Monaco chess tournament in 1967

The chess tournament to Monaco in 1967 took place from March 24 to April 4, 1967 in the Centennial Hall ( "Hall du Centenaire" instead). It was won by Bobby Fischer before Vasily Smyslow . Third place was shared by Efim Geller and Bent Larsen .

prehistory

Raoul Bertolo, the publisher of the French chess newspaper Europe Échecs , had started in 1964 to organize a chess festival once a year at various locations in France. At his instigation, the French Chess Federation contacted Prince Rainier of Monaco with the suggestion to organize a chess festival in Monaco. The prince replied positively and personally took over the leadership of the organizing committee. Major international chess tournaments had already taken place in Monaco from 1901 to 1904.

Field of participants

For the American star and eventual tournament winner Fischer, Monaco was the first tournament outside the USA in five years. Fischer traveled with his compatriot and former youth world champion William Lombardy . The then world champion Tigran Petrosyan turned down the invitation, and ex-world champion Smyslow took part for him. In addition, the world-class players Geller, Larsen and Gligorić took part, as well as Forintos and Matanović , who had just founded the chess informator . The French mountain grassers and Mazzoni completed the field. The German grandmasters Unzicker and Darga were also invited, but they canceled at short notice due to their work.

Tournament course

Since the organizers hoped that eleven players would take part in the tournament by the start of the tournament, they drew the tournament under this premise, which, after Unzicker was canceled, meant that each player had two days off. Fischer started the tournament with five wins in a row and kept his lead until the end, although he had to hold a difficult rook ending against Smyslow and lost to Geller. Bergraser had to cancel the tournament after six rounds because of pneumonia . Larsen put in a strong final spurt by defeating Gligoric, Geller and Lombardy in the last three laps.

Closing table

Rg	country	Attendees	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	erg
1		Robert Fischer	X	½	0	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	7.0
2		Vasily Smyslow	½	X	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	6.5
3		Efim Geller	1	½	X	0	½	½	1	½	1	+	6.0
4th		Bent Larsen	0	½	1	X	0	1	1	½	1	1	6.0
5		Aleksandar Matanović	½	0	½	1	X	½	½	½	½	1	5.0
6th		Svetozar Gligorić	0	½	½	0	½	X	½	½	1	+	4.5
7th		William Lombardy	0	½	0	0	½	½	X	1	1	+	4.5
8th		Győző forintos	0	0	½	½	½	½	0	X	1	+	4.0
9		Guy Mazzoni	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	X	½	1.0
10		Volf Bergraser	0	0	-	0	0	-	-	-	½	X	0.5

Bergraser had to give up the games against Gligorić, Geller, Lombardy and Forintos because of his illness.

Ambience

The tournament took place in the then new Centennial Hall. In addition to the grandmasters' tournament, an open tournament with around 100 participants was held, with the grandmasters placed in the middle of the game room. Numerous spectators were drawn to Monaco, including the artist Marcel Duchamp , who watched almost every lap. Prince Rainier attended the tournament when the top game Fischer-Smyslow was about to take place. However, since Smyslov had severe toothache (a tooth was pulled), the game was postponed. The following day, Rainier was awarded honorary membership of the American Chess Federation in a small ceremony in the presence of Princess Gracia Patricia and Marcel Duchamp .

Fischer's special role

Bobby Fischer was the only participant to receive a sign-up fee of US $ 2,000 for participating . This fact was discussed controversially by Gligoric and Matanovic at a press conference after their return to Belgrade . During the tournament he had special requests - postponing the start of the round, swapping rounds - which the organizers gave in to each time. With the tournament in Monaco, Fischer began to develop the reputation of a demanding and difficult tournament participant. He was no longer invited to the tournaments that took place in Monaco in the following years.

swell

• New in Chess 03/2011, pages 84 to 95.
• Garry Kasparov: On my great predecessors, Part IV, pp. 323-324.