The small Bosnian town of Bugojno staged a Category XV super-tournament in May 1980, and World Champion Anatoly Karpov went through it unbeaten, winning five games and drawing six to finish half a point clear of Bent Larsen.
A super-tournament in a small town
Bugojno's biennial grandmaster tournament ran from 1978 to 1986 and quickly became one of the elite events of its era. The first edition in 1978 had ended with Karpov and Boris Spassky sharing first place; for the second, in 1980, the organisers assembled a Category XV field — an average rating between 2601 and 2625 — among the strongest anywhere at the time.
Twelve grandmasters played the single round-robin: reigning World Champion Anatoly Karpov, former champion Mikhail Tal, Bent Larsen, Jan Timman, Lev Polugaevsky, Ulf Andersson, Ljubomir Ljubojević, Vlastimil Hort, Lubomir Kavalek, the Yugoslav veterans Svetozar Gligorić and Borislav Ivkov, and Bojan Kurajica.
Karpov in control
Karpov produced the kind of clean, loss-free tournament that defined his championship years: five wins and six draws for 8/11, including a victory over Tal in round 8. Larsen was also undefeated on 7½ (+4 =7), and the two ran well clear of the field — Timman took third on 6½, a full point behind Larsen, with Andersson, Ljubojević, and Polugaevsky sharing fourth on 5½.
The win came in the middle of Karpov's great run of first prizes between his 1978 and 1981 title defences against Viktor Korchnoi, and Bugojno remained a happy hunting ground for him: he won or shared first in three of the five editions, while Garry Kasparov scored his first super-tournament victory there in 1982 and Timman took the 1984 edition.
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karpov, Anatoly | 8/11 | +5 -0 =6 | games |
| 2 | Larsen, Bent | 7½/11 | +4 -0 =7 | games |
| 3 | Timman, Jan H | 6½/11 | +3 -1 =7 | games |
| =4 | Andersson, Ulf | 5½/11 | +1 -1 =9 | games |
| =4 | Ljubojevic, Ljubomir | 5½/11 | +1 -1 =9 | games |
| =4 | Polugaevsky, Lev | 5½/11 | +1 -1 =9 | games |
| =7 | Kurajica, Bojan | 5/11 | +2 -3 =6 | games |
| =7 | Tal, Mikhail | 5/11 | +1 -2 =8 | games |
| =7 | Hort, Vlastimil | 5/11 | +0 -1 =10 | games |
| =7 | Ivkov, Borislav | 5/11 | +0 -1 =10 | games |
| 11 | Kavalek, Lubomir | 4/11 | +0 -3 =8 | games |
| 12 | Gligoric, Svetozar | 3½/11 | +0 -4 =7 | games |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karpov, Anatoly | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Larsen, Bent | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Timman, Jan H | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 4 | Andersson, Ulf | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 5 | Ljubojevic, Ljubomir | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 6 | Polugaevsky, Lev | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 7 | Kurajica, Bojan | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 8 | Tal, Mikhail | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 9 | Hort, Vlastimil | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 10 | Ivkov, Borislav | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 11 | Kavalek, Lubomir | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 12 | Gligoric, Svetozar | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.