In 1967 the chess world lost several players: On January 10, Ludwig Engels (b. 1905) who was one of Germany's leading players in the 1930s, died in Sao Paulo, Brazil at the age of 61. In February, the Irish champion of 1933 and 1934, James Creevey died in Dublin at the age of 93. Also in February Pierre Rolland (1926-1967) the French champion in 1956 died in a car accident. On May 3, Stefan Fazekas (b. 1898) died in England, at the age of 69. Ten years earlier he had won the British Championship. A few weeks later on May 26, Gideon Stahlberg (b. 1908) while in Leningrad for a tournament died of a liver ailment at the age of 59. He was the Swedish champion 11 times and once was the Argentine bridge champion. On May 30, Alfred Brinckmann (b. 1891) died in Kiel, Germany at the age of 76. On October 25, Arpad Vajda (b. 1896) died in Budapest at the age of 71 as a result of a gas leak from a faulty oven. He was Hungarian champion in 1928.
In January "Robert Q”, a computer programmed to play chess, was beaten in its first competition with a human in the monthly Boylston Chess Club Tournament in Boston. The computer was at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, while Carl Wagner, its opponent, made his moves at the YMCA, several miles away in Boston. The moves were relayed by teletype. After this tournament Robert Q seems to have disappeared.
In April 1967, Bobby Fischer took 1st place at Monaco. He received an appearance fee of $2,000 and a 5,000 franc first prize. When the trophy was presented to him by Prince Rainier and Princess Grace, being the scrote that he was, Fischer refused to pose for a photograph with them.
In October, 1967, the Sousse Interzonal in Tunisia occupied the chess headlines. In his game against Istvan Bilek, Milan Matulovic played a losing move then took it back. Of course Bilek complained but the arbiter allowed the replacement move to stand earning Matulovic the nickname "J'adoubovic."
Bobby Fischer was playing but withdrew after leading the event with 7 wins and 3 draws. He forfeited his game with the Soviet player Gipslis because of too many games he had to play in succession as a result of the tournament organizers re-scheduling his games around his religious holidays and Sabbath. Organizers would not let him replay the forfeited game, so he withdrew.
On to Moscow...1967 marked the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution in the USSR and the Russians therefore staged all manner of events in celebration. Among those events was one of the strongest tournaments ever held in Russia which was officially known as International Tournament to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Great October Revolution.
It wasn't really an international tournament in the true sense of the word because with the exception of Najdorf of Argentina all of the players were either from Russia or its communist satellites.
It's not clear exactly why Najdorf was invited; perhaps because he fled Poland to escape the Nazis who were Russia's enemies. Pal Benko was vacationing in his native Hungary and stated that he tried o obtain an invitation, but was informed that being an American, he was persona non grata in the Soviet Union; he had also been "guilty" of fleeing Communist Hungary.
After 15 rounds Stein was in the lead with 9.5 points followed by Portisch, Bobotsov, Bronstein and Gipslis with 9.0. Round 16 was, practically speaking, the last one. Stein defeated East Germany's Wolfgang Uhlmann while Tal beat Bronstein and Smyslov beat Portisch. Gipslis-Geller and Bobotsov-Pachman were drawn.
As a result, going into the last round Stein was leading with 10.5. followed by Tal, Smyslov, Gipslis and Bobotsov with 9.5 so Stein was assured of at least a tie for first.
Round 17 need not have been played as all the leaders were apparently satisfied with their positions and did not want to take any risks. Stein and Bronstein agreed to a draw in 20 moves while Bobotsov (vs. Geller), Gipslis (vs. Petrosian) and Smyslov vs. Tal were all drawn.
One of the snappier games came in round 4 when Geller smashed Lajos Portisch who at the time was one of the world's top rated players.
Efim Geller - Lajos Portisch
Result: 1-0
Site: Moscow
Date: 1967.05.25
Ruy Lopez: Smyslov Variation
[...] 1.e4 e5 At this time Portisch had been varying from his routine 1...c5. 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 a6 4.♗a4 Perhaps this was something of a surprise because around this time Fischer had been having great success with the Exchange Variation. 4...♘f6 5.O-O ♗e7 About the time this game was played the Open Variation (5...Nxe4) had seen a resurgence thanks to Korchnoi, Unzicker and Larsen. Most players distrust the Open Variation though because of their belief that it leaves black with too many weaknesses. 6.♖e1 b5 7.♗b3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 h6 Both sides have advanced their h-Pawn on square. Why? White's purpose is to prepare d2-d4 by preventing the pin on his N, which is needed to defend d4. Black's move is played to prepare ...Re8 and ...Bf8 in an attempt to hold the strong point e5. After white plays d4 he will have the better center position and his pieces will have greater scope which, hopefully, he can exploit by launching a K-side attack. 10.d4 ♖e8 11.♘bd2 ♗f8 12.♘f1 ♗b7 Then, as now, 12...Bd7 was seen more often.
12...♗d7 13.♘g3 ♘a5 14.♗c2 c5 as in Fischer-Spassky Havana 1966 where black ended up getting a passive game.
13.♘g3 ♕d7 Usual is 13... Na5. Portisch's move was an innovation that is not completely satisfactory. 14.dxe5 dxe5 15.♘h5 This is an attempt to exploit the position of black's Q. 15...♕e7 This is questionable and results in a slight weakening of black's position. Even though he P-formation would be compromised after 15...Qxd1 that is probably the best move.
15...♕xd1 16.♘xf6 gxf6 17.♖xd1 ♖ed8 Black should be able to hold the ending even with his damaged P-formation.
16.♘h4 The threat is 17.Nf5 16...♘xh5
16...♖ad8 Illustrates white's threat of Nf5. 17.♘f5 ♖xd1 18.♘xe7 ♗xe7 19.♘xf6 ♗xf6 20.♖xd1 and white is the exchange ahead.
17.♕xh5 ♘a5 A natural looking move in the Ruy Lopez, but here it is the decisive error...amazing!!
17...♘d8 is an ugly move, but it defends f7 and it's the only move. 18.♘g6 ♕f6 19.♘xf8 ♔xf8 20.♕f5 ♕xf5 and the position is nearly equal.
18.♗g5 A stunning move!
18.♘f5 is the natural looking move here. 18...♕f6 19.♗c2 ♖ad8 20.♕g4 ♔h7 with a fully equal position.
18...♕d7 (18...hxg5 19.♘g6 mates next move.) (18...♕xg5 19.♕xf7 mates next move.) 19.♖ad1 ♗d6 (19...hxg5 20.♘g6 still mates.) 20.♗xh6 gxh6 It's hard to believe but in 1991 this game was played again up to this point in Blees,A (2380)-Markus,J (2235)/Busum 1991. In that game black played 20...Nxb3
20...♘xb3 21.♗xg7 ♔xg7 22.♘f5 ♕xf5 23.exf5 ♘c5 24.♕g5 ♔f8 25.f6 ♖e6 26.♖xd6 cxd6 27.♕g7 ♔e8 28.♕g8 ♔d7 29.♕xf7 ♔c6 30.b4 ♘d3 31.♕xe6 Black resigned.
21.♕g6 ♔f8 22.♕f6 ♔g8 23.♖e3 Black resigned.
23.♖e3 ♗xe4 24.♖xd6 cxd6 25.♕xh6 ♕g4 26.♖xe4 ♕xe4 27.♘g6 ♕b1 28.♔h2 ♕xg6 29.♕xg6 ♔h8 30.♗xf7 ♖e6 31.♗xe6 b4 32.♕h6#
23.♘f5 ♕xf5 24.♗xf7 ♔f8 25.exf5 ♗e7 26.♕g6 ♗f6 27.♕xf6 ♖e7 28.♗e6 ♖f7 29.♕xf7#
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Great victory for Leonid Stein against an elite field.
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