The event in 1968 was organized by the French chess magazine Europe Echecs. In addition to the main event there were also Masters, Open and Junior events.
For the 1968 main tournament a dozen strong GM's were invited, but British master and writer Harry Golombek groused that the inclusion of the two French players (Sylvain Zinzer and Rene Letzelter) was absurd and a waste of valuable places.
The Great Dane, Bent Larsen won his fifth successive first place; the others were: Havana (1967), Winnipeg (1967), Sousse Interzonal (1967) and Palma de Mallorca (1967).
Fischer, who had finished first at Monte Carlo the previous year, was a noticeable absence...because of his absurd demands tournament officials refused to even consider inviting him. Besides, the previous year when his trophy was presented to him by Prince Rainier and Princess Grace, being the execrable snot face that he was, Fischer refused to pose for a photograph with them. It's understandable why the tournament officials didn't want to deal with him.
The Masters tournament was won by Karoly Honfi ahead of Predrag Ostojic. The Open tournament was won by George Kuprejanov and the junior event was won by Georg Eppinger.
In the Major event, the star-studded field of eleven other Grandmasters were unable to stop Larsen. From the very start he was never out of the lead although Botvinnik, Smyslov and Byrne kept the pace for a
while.
Larsen's play kept his opponents off guard. He sacrificed a
Pawn for positional considerations against Gheorghiu, but against Botvinnik he played eccentric Nimzovichean strategy and got into trouble, but sharp tactics salvaged the draw.
In round 12 he surprised everybody by making a practical decision and accepting a draw in a superior position against Smyslov. The draw assured him of a tie for first place even if he lost in the last round and Botvinnik won.
Botvinnik played steady, solid chess and might have achieved a tie for first had he continued his last round game against Damjanovic because he had good chances. Smyslov and Hort shared third place and along with Botvinnik were the only undefeated players.
Smyslov's play in the tournament was a bit casual and lacked sharpness. Hort played his usual tough chess while Byrne's play was erratic, sometimes he took early draws in positions that were slightly favorable (against Smyslov and Forintos), but at other times he sought out complex, difficult position where the outcome was going to be unclear. For example, against Bptvinnik, after 25 moves the position was so dangerous they decided to repeat moves.
The other American player, Pal Benko complained of fatigue resulting from his recent first place finish in the National Open that was held in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Against Botvinnik he had a positional advantage then made an unsound piece sacrifice and lost.
Romanian star Florin Gheorghiu threw away three or four games through carelessness play and shoddy technique. The powerful Hungarian GM Lajos Portisch player had an upcoming match against Larsen and seemed distracted; he was the only GM to be upset by the French players when he losy to Letzelter.
In the following game Botvinnik's opening strategy was based on his fianchettoed Bishop and when Portisch made a minor mistake, his Q-side came under pressure. Seeking to relieve the pressure he undertook to regroup his pieces and then WHAMO! Botvinnik launched a K-side attack that involved sacrificing one Rook and then offering up the other one.
[Event "Monte Carlo"]
[Site "Monte Carlo MNC"]
[Date "1968.04.10"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mikhail Botvinnik"]
[Black "Lajos Portisch"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A22"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 14.1"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "1968.04.03"]
{English Opening: Four Knights Variation} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 {[%cal Bg8f6,
Bf6d5,Bd5b6][%mdl 32]} 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Be6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O Nb6 {
A reversed Sicilian Dragon has been reached with white having an extra move.
It should be noted that as is often the case, the extra move is of no great
value because black's position is quite sound. Play will be centered around
white's fianchettoed B which black would like, if possible, to exchange, but
that will prove difficult.} 8. d3 Be7 9. a3 a5 {This move has disappeared from
practice in favor of 9...O-O. Portish's prevents the advance of white's b-Pawn,
but has the disavantage of weakening his Q-side..the a-Pawn is weak and b5 is
available to white.} 10. Be3 O-O 11. Na4 {Exchanging the N on b6 leaves the
b-Pawn vulnerable to attack along the b-file.} Nxa4 {Willingly falling in with
white's intentions is a questionable decision.necause his Q-side Ps quickly
become the focus of white's attention.} (11... Nd5 {as played in
Gheorghiu-Mariotti, Manila, 1976 was a better option. After} 12. Bc5 b6 13.
Bxe7 Ndxe7 {black was in good shape and white has lost time with 11.Na4}) 12.
Qxa4 Bd5 {Because an exchange sacrifice (Rxc6) weakening black's Ps is a
potential possibility Portisch takes measures to prevent it.} (12... Qd7 13.
Rfc1 Rfd8 14. Bc5 {Forintos-Sapi, Hungarian Championship, 1968, is equal after
14...Bf6, but black erred with} Bd5 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Qxd7 Rxd7 17. Bxd5 {
and black has won a P.}) 13. Rfc1 {[%cal Bf1c1,Bc1c2,Bc2c7,Bc7f7][%mdl 32]} (
13. Rac1 Rb8 14. Qb5 Nd4 15. Nxd4 c6 16. Qa4 exd4 17. Bxd5 dxe3 18. Bf3 exf2+
19. Kxf2 Qb6+ {is equal. Vedmediuc,S (2430)-Vavric,P (2235) Plancoet FRA 2014})
13... Re8 {Another defensive move. This one is designed to guard against the
possibility of white playing Qb5 (a consequence of black's 9th move!) which
gives him threats against the P on b7 and, also, tactical threats against
black's e-Pawn. Portisch will also move the N and play ...c6. But, before he
can do that, he has to defend the e-Pawn and this and the B retreat next move
accomplish that purpose.} 14. Rc2 Bf8 15. Rac1 {A crucial position! White has
a clear advantage owing to his pressure on the c-file. Portisch continues with
his plan of regrouping his pieces because after his next move he was under the
impression that for tacticla Botvinnik couldn't take the c-Pawn...he was
seriously wrong!} Nb8 {[%mdl 8192] ...and loses.} (15... h6 {was a much better
option.} 16. Bc5 e4 17. dxe4 Bxe4 18. Rd2 Qf6 19. Bxf8 Kxf8 {White is better
and went on to win, but it's the best choice black has. Lombaers,P (2255)
-Kenney,D (2000) Caleta ENG 2014}) (15... Ne7 {is also a resonable choice, but
it's tricky and here, too, white retains the advantage after} 16. Rxc7 Bc6 17.
R7xc6 (17. R1xc6 {Against the proper defense this only results in approximate
equality.} bxc6 (17... Nxc6 18. Rxf7 {as in the game.}) 18. Rb7 Nd5 {equals})
17... Nxc6 18. h4 h6 {White is ony slightly better.}) 16. Rxc7 Bc6 {The point..
.the Q is attacked and the R is trapped.} 17. R1xc6 {The first bombshell...
black's light squared B is eliminated while white's now has no opposition.}
bxc6 {He runs into the same reply after 17...Nc6} 18. Rxf7 {The second
bombshell. If black captures this R then white struts his stuff on the light
squares.} h6 (18... Kxf7 19. Qc4+ Kg6 (19... Ke7 20. Nxe5 Qc7 21. Bg5+ Kd6 22.
Qd4+ Ke6 23. Bh3#) 20. Qg4+ Kf7 21. Ng5+ Kg8 22. Qc4+ {wins}) 19. Rb7 {The R
quielty slips away leaving in its wake a completely destroyed balack K-side.}
Qc8 20. Qc4+ Kh8 (20... Qe6 {is of no avail. White snags another P.} 21. Nxe5)
21. Nh4 {[%cal Bf3h4,Bh4g6,Bg6e5][%mdl 32] White can now win as he chooses.}
Qxb7 {He finally takes the second R, but white uses the light squate weakness
to finish the game.} 22. Ng6+ Kh7 23. Be4 Bd6 24. Nxe5+ g6 25. Bxg6+ Kg7 26.
Bxh6+ {[%mdl 512] A nice finishing touch to what Fritz 17's auto-annotstion
evaluates as a flawless game by Botvinnik. Portisch resigned.} (26. Bxh6+ Kxh6
27. Qh4+ Kg7 28. Qh7+ Kf8 29. Qxb7) 1-0
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