Belgrade 1964

Belgrade, one of the great chess cities of the time, drew eighteen masters to a strong international round-robin in 1964. Boris Spassky won it in the style that would soon take him to the world title, undefeated, with 13 points from 17 games, a point and a half clear of a chasing group led by Viktor Korchnoi and the Yugoslav star Borislav Ivkov.

◇Spassky in command

By 1964 Boris Spassky had climbed back to the front rank after a barren spell, and Belgrade caught him on the rise. He went through the seventeen rounds without a loss, reaching 13 points to win clear first — a point and a half ahead of the field. It was the kind of poised, unhurried tournament victory that marked the years in which he won the 1964 Amsterdam Interzonal, came through the Candidates cycle, and challenged for the crown he would finally take from Tigran Petrosian in 1969.

The fight for second was fierce. Viktor Korchnoi and Borislav Ivkov shared it on 11½, with the great Yugoslav grandmaster Svetozar Gligorić just behind on 11 in fourth. Bent Larsen and Aleksandar Matanović shared fifth on 10, and Pal Benko and David Bronstein shared seventh on 9½.

◇An international on the Danube

The tournament typified the Yugoslav chess culture of the era — a strong home contingent tested against the world's best. Around Spassky and Korchnoi from the Soviet Union, and visitors such as Larsen from Denmark, Benko from the United States, and Hungary's László Szabó and János Flesch, Belgrade fielded a deep Yugoslav line-up: Ivkov, Gligorić, Matanović, Dragoljub Ćirić, Dragoljub Janošević, Bruno Parma, Dragoljub Minić, Borislav Milić, Milan Matulović, and Petar Trifunović.

It made for a genuinely competitive event down the table, but at the top there was little doubt: Spassky's unbeaten march left him the clear master of the field.