Brussels 1987 (SWIFT)

Kasparov and Ljubojević share the spoils, a point and a half ahead of Karpov
April 1987 · Brussels, Belgium
Kasparov and Ljubojević shared first on 8½/11, both undefeated, a point and a half clear of Karpov
Event Index 66 GAMES

The second SWIFT International tournament brought the world's elite to Brussels in the spring of 1987, staged by the Belgian interbank cooperative that gives the financial world its payment codes. Reigning World Champion Garry Kasparov shared first with Yugoslavia's Ljubomir Ljubojević, both finishing undefeated on 8½/11 — a point and a half clear of Anatoly Karpov, the man Kasparov would face again for the title in Seville later that year.

The SWIFT tournament

SWIFT — the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, the cooperative headquartered at La Hulpe just outside Brussels — lent its name and its money to a short series of super-tournaments in the mid-1980s. The 1987 event was the second of them, following a 1986 edition won by Karpov, and it assembled a Category-XIV field of a dozen grandmasters for a single round-robin of eleven rounds.

The line-up was as strong as any of the period: World Champion Kasparov and former champions Anatoly Karpov, Viktor Korchnoi and Mikhail Tal, together with Jan Timman, Bent Larsen, Eugenio Torre and the in-form Ljubomir Ljubojević, then rated among the very top players in the world.

A shared triumph

Two men separated themselves from the field, and neither lost a game. Kasparov and Ljubojević each finished on 8½/11, built on six wins and five draws, to share first place. For Ljubojević — a brilliant, uncompromising attacker who never contested a world title — finishing level with the reigning champion and above every other member of this field was among the finest results of his career.

Karpov took clear third on 7, a point and a half behind the leaders. Korchnoi and Timman shared fourth on 6½, ahead of Tal on 6, Larsen on 5½ and Torre on 5 — a spread that shows how decisively the two co-champions had pulled clear.

Between the title matches

Brussels 1987 came in the middle of the Kasparov–Karpov rivalry. The two had already played three world championship matches, in 1984–85, 1985 and 1986, and met a fourth time in Seville that autumn, where Kasparov kept his title by winning the last game to level the match. Here Kasparov finished a point and a half ahead of Karpov, and even then he had to share first with Ljubojević.

Final standings

8½/11
Kasparov and Ljubojević shared first on 8½/11, both undefeated, a point and a half clear of Karpov
# Player Score Record
=1 Kasparov, Garry 8½/11 +6 -0 =5 games
=1 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir 8½/11 +6 -0 =5 games
3 Karpov, Anatoly 7/11 +3 -0 =8 games
=4 Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich 6½/11 +5 -3 =3 games
=4 Timman, Jan H 6½/11 +3 -1 =7 games
6 Tal, Mikhail 6/11 +2 -1 =8 games
7 Larsen, Bent 5½/11 +4 -4 =3 games
=8 Torre, Eugenio 5/11 +1 -2 =8 games
=8 Van der Wiel, John 5/11 +1 -2 =8 games
10 Winants, Luc 3½/11 +2 -6 =3 games
11 Short, Nigel D 3/11 +1 -6 =4 games
12 Meulders, Richard 1/11 +0 -9 =2 games

Cross Table

Player 123456789101112
1 Kasparov, Garry ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1
2 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1
3 Karpov, Anatoly ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1
4 Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1
5 Timman, Jan H ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½
6 Tal, Mikhail 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1
7 Larsen, Bent 0 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 1
8 Torre, Eugenio ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1
9 Van der Wiel, John 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½
10 Winants, Luc 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1
11 Short, Nigel D 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1
12 Meulders, Richard 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0

Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.

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