The women's annual event in Belgrade did not favor Women's World Champion Nona Gaprindashvili. In the 1966 tournament she shared first with Alexandra Nicolau of Romania and in 1967 tournament she was surpassed by her fellow Soviet player Tatjana Zatulovska.
Gaprindashvili's results were surprising because at the time she was considered absolutely the strongest female player in the world. In this tournament her result was passed off as a merely temporary and a passing relapse from her earlier fine form. Indeed, she didn't lose her crown until 1978 when she was defeated by 17-year-old Maia Chiburdanidze,
The top two places were again secured by representatives of the Soviet Union. Tatiana Zatulovskaya (1935-2017), who had been left in the shadow of Gaprindashvili, revived her reputation and scored a major success. However, after the tournament Zatulovska announced that, although she finished first, she was not satisfied with her play and her result was a matter of Gaprindashvili's bad luck. Zatulovskaya emigrated to Israel in 2000.
The greatest surprise of the tournament were the results of the young master candidate, 25-year-old Tatjana Belamarich of Zagreb and the veteran Vera Nedeljkovich (born 1929), several times Yugoslavian Champion.
So far as I have been able to determine Nedeljkovich is still with us and she would be 92 or 93 years old. Tatjana Belamarich was an unknown in this event and apparently she still is.
The following game was awarded the Brilliancy Prize. In it Romanian Alexandra Nicolau (1940-2013), who studied the Chinese language, showed that she could sometimes play like a GM.
Born in Bucharest, she was awarded the WIM title in 1960 and the WGM title in 1976. She was Romanian Women's Champion in 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1973. She was also Dutch Women's Champion, in 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979.
She was the daughter of Ștefan Nicolau, a Romanian virology expert. She was introduced to chess at the age of six by one of her brothers, who taught her how to play.
Following her participation in a Dutch tournament in 1974, she stayed in the country to further her studies and began playing for the Netherlands. She was awarded permanent residency and later Dutch nationality when she married Kees van der Mije.
Previously Nicolau had been involved in some political maneuvering. Earlier she had lived in Holland for several months after a tournament even though she lacked permission from the Romanian government to do so. In 1969 she wanted to study at Leiden University, but she was not allowed to return to the Netherlands and was banned from playing international tournaments. Her ban was removed after pressure from FIDE president Max Euwe.
After that she was forced to promise the Romanian secret police that she would return after playing in any international tournaments until 1974. The 1974 Dutch tournament was the first one she played in after her promise to return had expired and she immediately chose to remain in the Netherlands. She won the Dutch Women's Championship in 1974 and again from 1976 to 1979.
From the end of the 1950s to the 1960s WIM Edith Bilek (born 1938) was one of the leading Hungarian women's players. Also a correspondence chess player, she played for Hungary in the 2nd Women's Correspondence Olympiad (1980-1982). She was married to the Hungarian GM Istvan Bilek. Her second marriage was to Dr. Krizsan Gyula.
Alexandra Nicolau–Edith Bilek1–0B06Women's Tourament, BelgradeBelgrade YUG1967Stockfish 14.1
Modern Defense 1.e4 g6 2.d4 g7 3.c4 c5 This move is riskier than the
more usual 3...d6. Statistically the most solid move appears to be 3...c6 4.dxc5 a5+ 5.c3 xc5 6.b3 Here white begins gaining time owing by attacking
black's vulnerable point b7 and f7, plus the Q is exposed on c5. e6 7.e3 c7 8.a3 This wins a tempo by virtue of the threat 9.Nb5 a6 While this
prevents 9.Nb5 it permits 9.Bb6 which ties up black's entire Q-side. 9.b6 9.b6 is the wrong way to occupy b6 because black profits from the exchange
of Qs. xb6 10.xb6 c6 11.0-0-0 f6 12.f3 d5 and black has equalized.
Machulsky,A (2495)-Mohr,S (2425)/New York 1990 9...f4 10.e2 Technically
white should defend the e-Pawn with the prosaic 10.Bd3. Instead, she plays a
move that black likely did not expect. No doubt white believed this is one of
those position where Ps don't count. Needless to say materialistic engines
aren't impressed with 10.Ne2 and assign the advantage to black. 10.e2 c6 11.f3± 10...xe4 11.0-0 Black can't win a piece by playing 11...d5
c6 A natural developing move which in this case leads to disaster. 11...d5 12.ad1 In pre-engines days this line was given by one analyst. It's
pretty, but faulty as the position actually favors black after 12...Nc6 dxc4 13.d8+ e7 14.b4+ f6 15.g3 c6 16.d4+ e5 17.d6+ wins. 11...d5
White's correct continuation is now 12.fe1 f6 13.d4 g4 14.xd5 xd5 15.xd5 0-0 16.d6 and white is slightly better because of his more active
pieces. 11...f6 Now, this is a move that keeps black's slight advantage!
The original analyst of this game (GM Trifunovic) made no comment on black's
11th move, but without an engine threading through the complications is a
harrowing task! 12.ad1 d5 Note that the B doesn't have to move as long as
white has Rd8+ available. 13.f4 d7 14.d4 dxc4 15.xc4 0-0 16.de1 d5 17.e5 a4 17...b5 Black could surrender the Q with this, but white comes
out slightly better after 18.xd5 exd5 19.e5 xf1 20.xf1 18.xa4 d7 19.b3 d5 and black is slightly better. 12.f4 Was black aware that now
her Q does not have any retreat squares? d5 12...ce7 was a better defense.
13.d4 xd4+ 14.xd4 f6 15.ae1 c6 And at least black can play on. 13.g3 dxc4 ...or did she lay a trap? 14.xc4 14.xe4 cxb3 Now it's black
who is winning! 15.d6+ f8 16.c5 b6 17.xb6 bxa2 18.c5 ge7 19.xa2
And black is a piece up! 14...d5 15.ad1 The Q still has nowhere to go. d4 16.xd4 xd4+ 17.xd4 c6 At last, a safe square. Even though material
is equal, black is lost because the only piece she has developed is her Q and
look at the activity of white's pieces. Nicolau finishes up the game nicely. 18.fd1 f8 18...d7 does not save the day 19.xd7 xd7 20.xd7 xd7 21.xb7+ e8 22.d6+ d8 23.ge4 is mate in 3. 19.b6 19.d8+ was even
more forceful. g7 20.b4 e7 21.xe7 Black is helpless. 19...b8 20.c4 e8 21.b4+ g7 22.d6 b5 23.b4 Bilek resigned. 1–0
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