Sochi's Chigorin Memorial fell in the middle of one of Mikhail Tal's finest runs of tournament chess: fresh off first prizes at Wijk aan Zee and Tallinn, the Magician from Riga went through the sixteen-player field a clear point ahead of Boris Spassky, who was rebuilding his own reputation after losing the world title to Bobby Fischer the year before.
A Black Sea fixture, an international field
Sochi had hosted an annual Chigorin Memorial since 1963, and the 1973 edition kept to the established formula: sixteen players in a single round-robin of fifteen rounds, 120 games in all. Alongside a strong Soviet contingent — Spassky, Nikolai Krogius, Ratmir Kholmov, Alexey Suetin, Yuri Balashov and Nukhim Rashkovsky — the organisers brought in Jan Smejkal and Miroslav Filip of Czechoslovakia, Sweden's Ulf Andersson, Holland's Jan Timman, Hungary's László Szabó, East Germany's Artur Hennings, Bulgaria's Nikola Spiridonov and Yugoslavia's Josip Rukavina.
Tal's golden year, Spassky's rebuild
Tal arrived at Sochi already the form player of 1973, having won at Wijk aan Zee (10½/15) and Tallinn (12/15) earlier that year; he would go on to add Dubna to the list before the season was out. He won again in Sochi with 11/15, a clear point ahead of Spassky's 10, with Jan Smejkal and Nikolai Krogius sharing third on 9.
For Spassky, the runner-up finish came in the same year he won the 41st Soviet Championship, part of a comeback effort after his 1972 world championship loss to Fischer in Reykjavik. Finishing second behind Tal at Sochi, against one of the stronger fields the Chigorin Memorial assembled in this period, was itself a solid result in that rebuilding year.
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tal, Mikhail | 11/15 | +7 -0 =8 | games |
| 2 | Spassky, Boris Vasilievich | 10/15 | +5 -0 =10 | games |
| =3 | Smejkal, Jan | 9/15 | +4 -1 =10 | games |
| =3 | Krogius, Nikolai V | 9/15 | +3 -0 =12 | games |
| =5 | Timman, Jan H | 8½/15 | +4 -2 =9 | games |
| =5 | Andersson, Ulf | 8½/15 | +2 -0 =13 | games |
| =7 | Kholmov, Ratmir D | 8/15 | +5 -4 =6 | games |
| =7 | Suetin, Alexey S | 8/15 | +2 -1 =12 | games |
| 9 | Balashov, Yuri S | 7½/15 | +3 -3 =9 | games |
| 10 | Filip, Miroslav | 7/15 | +2 -3 =10 | games |
| =11 | Hennings, Artur | 6½/15 | +3 -5 =7 | games |
| =11 | Rashkovsky, Nukhim N | 6½/15 | +3 -5 =7 | games |
| =11 | Szabo, Laszlo | 6½/15 | +1 -3 =11 | games |
| =14 | Spiridonov, Nikola | 5/15 | +2 -7 =6 | games |
| =14 | Rukavina, Josip | 5/15 | +1 -6 =8 | games |
| 16 | Korensky, Valeri S | 4/15 | +2 -9 =4 | games |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tal, Mikhail | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Spassky, Boris Vasilievich | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Smejkal, Jan | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 4 | Krogius, Nikolai V | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 5 | Timman, Jan H | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 6 | Andersson, Ulf | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 7 | Kholmov, Ratmir D | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 8 | Suetin, Alexey S | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 9 | Balashov, Yuri S | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | |
| 10 | Filip, Miroslav | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 11 | Hennings, Artur | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | |
| 12 | Rashkovsky, Nukhim N | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 13 | Szabo, Laszlo | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 14 | Spiridonov, Nikola | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 15 | Rukavina, Josip | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 16 | Korensky, Valeri S | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.