50th Jubilee Tournament, Moscow 1967

[Nick Burrows]

Footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcKouHIVIvI

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=79435

Moscow, Soviet Union (Russia), 21 May - 16 June 1967 (1)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts
1 Stein * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 11
=2 Smyslov ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 10
=2 Bobotsov ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 10
=2 Gipslis ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 10
=2 Tal ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 10
=6 Portisch 0 0 ½ ½ 1 * ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 9½
=6 Bronstein ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 9½
=6 Spassky ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 9½
=9 Geller ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 * 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 8½
=9 Najdorf ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 * ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 8½
=9 Keres 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 8½
=9 Petrosian ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ * 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 8½
13 Gheorghiu 1 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 8
14 Gligoric 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 7½
=15 Pachman ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 6
=15 Filip 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 0 6
=15 Bilek 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 6
=15 Uhlmann 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ * 6

[Matt Mackenzie]

To state the obvious, what an incredibly strong event - a player as good as Uhlmann coming bottom says it all.

Dare one suggest it, quite a high draw percentage though?

[John Moore]

Strong tournaments in those days did tend to produce a high percentage of draws and, from what I can remember of that event, quite a lot didn't last too long.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Strong tournaments in those days did tend to produce a high percentage of draws and, from what I can remember of that event, quite a lot didn't last too long."

Quick draws were the fashion then. Also, Petrosian was world champion and he tended to get level positions and draw. Ordinary mortals tended to be influenced by world champions. Nowadays, you have the Carlsen idea of getting level positions and trying to win, also since covid, you have had loads of new players that have played online, where you tend not to agree draws. 20 years ago, lower-rated juniors would be frantically offering draws every couple of moves out of the opening, now they try to win.

[Colin Patterson]

Also, many of the tournaments were very long affairs, this one being 17 rounds, and the Soviet Championships typically 19 or 21 rounds. It must have sapped their stamina somewhat, so I can imagine a quick draw would have been a welcome way to ease the tension and preserve some brain power.

[Colin Patterson]

Some interesting notes about this event:

The official tournament title was the “International Tournament to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Great October Revolution”. The first in a succession of high profile events (some women’s, some junior) held in 1967. The tournament comprised entirely of Grandmasters and was considered one of the strongest of all time. It could have been even stronger, but Korchnoi played Leningrad, Larsen declined the invitation, Fischer and Reshevsky did not have their conditions met (no play on Fridays or Saturdays) and Botvinnik had (scientific work) commitments. A contradictory account is given in Chess Life, and indicates that it was not truly ‘international’, but rather ‘worldwide communist’. In other words, no westerners were welcome. Coming from Polish origins, Najdorf apparently just ‘scraped in’. Pal Benko claimed he had tried to get an invite but was told he was ‘persona non grata’.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Apart from Najdorf all entrants were indeed from the USSR and satellite countries (Pachman's break with the regime came the following year)