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Manila Interzonal (1976) As part of the cycle ending up with the Karpov - Korchnoi World Championship (1978), the three best players from this event would advance to the 1977 Candidates matches. Qualified from the zonal tournaments were: Pachman (1) from Barcelona (1975), Ribli from Reykjavik (1975), Browne from the US Championship (1975), Biyiasas from Calgary (1975), Gheorghiu from Vraca (1975), Panno and Quinteros from Fortaleza (1975), Tan and Torre from the Asian Pacific Championship (1975), Mariotti from Caorle (1975), Harandi from Tehran (1975), Tseshkovsky and Balashov from Vilnius (1975), and Uhlmann (1) from Arandjelovac (1976). (2) Spassky, Mecking and Polugaevsky, qualified from the 1974 Candidates matches, whereas Ljubojevic, Kavalek (as the reserve for Gennadi Kuzmin) and Hort were selected by a FIDE committee. (2) Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (who would play at the Biel Interzonal (1976)) and Spassky had an extra advantage: if they could not reach top three, and if ex-World Champion Robert James Fischer did not play in the Candidates, they could decide between them who would take his place. (3) If Petrosian advanced from Biel (which he did, after the Varese Interzonal Playoff (1976)), Spassky would take Fischer's place. Leningrad and Petropolis in 1973 was the first time that FIDE had split the Interzonal stage into two parts, inviting invidious comparisons over the relative strength of the two events. While the participants had been divided equally according to Elo, it was argued that this took no account of youth and the hidden strength of players who were rapidly improving, as against those who were in decline. Back then, the division of contestants had brought about a formal complaint from Bent Larsen, who objected to being allotted to the ‘stronger’ Leningrad Interzonal (1973). He may well have been correct, as both Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi from that event, ended up contesting the 1974 Candidates final. In 1976 it was Mecking who was alleging an imbalance in strength, presumably on grounds of youth, as he felt that the Phillipines event was stronger than the Biel Interzonal (1976). (4) Press conference 13 June (video): http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/P... (5) Mecking and Hort emerged as leaders after a few rounds and kept the position until the end. (6) There was a high number of games being won and lost on time and nearly always on move 40. This caused onlookers to speculate whether the unusual clock design was misleading the players into thinking they had more time left than was actually the case. (4) Tseshkovsky had been the winner at Dubna (1976), ahead of Anthony Miles, and his confident display put him among the world’s elite grandmasters. In Round 10 he turned down a draw offer from Mecking, but forgot about his clock. (4) After 12 rounds, Mecking had collected 9.5 points, Hort 8.5, Polugaevsky 8, Kavalek, Ljubojevic, Ribli and Tseshkovsky 7, etc. (6) The most controversial moment came in Round 16. The players had been warned of an early start time, but Quinteros arrived late and was defaulted, giving Ribli his simplest point. The Argentinian appealed to a jury of five, whose "neutrality" may have been impaired by issues of self-interest. With one abstention, they failed to reach a verdict, on whether a replay might be possible. The matter was then referred via the arbiter to FIDE president Max Euwe, who ruled that the default law should be upheld, since the players had received adequate notice and a reminder. (4) In Round 17, Mecking lost to Spassky, but he was still in the lead. In the final round, Tseshkovsky could not overcome Pachman and therefore failed to match the scores of Hort and Polugaevsky. Manila, Philippines, 13 June - 10 July 1976 Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 GM Mecking 2620 * ˝ ˝ 1 ˝ ˝ ˝ 1 ˝ 0 ˝ 1 ˝ 1 1 ˝ ˝ 1 1 1 13 =2 GM Polugaevsky 2635 ˝ * 0 ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ 1 ˝ 1 ˝ ˝ 1 ˝ 1 1 ˝ 1 1 12˝ =2 GM Hort 2600 ˝ 1 * 0 ˝ 0 ˝ 0 ˝ ˝ 1 ˝ 1 ˝ 1 1 1 1 1 1 12˝ 4 GM Tseshkovsky 2550 0 ˝ 1 * ˝ ˝ 0 1 ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ 0 1 1 1 1 ˝ 1 1 12 =5 GM Ribli 2575 ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ * 1 1 1 ˝ 0 ˝ 0 1 1 ˝ 0 ˝ ˝ 1 1 11˝ =5 GM Ljubojevic 2620 ˝ ˝ 1 ˝ 0 * 0 0 1 ˝ 0 ˝ 1 1 1 1 ˝ 1 ˝ 1 11˝ =7 GM Kavalek 2540 ˝ ˝ ˝ 1 0 1 * ˝ ˝ 1 ˝ 1 0 ˝ 0 0 ˝ ˝ 1 1 10˝ =7 GM Panno 2520 0 ˝ 1 0 0 1 ˝ * 1 1 0 ˝ ˝ 0 ˝ ˝ 1 1 ˝ 1 10˝ =7 GM Balashov 2545 ˝ 0 ˝ ˝ ˝ 0 ˝ 0 * 1 ˝ ˝ ˝ 1 ˝ ˝ 1 1 1 ˝ 10˝ =10 GM Spassky 2630 1 ˝ ˝ ˝ 1 ˝ 0 0 0 * ˝ 1 ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ 1 10 =10 GM Gheorghiu 2540 ˝ 0 0 ˝ ˝ 1 ˝ 1 ˝ ˝ * 1 ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ 0 ˝ 1 ˝ 10 =10 GM Uhlmann 2555 0 ˝ ˝ ˝ 1 ˝ 0 ˝ ˝ 0 0 * 1 1 ˝ 1 1 ˝ 0 1 10 =10 GM Mariotti 2470 ˝ ˝ 0 1 0 0 1 ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ 0 * 1 ˝ ˝ 1 1 1 0 10 14 GM Quinteros 2540 0 0 ˝ 0 0 0 ˝ 1 0 ˝ ˝ 0 0 * 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 15 GM Browne 2585 0 ˝ 0 0 ˝ 0 1 ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ 0 * 1 1 ˝ 0 1 8˝ 16 GM Torre 2505 ˝ 0 0 0 1 0 1 ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ 0 ˝ 0 0 * 0 1 1 0 7 17 IM Biyiasas 2460 ˝ 0 0 0 ˝ ˝ ˝ 0 0 ˝ 1 0 0 0 0 1 * 1 ˝ 0 6 =18 GM Pachman 2520 0 ˝ 0 ˝ ˝ 0 ˝ 0 0 ˝ ˝ ˝ 0 0 ˝ 0 0 * ˝ ˝ 5 =18 IM Tan 2365 0 0 0 0 0 ˝ 0 ˝ 0 ˝ 0 1 0 0 1 0 ˝ ˝ * ˝ 5 =18 IM Harandi 2380 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ˝ 0 ˝ 0 1 0 0 1 1 ˝ ˝ * 5 Chief arbiter: IA Florencio Campomanes. (4) Mecking, Polugaevsky and Hort advanced. They were joined by Bent Larsen, Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian and Lajos Portisch from the Biel Interzonal, for play against Spassky (as Fischer did not want to play) and Viktor Korchnoi (the loser of the Karpov - Korchnoi Candidates Final (1974)) in the next year's Candidates matches: Korchnoi - Petrosian Candidates Quarterfinal (1977) Portisch - Larsen Candidates Quarterfinal (1977) Polugaevsky - Mecking Candidates Quarterfinal (1977) Spassky - Hort Candidates Quarterfinal (1977) For Mecking and Polugaevsky, it was the second time they had qualified for the Candidates. For Hort, it was his first trip to the elimination stage. There were similarities between this contest and the Petropolis Interzonal (1973). Mecking was the winner on both occasions, and the Yugoslav Ljubojevic failed to impress each time. The heat and humidity had caused offence at both venues too, especially to the European contingent, who claimed that their form had been adversely affected. (4) The Sicilian Defence featured in 63 games out of 190, and at first this appeared a disproportionately high number. (7) Kevin J O'Connell later conceded that it no more than reflected its surging popularity on the world stage. At the end of the tournament, the World Champion Anatoly Karpov arrived in Manila to play a double round robin against Torre, Ljubojevic and Browne, see Manila (1976). 1) By replacing Jesus Diez del Corral (who had other commitments). Several masters were not allowed by their federations to play in Barcelona (1975) because of the Franco regime. FIDE therefore added a 4-player playoff in Arandjelovac (1976), from which Uhlmann qualified. 2) Zonals 1975-1978 (C10), by Mark Weeks at http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zon.... 3) Harry Golombek in The Times, 31 July 1976, p. 10. 4) Bernard Cafferty in CHESS, July 1976, pp. 308-309. 5) We see Spassky and wife, Kavalek (blue shirt), Jan Timman (Kavalek's second), Ljubojevic (with microphone), Mecking (at 0:09), Polugaevsky (at 0:16), Torre, Campomanes, and others. 6) Sakkvilágbajnokság 1976: Manila, Biel, Varese, by Janos Flesch (Sport, Budapest 1979. 391 pp.). 7) Kevin J O'Connell in British Chess Magazine, September 1976, pp. 381-394. Original collections: Game Collection: Interzonals 1976: Manila by User: capybara and Game Collection: Manila Interzonal 1976 by User: Tabanus. Except the first paragraph, most of the text in this report was written by User: Paint My Dragon. Round dates are from British Chess Magazine, September 1976, pp. 381-394.  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 190  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Kavalek vs L A Tan   1-0 41 1976 Manila Interzonal B42 Sicilian, Kan 2. E Torre vs Hort   0-1 35 1976 Manila Interzonal B67 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...a6 Defense, 8...Bd7 3. Ribli vs Browne   ½-½ 49 1976 Manila Interzonal A22 English 4. K Harandi vs Gheorghiu   ½-½ 72 1976 Manila Interzonal B42 Sicilian, Kan 5. Ljubojevic vs Tseshkovsky   ½-½ 25 1976 Manila Interzonal C87 Ruy Lopez 6. Panno vs Quinteros   0-1 41 1976 Manila Interzonal A04 Reti Opening 7. Spassky vs Uhlmann 1-0 51 1976 Manila Interzonal C16 French, Winawer 8. Balashov vs P Biyiasas 1-0 27 1976 Manila Interzonal C75 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense 9. S Mariotti vs Mecking   ½-½ 18 1976 Manila Interzonal A39 English, Symmetrical, Main line with d4 10. Pachman vs Polugaevsky   ½-½ 34 1976 Manila Interzonal A13 English 11. Tseshkovsky vs Polugaevsky   ½-½ 21 1976 Manila Interzonal B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 12. Uhlmann vs Ribli 1-0 40 1976 Manila Interzonal A30 English, Symmetrical 13. Gheorghiu vs Panno 1-0 42 1976 Manila Interzonal C41 Philidor Defense 14. Hort vs S Mariotti   1-0 41 1976 Manila Interzonal D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 15. Browne vs E Torre   1-0 41 1976 Manila Interzonal A79 Benoni, Classical, 11.f3 16. Ljubojevic vs Balashov   1-0 60 1976 Manila Interzonal B44 Sicilian 17. P Biyiasas vs Spassky   ½-½ 29 1976 Manila Interzonal D38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation 18. Quinteros vs Kavalek   ½-½ 25 1976 Manila Interzonal C69 Ruy Lopez, Exchange, Gligoric Variation 19. L A Tan vs Pachman   ½-½ 32 1976 Manila Interzonal C69 Ruy Lopez, Exchange, Gligoric Variation 20. Mecking vs K Harandi 1-0 33 1976 Manila Interzonal C78 Ruy Lopez 21. Polugaevsky vs L A Tan   1-0 41 1976 Manila Interzonal D19 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Dutch 22. Pachman vs Quinteros   0-1 75 1976 Manila Interzonal E81 King's Indian, Samisch 23. K Harandi vs Hort   0-1 36 1976 Manila Interzonal B83 Sicilian 24. Spassky vs Ljubojevic   ½-½ 30 1976 Manila Interzonal A60 Benoni Defense 25. Panno vs Mecking 0-1 43 1976 Manila Interzonal D78 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.O-O c6  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 190    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Mar-27-15    perfidious: This event, the second consecutive cycle in which Henrique Mecking emerged as an interzonal winner, marked the Brazilian grandmaster's zenith in world title qualifiers, as he would go down to defeat by -1 =11 in Polugaevsky - Mecking Candidates Quarterfinal (1977), then withdraw after two rounds from the Rio IZ 1979 due to the myasthenia gravis which forced the end of his career for many years. Apr-27-15    offramp: Spassky ended up on "+1". He didn't try hard as he knew Fischer (defeated ex-champion) was not going to play and that he, Spassky, would thereby qualify for the Candidates' matches for some other god-forsaken reason. Apr-27-15    Petrosianic: The Manila interzonal was played before the Biel one. Spassky couldn't be sure that he had Fischer's spot until after seeing the results of the next Interzonal. He might have had to play Petrosian, Portisch, or both to get that spot. May-27-16    RookFile: I think Spassky was understandably a little burnt out. NOTE: You need to pick a username and password to post a reply. Getting your account takes less than a minute, is totally anonymous, and 100% free—plus, it entitles you to features otherwise unavailable. Pick your username now and join the chessgames community! If you already have an account, you should login now. 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