Maribor is the second-largest city in Slovenia. In 1941 it was in a region annexed by Nazi Germany. German troops marched into the town at 9pm on April 8, 1941. On April 26th Adolf Hitler visited Maribor and a grand reception was organized by the local Germans. Immediately after, Nazi Germany began mass expulsions of Slovenes to Croatia, Serbia and later to the concentration and work camps in Germany.
The Nazi goal was to Germanize the population of after the war. Slovene patriots were taken hostage and many were shot in the prisons of Maribor and Graz.
Maribor was the site of a German prisoner-of-war camp from 1941 to 1945 for British, Australian, and New Zealand troops who had been captured in Crete in 1941.
In 1944, the largest mass rescue of POWs of the war in Europe took place when 105 Allied prisoners from the camp were freed by Slovene partisans.
The city was systematically bombed by the Allies in the closing years of World War II.
The raids devastated nearly half of the city and by the end of the war Maribor was the most war-damaged major town of Yugoslavia.
After the War the German-speaking population, except those who had actively supported the resistance, was expelled in May 1945 and Croatian Home Guard members and their relatives were executed by the Yugoslav Army.
After Slovenia seceded from Yugoslavia in 1991, the city's economy was severely strained and unemployment was at nearly 25 percent. In 2012–13 protests over the economy in Maribor spread to all of Slovenia.
In 1967 things were calmer and the big chess tournament held there (at the time Maribor was in Yugoslavia) was won by the man Karpov called “the world champion of amateurs”, Wolfgang Unzicker (1925-2006) of West Germany. Professionally Unzicker was an administrative judge in Munich.
He won seven West German Championships from 1948 until 1965 and in the 1950s was among the world's top twenty best players and in the 1960s and 1970s, the world's top fifty. He died on April 20, 2006, at the age of 81, during a vacation trip to Albufeira, Portugal.
Just before the start of the event the organizing committee was anxious to have the event classified as a 1A tournament which required the participation of eight GMs and four IMs. The problem was they had made a mistake in thinking one of the US invitees, William Addison of San Francisco was an IM, but he was not.
According to a Chess Life article, as a result Yugoslav Master Stojan Puc was uninvited and IM Nickolay Minev of Bulgaria and later of the United States, was substituted for Puc. Minev was in Yugoslavia and was contacted just as he was at the airport and was about to depart. I am not sure about this report because according to Wikipedia, Puc was awarded the IM title in 1950 and made an Honorary GM in 1984.
What ever the circumstances, Minev's inclusion made it possible to obtain the IM title with a fifty percent score (7.5 points).
It's interesting to note that before the tournament started Addison told Reshevsky that he thought the field was relatively weak, but as the tournament progressed he was forced to change his tune. Addison did qualify for his IM title in this tournament, but only by the skin of his teeth when he made the required 50 percent score.
Unzicker's play in this tournament was steady and conservative and he and Yugoslav's Aleaxander Matanovic were the early leaders until the later lost to East German IM Lothar Zinn. Reshevsky lost one game, to Yugoslav GM Dragoljub Janosevic after he (Reshevsky), thinking he had made 40 moves but it was actually only 39, lost on time.
Reshevsky was irked when in the last round Yugoslav GM Mario Udovcic, who had nothing to lose by playing for a win, offered Unzicker a draw after 14 moves and so deprived Reshevsky of a chance at tying for first place.
At the time Maribor's population was around 100,000 and attendance was small, but noisy and enthusiastic especially when local players Crepinsek and Musil won or drew and the crowd's applause was thunderous.
It's said that Reshevsky never studied openings, but that's not true...he just wasn't very good at retaining them! Pal Benko once reported working on openings with Reshevsky and after a break from their morning session, by the afternoon Reshevsky had forgotten most of what they had gone over in the morning!
In Maribor Reshevsky stated that he played his first serious games in six months and that, "I experimented successfully with some new openings...".
And it was for that reason that Reshevsky, who hadn't been in Yugoslavia since the 1950 Dubrovnik Olympiad, was at Maribor. He was seeking to upgrade his opening theory and get some tournament practice for the upcoming Interzonal at Sousse in 1967. That's the tournament in which Fischer famously walked out while leading. It was won by Larsen.
As for his coming to Maribor for "training", Yugoslav GM Dr. Petar Trifunovich was critical because Reshevsky, who played a large number of short draws, paid more attention to his score than anything else. All of which failed to prove, according to Trifunovich, that he could take the strain of grinding out five hours of play every day. Nor did his play demonstrate the hair-raising, sharp struggles in difficult positions in which he famously excelled. It appears to be a case of the pot calling the kettle black because Trifunovich had a reputation for drawing games...at Leipzig in 1965 he drew all 15 of his games.
Trifunovic's opinion aside, after a first round defeat by Janosevic, Reshevsky lost no more games and finished second.
When Reshevsky played at Sousse he finished tied for sixth with Hort and Stein and they had a playoff in 1968 in Los Angeles which was also tied. Owing to his better tiebreaks Reshevsky advanced to the Candidates where he was defeated by Korchnoi who scored +3 -0 =5. All in all, Reshevsky's performance in 1967 and 1968 wasn't bad for a man in his mid-50s.
In the following game black's difficulty was his inability to develop his light-squared B and R on a8. Additionally, Udovcic's weak d-Pawn was under constant pressure.
Mijo Udovcic (September 11, 1920 - April 8, 1984), professionally a judge, was a Yugoslav IM who became the first Croatian GM in 1962. He tied with Borislav Ivkov for the Yugoslav championship in 1963.
Samuel Reshevsky - Mijo Udovcic
Result: 1-0
Site: Maribor, Yugoslavia
Date: 1967
Classical Dutch
[...] 1.d4 f5 Reshevsky didn't recommend this defense because it was too difficult for black to play. 2.g3 ♘f6 3.♗g2 e6 4.♘f3 ♗e7 5.O-O O-O 6.c4 d6 Best because after the seemingly logical 6...d5 white will soon gain the initiative on the Q-side by working in b2-b4. 7.♘c3 a5 8.♕c2
13...c6
16.♘xd4 ♘c5 17.♕c2 ♗f6 18.♗e3 It's interesting to note the difference of opinions between GMs and engines. Reshevsky states that in view of black's problems of completing his development, his weak d-Pawn and white's control of more space, white has excellent prospects. Engines on the other hand evaluate the position and quite equal. 18...a4 The position has evolved into something resembling a K-Indian and this move is a thematic one, the purpose of which is to ensure the position of his N by preventing b4, but as it turns out black's N on c5 doesn't accomplish much.
8.♖e1 With the idea of playing e4 was chosen by Reshevsky against Larsen in the 1966 Piatigorsky Cup, but in that game he was unable to make any headway and a draw was soon agreed.
8...♘c6 9.e4 ♘b4 10.♕e2 fxe4 11.♘xe4 ♘xe4 12.♕xe4 Black has a couple of reasonable alternatives here: 12...Bf6, 12...d5. 12...e5 (12...d5 13.♕e2 dxc4 14.♕xc4 b5 15.♕e2 ♗b7 and white is better.) (12...♗f6 13.♗f4 d5 14.♕e2 and here lso white is better.) 13.g4
13.dxe5 ♗f5 14.♕xb7 ♖b8 15.♕a7 Reshevsky was guilty of some really sloppy analysis here. Honesly, I think he annotated the game blindfolded considering the continuation he gave! 15...♘c6 (15...♗e4 is correct. The chances would then be about equal.) 16.♕a6
16.♕e3 Honestly, how could Reshevsky have missed this retreat after which white has a considerable advantage?!
16...♖b6 Trapping the Q. 13...exd4 This is also satisfactory. 14.♘xd4 ♗f6 15.♘e6 ♗xe6 16.♕xe6 ♔h8 17.♗xb7 ♖b8 Arkell,K (2460)-Naumkin,I (2460)/ Cappelle la Grande 1992. Black has equalized.
13...h5 This hyper-aggressive move is also satisfactory for black. After 14.h3 hxg4 15.hxg4 with equal chances. Fedorowicz,J (2432)-Hoshall,S (2061)/Orlando 2019.
14.h3 Freeing his Q from the need to defend the g-Pawn.
14.a3 d5 15.cxd5 cxd5 16.♕xe5 ♘c6 17.♕h5 is roughly equal. Krueger,E (2239)-Koksch,G (2137)/ Dresden 2004
14...exd4 15.a3 Forcing black to make a critical decision. Retreat the N to a6 or play the plausible 15...d5. 15...♘a6
15...d5 16.♕b1
16.cxd5 cxd5 17.♕b1 ♘c6 black's game is preferrable according to Reshevsky.
16...dxc4 leads to an unbalanced material situation that Reshevsky felt favored black. 17.axb4 ♗xb4 18.♕c2 ♗e6 But the engines disagree believing white is better. In fact. from this position Stockfish scored +4 -0 =1 in Shootouts. 18...h5 leads to some interesting play. Stockfish 12: 19.♖ad1 hxg4 20.♘xc6 bxc6 21.♗xc5 ♗e5 22.♗xc6 ♗f5 23.♕e2 ♖c8 24.♗d5 ♔h7 25.♗d4 ♖e8 and it seems that black can, at least according to Komodo, survive the complications unscathed. Practical play is another matter.
19.♖ad1 Black's d-Pawn is coming under pressure. 19...♕e7 20.♖fe1 ♕c7 21.♕d2 ♕a5 22.♕c2 ♗e5 After this black is lost because the B is in a vulnerable position.
22...♕c7 Was recommended by Reshevsky after which he intended 23.♘f3 ♘e6 where black has a awkward position, but it's far better than what happened in the game.
22...♗d7 is his best try. After 23.♖e2 ♕c7 24.♖ed2 ♖ad8 25.b4!25...axb3 26.♘xb3 black's position is critical.
23.♘f3 ♘b3 This N outpost is useless, but there was nothing better. (23...♘e6 24.♘xe5 ♕xe5 25.♗d2 ♕f6 26.♗c3 is the end.) 24.c5 A nifty little tactical shot. 24...♕c7 (24...♘xc5 25.♘xe5 dxe5 26.♗xc5) 25.cxd6 ♗xd6 26.♘g5 Threatening mate with 27.Qxh7 26...g6 27.♕c4 ♔h8
27...♔g7 loses, too. 28.♗d4 ♘xd4 29.♕xd4 ♔h6 30.♘f3 ♗f4 31.g5 ♗xg5 32.♘xg5 ♔xg5 33.♖e5 with a winning attack.
28.♔h1 Played to prevent ...Bh2+, but it really wasn't necessary. (28.♖xd6 ♕xd6 29.♘f7 ♖xf7 30.♕xf7 ♗e6 31.♕f6 ♔g8 32.♗h6 ♕c7 33.♖xe6 wins.) 28...♗e5 Reshevsky now concludes the game in an efficient fashion. 29.♗b6 ♕xb6 30.♖xe5 ♕xf2 After this white has a mate in 6, but black was dead lost anyway. 31.♖f1 Black resigned. (31.♖e7 ♕xg2 32.♔xg2 ♖f2 33.♔xf2 ♗e6 34.♖xh7 ♔g8 35.♕xe6 ♔f8 36.♕f7#) Powered by Aquarium
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