Chigorin Memorial 1982
Mikhail Tal closed out the best tournament year of his later career by winning the 1982 Chigorin Memorial in Sochi — unbeaten on 10/15, a point and a half clear of the young Yugoslav Predrag Nikolić, and champion of the memorial for the second time after his 1977 victory.
◈A vintage year for the Magician
1982 was a remarkable year for the 46-year-old former world champion: Tal took first place at Moscow, Erevan and Pforzheim before arriving in Sochi in December for the Chigorin Memorial, the annual round-robin he had already won in 1977. The Category XI field (average rating 2510) mixed Soviet veterans and rising talent — Efim Geller, Oleg Romanishin, Yuri Razuvaev, Lev Psakhis, Orest Averkin, Anatoly Vaisser, Semen Dvoirys and Evgeny Pigusov, plus the previous champion Alexander Panchenko — with England's Jonathan Speelman and Murray Chandler, Yugoslavia's Predrag Nikolić, Czechoslovakia's Ľubomír Ftáčnik, Hungary's László Hazai and Bulgaria's Semko Semkov.
◈Five wins, ten draws, no losses
Tal scored 10 from 15 without losing a game, beating Ftáčnik, Psakhis, Chandler, Semkov and Romanishin and drawing the rest. Several of those wins — over Romanishin, Ftáčnik and Chandler — he annotated himself for the contemporary Soviet chess press.
Nikolić, in the years before his emergence as one of Yugoslavia's leading grandmasters, was clear second on 9½, ahead of a three-way tie on 9 between Dvoirys, Romanishin and Vaisser. Vaisser would return the following year to share the 1983 memorial title with Evgeny Sveshnikov.
◈Final Standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tal, Mihail | 10/15 | +5 -0 =10 | games → |
| 2 | Nikolic, Predrag | 9½/15 | +5 -1 =9 | games → |
| 3 | Dvoirys, Semen I | 9/15 | +6 -3 =6 | games → |
| 4 | Romanishin, Oleg M | 9/15 | +5 -2 =8 | games → |
| 5 | Vaisser, Anatoli | 9/15 | +4 -1 =10 | games → |
| =6 | Panchenko, Alexander N | 8/15 | +2 -1 =12 | games → |
| =6 | Speelman, Jonathan S | 8/15 | +2 -1 =12 | games → |
| 8 | Averkin, Orest Nikolaevich | 7½/15 | +4 -4 =7 | games → |
| 9 | Geller, Efim P | 7½/15 | +2 -2 =11 | games → |
| 10 | Psakhis, Lev | 7/15 | +4 -5 =6 | games → |
| 11 | Razuvaev, Yuri S | 7/15 | +1 -2 =12 | games → |
| 12 | Ftacnik, Lubomir | 6½/15 | +3 -5 =7 | games → |
| =13 | Hazai, Laszlo | 6½/15 | +1 -3 =11 | games → |
| =13 | Pigusov, Evgeny | 6½/15 | +1 -3 =11 | games → |
| 15 | Chandler, Murray G | 5½/15 | +2 -6 =7 | games → |
| 16 | Semkov, Semko | 3½/15 | +1 -9 =5 | games → |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tal, Mihail | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Nikolic, Predrag | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Dvoirys, Semen I | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | Romanishin, Oleg M | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 5 | Vaisser, Anatoli | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 6 | Panchenko, Alexander N | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | Speelman, Jonathan S | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 8 | Averkin, Orest Nikolaevich | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 9 | Geller, Efim P | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | |
| 10 | Psakhis, Lev | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 11 | Razuvaev, Yuri S | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 12 | Ftacnik, Lubomir | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | |
| 13 | Hazai, Laszlo | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 14 | Pigusov, Evgeny | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 15 | Chandler, Murray G | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 16 | Semkov, Semko | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.