Bucharest kept up its habit of hosting a strong international round-robin, and in 1973 the fifteen-player field was headed by Soviet grandmaster Mark Taimanov — two years removed from his infamous 6–0 defeat by Bobby Fischer. Taimanov steadied himself here, scoring 10/14 to take clear first by half a point.
Bucharest's annual international
Through the 1970s Bucharest continued a long chess tradition, staging an international tournament that, as ChessBase later observed, usually featured a single Soviet guest amid a strong Balkan and Eastern-bloc field. These events did not rival the elite tournaments the city had held two decades earlier, but they gathered grandmasters and masters from across the region.
In 1973 the visiting Soviet was Mark Taimanov. A former Soviet champion and world-title Candidate, he had been publicly punished at home after losing every game of his 1971 Candidates match with Bobby Fischer, with his salary suspended and his foreign travel restricted. He arrived in Bucharest looking to rebuild his results, and he did.
Taimanov holds off the field
Taimanov scored 10 points from his 14 games to finish alone at the top. Romania's Dumitru Ghizdavu took second on 9½, and a group led by East Germany's Rainer Knaak and Romania's first grandmaster, Florin Gheorghiu, followed on 8½.
The rest of the field mixed home players with visitors such as Hungary's Karoly Honfi and Yugoslavia's Josip Rukavina, but none could catch the Soviet at the head of the table.
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taimanov, Mark E | 10/14 | +7 -1 =6 | games |
| 2 | Ghizdavu, Dumitru | 9½/14 | +5 -0 =9 | games |
| =3 | Knaak, Rainer | 8½/14 | +5 -2 =7 | games |
| =3 | Gheorghiu, Florin | 8½/14 | +3 -0 =11 | games |
| =5 | Honfi, Karoly | 8/14 | +6 -4 =4 | games |
| =5 | Partos, Charles | 8/14 | +5 -3 =6 | games |
| 7 | Rukavina, Josip | 7½/14 | +3 -2 =9 | games |
| =8 | Ostojic, Predrag | 6½/14 | +4 -5 =5 | games |
| =8 | Pytel, Krzysztof | 6½/14 | +4 -5 =5 | games |
| =8 | Spiridonov, Nikola | 6½/14 | +4 -5 =5 | games |
| =11 | Ghitescu, Theodor | 6/14 | +3 -5 =6 | games |
| =11 | Ungureanu, Emil | 6/14 | +3 -5 =6 | games |
| 13 | Stoica, Valentin | 5½/14 | +1 -4 =9 | games |
| 14 | Fichtl, Jiri | 4½/14 | +1 -6 =7 | games |
| 15 | Stanciu, Traian | 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 | Taimanov, Mark E | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 2 | Ghizdavu, Dumitru | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Knaak, Rainer | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | |
| 4 | Gheorghiu, Florin | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 5 | Honfi, Karoly | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | Partos, Charles | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | Rukavina, Josip | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | |
| 8 | Ostojic, Predrag | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 9 | Pytel, Krzysztof | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 10 | Spiridonov, Nikola | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 11 | Ghitescu, Theodor | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | |
| 12 | Ungureanu, Emil | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 13 | Stoica, Valentin | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 14 | Fichtl, Jiri | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 15 | Stanciu, Traian | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.