubojevic vs Adorjan 0-1 26 1979 Riga Interzonal B33 Sicilian 20. Miles vs Polugaevsky 0-1 77 1979 Riga Interzonal E15 Queen's Indian 21. Tal vs Romanishin 1-0 38 1979 Riga Interzonal C93 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Smyslov Defense 22. Ribli vs Tarjan   ½-½ 17 1979 Riga Interzonal A34 English, Symmetrical 23. Gheorghiu vs S Bouaziz   1-0 59 1979 Riga Interzonal A34 English, Symmetrical 24. E Mednis vs Larsen   0-1 39 1979 Riga Interzonal B11 Caro-Kann, Two Knights, 3...Bg4 25. R Rodriguez vs Tseshkovsky   ½-½ 48 1979 Riga Interzonal A71 Benoni, Classical, 8.Bg5  page 1 of 7; games 1-25 of 153    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Oct-18-14    perfidious: This event marked the climax of Tal's third career high-water mark; pity he found himself quite unable to elude his bête noire Polugaevsky in the eventual first-round Candidates match. Oct-19-14    Eggman: As I recall special pairings at this tournament ensured that no two players from the same country could meet in the second half of the event, thus forcing the Russian players to try hard against each other in the early going, instead of coasting to the finish line with GM draws. What kind of results might Tal have achieved if all tournaments had featured this format? Oct-19-14    perfidious: The practice was enacted after Fischer's interview with Sports Illustrated regarding Curacao Candidates (1962), so Amsterdam Interzonal (1964) was the first in a world title series to feature this rule. May-14-17    offramp: I just thought of something weird. Tal was really having a great patch around this time. If his health had remained solid he might have made it through to the Candidates Final. If that final was against Korchnoi, though, he wouldn't have got any further. What I find weird is that in the next cycle Tal's great predecessor did exactly that, losing only to Kasparov in the final: Game Collection: 99999_Kasparov-Smyslov 1984 Candidates final. Perhaps Botvinnik should have had a punt in 1987. May-14-17    offramp: <Eggman: As I recall special pairings at this tournament ensured that no two players from the same country could meet in the second half of the event, thus forcing the Russian players to try hard against each other in the early going, instead of coasting to the finish line with GM draws...> USSR players, but does it matter anyway? Tal scored 4-0 against his "fellow Russians". May-14-17    Howard: Tal played all four of them in the first four rounds, if I'm not mistaken. His win against Polugaevsky was especially memorable...but then when the two of them played each other in the first round of the Candidates, the result was a different story. Dec-15-17    Howard: So, if Hernandez had to cancel out at the last minute, who replaced him? Mar-12-21    Twocolors: And of course, Tal played in his home town, giving him that famous home advantage. 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. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members. No trolling. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers. Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times. See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator. NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific tournament only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café. Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors. All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration. Spot an error? Please suggest your correction and help us eliminate database mistakes! Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us Copyright 2001-2023, Chessgames Services LLC