The Mar del Plata Variation of the King's Indian Defence (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 0–0 6. Be2 e5 7. 0–0 Nc6 8. d5 Ne7) is named after a game played between Miguel Najdorf and Svetozar Gligoric in 1953.
In 1960 the 23rd Mar del Plata International Tournament was held from March 29th to April 15th. Among the participants four grandmasters were playing: Bobby Fischer from the U.S., David Bronstein and Boris Spassky from the Soviet Union and Fridrik Olafsson from Iceland were the foreign GMs while Erich Eliskases was the sole GM from Argentina.
The 17-year old Fischer and the 23-year old Spassky, at the time the two youngest GMs in the world drew a great deal of attention by dominating the event and tying for first place. Spassky beat Fischer in their individual encounter and was undefeated, but Fischer's play impressed the Soviets, who perceived him as a potential challenger to their hegemony.
After the tournament Spassky, a journalist who rarely contributed anything in that area, wrote a report for Shakhmaty v SSSR in which he gave a lengthy report on Fischer. Spassky wrote how Fischer was willing to play any time, night or day, and was often seem playing blitz games even after a tiring evening of adjournments. Spassky commented that Fischer hated losing and if he did, he immediately wanted another game and would get angry if he failed to win. He also added that when he did lose, Fischer always claimed he had a won position. Spassky also noted that Fischer had a great knowledge of chess literature, especially Soviet bulletins and magazines. The final standings:
1-2) Spassky and Fischer 13.5
3) Bronstein 11.5
4) Olafsson 10.5
5) Bazan 9.0
6) Wexler 8.5
7) Letelier 8.0
8-10) Incutto, Redolfi and Foguelman 6.5
11-12) Bielicki and Eliskases 6.0
13-15) Marini, Alvarez and Gadia 4.0
16) Saadi 2.0
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