The thirteenth IBM international tournament ended in a tie between two masters of opposite temperament: former World Champion Tigran Petrosian, chess's supreme strategist, and the Yugoslav attacking romantic Albin Planinc. The pair shared first at Amsterdam on 10 out of 15, ahead of Lubomir Kavalek and the recently dethroned champion Boris Spassky.
The thirteenth IBM
By 1973 the IBM international was a fixture of the summer chess calendar, an Amsterdam festival sponsored by the computing company since 1961 whose roll of winners already included Botvinnik, Smyslov, Spassky and Polugaevsky. The 1973 edition ran from 17 July to 4 August: sixteen players, a single round-robin of fifteen rounds, and a field deep enough that half a dozen grandmasters finished within striking distance of first.
The tournament came a year after Petrosian's era of dominance had passed and Spassky had lost his title to Fischer, and it caught a generation in transition — the old Soviet guard, the Eastern European elite, Dutch hosts led by Jan Hein Donner and Jan Timman, and a young Ulf Andersson among them.
Two champions, two styles
First place was shared by players who could hardly have been less alike. Tigran Petrosian, World Champion from 1963 to 1969 and still a fixture of the world's top ten, was the game's great prophylactic strategist — patient, unbudgeable, a master of defence and manoeuvre. Albin Planinc, the Yugoslav who joined him on 10/15, was his temperamental opposite: an imaginative attacking player whose reputation rested on sacrifice and complication. For Planinc, the shared victory in Amsterdam stood among the peaks of a career built on romantic, combinative chess.
Behind the co-champions came Lubomir Kavalek on 9½ and, in fourth, Boris Spassky on 9 — the man who had held the world title until the previous September. László Szabó, again in the mix on 8½, headed a crowded field in which several grandmasters clustered on 7½.
“Petrosian also succeeds at Amsterdam, this time shared with Albin Planinc (both 10/15), ahead of Lubomir Kavalek (9½/15).”
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Planinc, Albin | 10/15 | +7 -2 =6 | games |
| =1 | Petrosian, Tigran V | 10/15 | +6 -1 =8 | games |
| 3 | Kavalek, Lubomir | 9½/15 | +5 -1 =9 | games |
| 4 | Spassky, Boris Vasilievich | 9/15 | +4 -1 =10 | games |
| 5 | Szabo, Laszlo | 8½/15 | +4 -2 =9 | games |
| 6 | Marovic, Drazen | 8/15 | +4 -3 =8 | games |
| =7 | Timman, Jan H | 7½/15 | +6 -6 =3 | games |
| =7 | Donner, Jan Hein | 7½/15 | +5 -5 =5 | games |
| =7 | Ribli, Zoltan | 7½/15 | +4 -4 =7 | games |
| =7 | Smejkal, Jan | 7½/15 | +4 -4 =7 | games |
| =7 | Andersson, Ulf | 7½/15 | +2 -2 =11 | games |
| =12 | Radulov, Ivan | 6/15 | +3 -6 =6 | games |
| =12 | Ree, Hans | 6/15 | +1 -4 =10 | games |
| =14 | Enklaar, Bert F | 5½/15 | +2 -6 =7 | games |
| =14 | Quinteros, Miguel Angel | 5½/15 | +2 -6 =7 | games |
| 16 | Langeweg, Kick | 4½/15 | +2 -8 =5 | games |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Planinc, Albin | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2 | Petrosian, Tigran V | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 3 | Kavalek, Lubomir | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 4 | Spassky, Boris Vasilievich | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 5 | Szabo, Laszlo | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | |
| 6 | Marovic, Drazen | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | |
| 7 | Timman, Jan H | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 8 | Donner, Jan Hein | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 9 | Ribli, Zoltan | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 10 | Smejkal, Jan | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 11 | Andersson, Ulf | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 12 | Radulov, Ivan | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 13 | Ree, Hans | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 14 | Enklaar, Bert F | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 15 | Quinteros, Miguel Angel | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 16 | Langeweg, Kick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.