Dortmund 1977

A rare shared crown at Dortmund
1977 · Dortmund, West Germany
First place shared by Kochyev and Smejkal — 9/11
Event Index 66 GAMES

The fifth Dortmunder Schachtage ended without a lone champion: Czechoslovakia's Jan Smejkal, ranked among the world's top ten only a year before, and the young Soviet grandmaster Alexander Kochyev crossed the line locked together on 9 from 11, sharing the title in one of the closest finishes of the tournament's early years.

A shared finish

Twelve players met for a single round-robin of 66 games in the fifth Dortmunder Schachtage. Jan Smejkal, the Czechoslovak grandmaster who had stood among the world's top ten as recently as January 1976, and Alexander Kochyev, one of the youngest grandmasters to emerge from the Soviet Union in the mid-1970s, both finished on 9 points from 11 games. There was no play-off: first place was shared outright.

László Vadász and Milan Matulović shared third on 8½, a point and a half back. Matulović, the veteran Yugoslav grandmaster infamous a decade earlier for the "j'adoube" controversy at the 1967 Sousse Interzonal, remained a dangerous competitor even as his best results receded behind him.

A young event still finding its stars

Coming so soon after Heikki Westerinen's two titles and Oleg Romanishin's runaway win the year before, the shared 1977 crown showed how open the young tournament's honors board remained: through five editions, no player had yet managed to dominate more than a single year.

Final standings

9/11
First place shared by Kochyev and Smejkal — 9/11
# Player Score Record
=1 Kochyev, Alexander 9/11 +8 -1 =2 games
=1 Smejkal, Jan 9/11 +7 -0 =4 games
=3 Vadasz, Laszlo 8½/11 +7 -1 =3 games
=3 Matulovic, Milan 8½/11 +6 -0 =5 games
5 Podzielny, Karl Heinz 5½/11 +5 -5 =1 games
=6 Pytel, Krzysztof 5/11 +4 -5 =2 games
=6 Andre, Wolfgang 5/11 +3 -4 =4 games
=8 Popovych, Orest 4/11 +4 -7 =0 games
=8 Castro Rojas, Oscar Humberto 4/11 +3 -6 =2 games
10 Boehmfeldt, Bruno 3/11 +3 -8 =0 games
11 Goodman, David SC 2½/11 +1 -7 =3 games
12 Bachmann, Karlheinz 2/11 +2 -9 =0 games

Cross Table

Player 123456789101112
1 Kochyev, Alexander ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 Smejkal, Jan ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1
3 Vadasz, Laszlo 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1
4 Matulovic, Milan ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1
5 Podzielny, Karl Heinz 0 0 1 0 1 ½ 0 1 0 1 1
6 Pytel, Krzysztof 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 1 1 ½ 1
7 Andre, Wolfgang 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 ½ 0
8 Popovych, Orest 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0
9 Castro Rojas, Oscar Humberto 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 1 1 ½ 1
10 Boehmfeldt, Bruno 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
11 Goodman, David SC 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1
12 Bachmann, Karlheinz 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0

Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.

EXPLORE ALL 66 GAMES