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 very good year for the 46-year-old former world champion: Tal took first place at Moscow, Yerevan 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 players, Efim Geller, Oleg Romanishin, Yuri Razuvaev, Lev Psakhis, Orest Averkin, Anatoly Vaisser, Semen Dvoirys and Evgeny Pigusov, plus the previous winner 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, Mikhail | 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 |
| =3 | Romanishin, Oleg M | 9/15 | +5 -2 =8 | games |
| =3 | 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 |
| =8 | Geller, Efim P | 7½/15 | +2 -2 =11 | games |
| =10 | Psakhis, Lev | 7/15 | +4 -5 =6 | games |
| =10 | Razuvaev, Yuri S | 7/15 | +1 -2 =12 | games |
| =12 | Ftacnik, Lubomir | 6½/15 | +3 -5 =7 | games |
| =12 | Hazai, Laszlo | 6½/15 | +1 -3 =11 | games |
| =12 | 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, Mikhail | 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 recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.