Bucharest 1951
Bucharest's international tournament returned for its second edition in 1951, two years after Luděk Pachman had won the inaugural 1949 event. The field was lighter this time — a regional gathering of Romanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Polish and East German masters — and Bulgaria's Zdravko Milev seized it, finishing clear first at 11/14, two points ahead of the pack.
◈A second Bucharest tournament
The Bucharest international series had opened in 1949 with a strong field won by the Czechoslovak grandmaster Luděk Pachman. Its 1951 successor was a step down in strength — a single round-robin of fifteen players drawn largely from Romania and the neighbouring chess nations, played as a full 14-round schedule of 105 games.
The Romanian hosts filled much of the field — Octav Troianescu, Gheorghe Alexandrescu, Ştefan Szabo, Ştefan Samarian, Veniamin Urseanu and others — alongside visitors such as the Bulgarians Zdravko Milev and Emil Karastoichev, the Hungarians Tibor Florian and Janos Pogats, and the Poles Kazimierz Makarczyk and Henryk Szapiel.
◈Milev out in front
Milev dominated the shorter distance, taking clear first with 11 points from 14 games. Szabo finished second on 9, with Florian and Troianescu sharing third on 8½. For the young Bulgarian it was an early international success, and Bucharest would go on to host far stronger fields in 1953 and 1954.
◈Final Standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milev, Zdravko | 11/14 | +9 -1 =4 | games → |
| 2 | Szabo, Stefan | 9/14 | +6 -2 =6 | games → |
| =3 | Florian, Tibor | 8½/14 | +6 -3 =5 | games → |
| =3 | Troianescu, Octavio | 8½/14 | +6 -3 =5 | games → |
| 5 | Alexandrescu, Gheorghe Gica | 8/14 | +6 -4 =4 | games → |
| 6 | Pietzsch, Wolfgang | 8/14 | +5 -3 =6 | games → |
| 7 | Pogats, Jozsef | 7/14 | +4 -4 =6 | games → |
| 8 | Karastoichev, Emil Stefanov | 6½/14 | +5 -6 =3 | games → |
| 9 | Reicher, Emanoil | 6½/14 | +4 -5 =5 | games → |
| 10 | Molnar, Imre | 6½/14 | +3 -4 =7 | games → |
| 11 | Samarian, Sergiu | 6/14 | +4 -6 =4 | games → |
| 12 | Makarczyk, Kazimierz | 6/14 | +3 -5 =6 | games → |
| 13 | Stein, Georg | 5/14 | +2 -6 =6 | games → |
| 14 | Szapiel, Henryk | 5/14 | +1 -5 =8 | games → |
| 15 | Urseanu, Veniamin | 3½/14 | +2 -9 =3 | games → |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milev, Zdravko | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 2 | Szabo, Stefan | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 3 | Florian, Tibor | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | Troianescu, Octavio | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Alexandrescu, Gheorghe Gica | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | Pietzsch, Wolfgang | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 7 | Pogats, Jozsef | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 8 | Karastoichev, Emil Stefanov | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | |
| 9 | Reicher, Emanoil | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 10 | Molnar, Imre | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | |
| 11 | Samarian, Sergiu | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 12 | Makarczyk, Kazimierz | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 13 | Stein, Georg | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | |
| 14 | Szapiel, Henryk | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | |
| 15 | Urseanu, Veniamin | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.
“In 1951, the Bulgarian Zdravko Milev won the second edition of that tournament, which, however, was not as strong as the first.”