Dortmund 1982
Vlastimil Hort, for a decade one of the strongest non-Soviet players in the world, went through the tenth Dortmunder Schachtage without losing a game. His 8½ from 11 left him half a point clear of Oleg Romanishin in a field that also included Lev Psakhis, the reigning co-champion of the Soviet Union.
◈The tenth Schachtage
By its tenth edition the Dortmunder Schachtage, founded in 1973 and staged for most of its early life at Dortmund's Westfalenhalle, was a fixture of the West German spring calendar. 1982 also brought a change behind the scenes: long-serving co-organiser Klaus Neumann stepped down, and Jürgen Grastat of Schachfreunde Brackel joined founding director Eugen Schackmann's team — a partnership that would run the tournament for the next two decades.
Twelve players contested the 66-game round-robin. The Soviet delegation was formidable: Oleg Romanishin of Lviv and Lev Psakhis, who had shared the last two USSR Championship titles — with Alexander Beliavsky at Vilnius 1980 and with Garry Kasparov at Frunze 1981 — and who earned the full grandmaster title in 1982. Raymond Keene, the 1980 Dortmund winner, returned for England, alongside Yugoslavia's Slavoljub Marjanović, Sweden's Lars Karlsson, and the German entrants Eric Lobron and Peter Ostermeyer.
◈Hort's unbeaten run
Hort had been at or near the top of world chess since the late 1960s — ranked as high as sixth in the world in 1977, and a Candidate in the 1977–78 cycle, where he fell only narrowly to former world champion Boris Spassky. In Dortmund he was the only player to finish unbeaten, converting six wins and five draws into 8½/11.
Romanishin pressed him hard with seven wins — the most of anyone in the field — but two losses left him second on 8. Psakhis took third on 7½, with Mershad Sharif a further point back in fourth, and Keene finishing mid-table on 5½. For Hort it was victory on soil that would soon become home: he settled in West Germany in 1985.
◈Final Standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hort, Vlastimil | 8½/11 | +6 -0 =5 | games → |
| 2 | Romanishin, Oleg M | 8/11 | +7 -2 =2 | games → |
| 3 | Psakhis, Lev | 7½/11 | +5 -1 =5 | games → |
| 4 | Sharif, Mershad | 6½/11 | +3 -1 =7 | games → |
| =5 | Karlsson, Lars | 6/11 | +4 -3 =4 | games → |
| =5 | Marjanovic, Slavoljub | 6/11 | +4 -3 =4 | games → |
| 7 | Ostermeyer, Peter | 5½/11 | +3 -3 =5 | games → |
| 8 | Keene, Raymond | 5½/11 | +2 -2 =7 | games → |
| 9 | McCambridge, Vincent | 5/11 | +4 -5 =2 | games → |
| 10 | Lobron, Eric | 4/11 | +2 -5 =4 | games → |
| 11 | Barczay, Laszlo | 2/11 | +0 -7 =4 | games → |
| 12 | Cuartas, Carlos Enrique | 1½/11 | +1 -9 =1 | games → |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hort, Vlastimil | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Romanishin, Oleg M | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Psakhis, Lev | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 4 | Sharif, Mershad | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Karlsson, Lars | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | Marjanovic, Slavoljub | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | Ostermeyer, Peter | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | |
| 8 | Keene, Raymond | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 9 | McCambridge, Vincent | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 10 | Lobron, Eric | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 11 | Barczay, Laszlo | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | |
| 12 | Cuartas, Carlos Enrique | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.