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

Tilburg Interpolis (1990) "With the exception of Judit Polgar and Joel Lautier this year's Interpolis tournament at Tilburg witnessed a line-up of the young hopefuls most likely to constitute a future challenge to the hegemony of Kasparov and Karpov. The result was a sensation in that the 16-year-old Soviet defector Gata Kamsky (currently awaiting the more lucrative offer from either the USA or France before he decides on his eventual domicile) almost ran away with first place. Only a relative collapse towards the end when the teenager seemed nervous and tired robbed him of perhaps the most stunning outright victory ever achieved by a player of his age. Vassily Ivanchuk seized his chance to tie first by scoring some important victories towards the end, specifically in the last round with black against Nikolic. ... Nigel Short's performance towards the end was tremendous, and until the dying moments of the tournament he had prospects of tying for first. A win in the last round would have achieved this desired goal. Instead, he went down tragically to Timman in a game where our top ranked player seemed suddenly and sadly bereft of form." (Keene) The 14th Interpolis tournament was a Category XVI event (Elo average 2643). Chief arbiter Geurt Gijssen was assisted by Constant Orbaan. Tilburg, the Netherlands, 7-24 September 1990 Age Elo* 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 ————————————————————————————————————————————————— =1 Kamsky 16 2650 •• ½1 1½ ½0 10 1½ 1½ ½½ 8½ =1 Ivanchuk 21 2680 ½0 •• ½0 ½1 11 ½½ ½1 1½ 8½ 3 Gelfand 22 2680 0½ ½1 •• 10 0½ 11 ½½ ½1 8 4 Short 25 2610 ½1 ½0 01 •• 10 ½0 1½ ½1 7½ =5 Timman 38 2660 01 00 1½ 01 •• ½½ 0½ ½1 6½ =5 Andersson 39 2630 0½ ½½ 00 ½1 ½½ •• ½½ ½1 6½ 7 Nikolic 30 2600 0½ ½0 ½½ 0½ 1½ ½½ •• ½½ 6 8 Seirawan 30 2635 ½½ 0½ ½0 ½0 ½0 ½0 ½½ •• 4½ ————————————————————————————————————————————————— Fourteen rounds in 18 days, starting on Friday 7 September (56 games). Rest days 11, 15, 19 & 23 September. Kamsky and Ivanchuk tied for first with 8.5/14. Kamsky took his third and final GM norm and confirmed his rating. Sources *FIDE rating list July 1990 (https://web.archive.org/web/2022112...) Game Collection: Tilburg Interpolis 1990 (by User: suenteus po 147) Chess Life, 1/1991, pp. 33-34, 39 (https://uscf1-nyc1.aodhosting.com/C...) Sakkélet, 11-12/1990, pp. 325-329 (https://adt.arcanum.com/en/view/Sak...) Tidskrift för Schack, 8/1990, pp. 328-332 (https://tfsarkiv.schack.se/pdf/1990...) Jaque 295, 15 November 1990, pp. 774-780 (https://www.olimpbase.org/leagueES/...) Raymond Keene in The Spectator, 29 September 1990 (https://archive.spectator.co.uk/art...) School Mates, January/February 1991, p. 4 (https://uscf1-nyc1.aodhosting.com/C...) Dutch newspapers (available at https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten) Previous: Tilburg Interpolis (1989). Next: Tilburg Interpolis (1991)  page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 56  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. P Nikolic vs Timman   1-0 36 1990 Tilburg Interpolis E15 Queen's Indian 2. Short vs Andersson   ½-½ 49 1990 Tilburg Interpolis B27 Sicilian 3. Ivanchuk vs Seirawan 1-0 61 1990 Tilburg Interpolis D29 Queen's Gambit Accepted, Classical 4. Kamsky vs Gelfand 1-0 32 1990 Tilburg Interpolis B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb (Fianchetto) Variation 5. Seirawan vs P Nikolic   ½-½ 24 1990 Tilburg Interpolis B10 Caro-Kann 6. Andersson vs Ivanchuk   ½-½ 43 1990 Tilburg Interpolis A04 Reti Opening 7. Kamsky vs Short ½-½ 43 1990 Tilburg Interpolis C10 French 8. Gelfand vs Timman 0-1 47 1990 Tilburg Interpolis E06 Catalan, Closed, 5.Nf3 9. Timman vs Seirawan ½-½ 63 1990 Tilburg Interpolis B12 Caro-Kann Defense 10. Ivanchuk vs Kamsky ½-½ 38 1990 Tilburg Interpolis C60 Ruy Lopez 11. P Nikolic vs Andersson   ½-½ 30 1990 Tilburg Interpolis D12 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 12. Short vs Gelfand 0-1 53 1990 Tilburg Interpolis B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4 13. Short vs Ivanchuk   ½-½ 28 1990 Tilburg Interpolis C18 French, Winawer 14. Kamsky vs P Nikolic 1-0 30 1990 Tilburg Interpolis B07 Pirc 15. Gelfand vs Seirawan   ½-½ 46 1990 Tilburg Interpolis A07 King's Indian Attack 16. Andersson vs Timman ½-½ 52 1990 Tilburg Interpolis D12 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 17. Seirawan vs Andersson   ½-½ 27 1990 Tilburg Interpolis A36 English 18. Ivanchuk vs Gelfand   ½-½ 44 1990 Tilburg Interpolis D76 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.cd Nxd5, 7.O-O Nb6 19. P Nikolic vs Short 0-1 36 1990 Tilburg Interpolis A92 Dutch 20. Timman vs Kamsky 0-1 75 1990 Tilburg Interpolis B12 Caro-Kann Defense 21. Timman vs Ivanchuk 0-1 48 1990 Tilburg Interpolis E15 Queen's Indian 22. Andersson vs Kamsky 0-1 34 1990 Tilburg Interpolis A48 King's Indian 23. Seirawan vs Short   ½-½ 46 1990 Tilburg Interpolis A84 Dutch 24. P Nikolic vs Gelfand   ½-½ 50 1990 Tilburg Interpolis E15 Queen's Indian 25. Short vs Timman   1-0 43 1990 Tilburg Interpolis C01 French, Exchange  page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 56    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Nov-05-23    notyetagm: First! Dec-16-24    Tabanus: Second! Dec-17-24    Open Defence: I remember being stunned by Kamsky's rise, within a year of becoming a GM he was competing with the elites Dec-17-24    Troller: <Open Defence: I remember being stunned by Kamsky's rise, within a year of becoming a GM he was competing with the elites> I am quite sure he was not a GM in this tournament, not even an IM. I have some old newspaper clippings at home; IIRC he was #8 on the rating list but had no title. This event was seen as a kind of test if he really was that good, and he certainly proved himself. Dec-17-24    Open Defence: <Troller> wow! that's amazing. His bio says he became a GM in 1990, but not the month, it would be interesting to know Dec-17-24    Open Defence: <Eight quite young GMs competed in a double round robin (all-play-all) format> says the bio of this tournament but it would be good to know for certain, I think Seirawan would have been very disappointed with his results here Jun-10-25    Troller: The July 1990 rating list linked to in the above <sources> shows Kamsky as an FM rated 2650. Given the slower workings of ratings and titles back then, it would be surprising if there was a conference during August to have him appointed. Also <Tidskrift för Schack> confirms this: <...inte ens IM!...> meaning <not even an IM!>. 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 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC