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Polgar - Spassky, Budapest, 1993
Compiled by Karpova
--*--

Negotiations for a training match between Judit Polgar and Boris Spassky began in November 1992.(1)

On November 18, Judit was informed that the match would start on January 31st, 1993. 12 games were to be played and split between Budapest, Hungary, and Sveti Stefan, Montenegro. The prize fund was to be $200,000 and the Fischer clock was to be used. The time control was 1 hour and 50 min, plus a 1 min increment per move, for the first 40 moves. Small changes were made later, with the number of games was reduced to 10, all of them to be played in Budapest.(1)

Only on January 20 had it become certain that the match would indeed take place. Judit immediately asked Lev Polugaevsky to become her second. He accepted her proposal. Spassky's seconds were Aleksander Nikitin and Yuri Balashov. During the opening ceremony at the Vakert Casino, Judit drew the number 13, so she got Black in the first game. The match took place in the ballroom of the Intercontinental Hotel, which hosted about 1000 visitors per day. A change was made for game 10, which took place in the Beke Hotel. The winner would receive $120,000 and the loser $80,000.(1)(2)

The match was being staged by Jezdimir Vasiljevic, who had financed Fischer - Spassky (1992), and was organized by Janos Kubat.(4)

Schedule:

Game 1: January 31st
Game 2: February 1st
Rest day on February 2nd
Game 3: February 3rd
Game 4: February 4th
Rest days on February 5th and 6th
Game 5: February 7th
Game 6: February 9th
Game 7: February 11th
Game 8: February 12th
Rest day on February 13th
Game 9: February 14th
Game 10: February 16th

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Polgar = 1 0 1 = = = 1 = 0 5.5 Spassky = 0 1 0 = = = 0 = 1 4.5

Video provided by Judit Polgar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmBI...

Sources

(1) Judit Polgar, Judit Polgar Teaches Chess 2 - From GM to Top Ten, Quality Chess, 2013, pages 260 to 299.

(2) Press reports have mixed claims either supporting Judit's information, or reporting $110,000 for the winner and $90,000 for the loser, e. g. Tidskrift för Schack, 03/1993, http://www.schack.se/tfs/history/19...

The dates of the rounds were deduced from (1) and the following, contemporaneous reports:

(3) Eva Kekes, Associated Press, 1993.01.30, http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1993/S...

(4) Alex Bandy, Associated Press, 1993.02.01, http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1993/P...

(5) Alex Bandy, The Daily Gazette, 1993.02.01, http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...

(6) Alex Bandy, Associated Press, 1993.02.04, http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1993/P...

(7) The New York Times, 1993.02.05, http://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/05/a...

(8) The New York Times, 1993.02.10, http://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/10/a...

(9) Neues Deutschland, 1993.02.11, http://www.neues-deutschland.de/art...

(10) The New York Times, 1993.02.12, http://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/12/a...

(11) The New York Times, 1993.02.13, 1993, http://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/13/a...

(12) Alex Bandy, Associated Press, 1993.02.14, http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1993/P...

(13) The New York Times, 1993.02.15, http://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/15/a...

(14) The New York Times, 1993.02.17, http://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/17/a...

Rd 1
Spassky vs Polgar, 1993 
(E81) King's Indian, Samisch, 39 moves, 1/2-1/2

Rd 2
Polgar vs Spassky, 1993 
(C95) Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer, 40 moves, 1-0

Rd 3
Spassky vs Polgar, 1993 
(E75) King's Indian, Averbakh, Main line, 46 moves, 1-0

Rd 4
Polgar vs Spassky, 1993 
(C60) Ruy Lopez, 65 moves, 1-0

Rd 5
Spassky vs Polgar, 1993
(E71) King's Indian, Makagonov System (5.h3), 34 moves, 1/2-1/2

Rd 6
Polgar vs Spassky, 1993
(C86) Ruy Lopez, Worrall Attack, 43 moves, 1/2-1/2

Rd 7
Spassky vs Polgar, 1993
(E81) King's Indian, Samisch, 23 moves, 1/2-1/2

Rd 8
Polgar vs Spassky, 1993 
(C95) Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer, 42 moves, 1-0

Rd 9
Spassky vs Polgar, 1993 
(E81) King's Indian, Samisch, 56 moves, 1/2-1/2

Rd 10
Polgar vs Spassky, 1993 
(C95) Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer, 63 moves, 0-1

10 games

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