Palma de Mallorca 1970 Interzonal

The Palma de Mallorca Interzonal was the launch pad for Bobby Fischer's charge to the world title. In a strong twenty-four-player field he produced one of the most crushing results of his career, winning by three and a half points and qualifying for the Candidates matches that would carry him to Reykjavík in 1972.

◇A field fit for a champion

Palma 1970 was the Interzonal of the 1970–72 cycle: twenty-four players in a single round-robin of twenty-three rounds, with the top six advancing to the 1971 Candidates matches. The line-up was formidable — Larsen, Geller, Hübner, Taimanov, Uhlmann, Portisch, Smyslov, Gligorić, Panno, Mecking and Reshevsky among them.

Fischer had played in earlier Interzonals, but entered Palma only after other Americans stepped aside to make room for him. What followed silenced any doubt about whether he belonged in the world-title conversation.

◇Fischer takes command

Fischer seized the lead around the fifth round and never let go. His only defeat came at the hands of Bent Larsen in round nine; from there he was untouchable, closing the tournament with seven straight wins. He finished on 18½/23 — a full three and a half points clear of Larsen, Geller and Hübner, who shared second.

The margin, in a field of this quality, was extraordinary. Fischer's biographer Frank Brady called it one of the outstanding accomplishments of his career.

“one of the outstanding accomplishments of his career”

◇The Panno default and the qualifiers

Fischer's seven-game finishing streak included a notorious final-round game against Oscar Panno. The organisers had rescheduled it to accommodate Fischer's refusal to play on the Sabbath of his church, and Panno, in protest, declined to appear. Fischer opened 1.c4 and waited; after nearly an hour on his clock Panno came to the board only to resign, giving Fischer a one-move win.

The six qualifiers from Palma were Fischer, Larsen, Geller, Hübner, Taimanov and Uhlmann. In the Candidates that followed, Fischer demolished Taimanov 6–0 and Larsen 6–0 before beating Petrosian, then dethroned Boris Spassky for the World Championship in 1972.