The Rio de Janeiro Interzonal ended in a three-way tie for first: Tigran Petrosian, Robert Hübner and Lajos Portisch all finished on 11½/17, and all three advanced together to the Candidates matches for the 1981 World Championship.
A three-way finish
Rio was one of the two 1979 Interzonals, with the top three qualifying for the Candidates. Eighteen players contested the round-robin, and the leaderboard stayed tight to the very end — Hübner led for much of the event before his margin narrowed in the closing rounds.
Three players finished level on 11½/17 — former World Champion Tigran Petrosian, Robert Hübner and Lajos Portisch — and with three places on offer, all three qualified without need of a play-off. Jan Timman came agonisingly close on 11, a half-point short of the cycle.
Mecking's absence
The tournament lost its home favourite early. Brazil's Henrique Mecking, one of the strongest players in the field, withdrew after the opening rounds because of illness, and his results were annulled — leaving the eighteen who finished to decide the qualifying places among themselves.
For former World Champion Petrosian the shared first was another qualification for the Candidates in a long championship career; for Hübner and Portisch, Rio confirmed their standing among the world's elite of the era.
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Portisch, Lajos | 11½/17 | +9 -3 =5 | games |
| =1 | Huebner, Robert | 11½/17 | +7 -1 =9 | games |
| =1 | Petrosian, Tigran V | 11½/17 | +6 -0 =11 | games |
| 4 | Timman, Jan H | 11/17 | +6 -1 =10 | games |
| =5 | Sunye Neto, Jaime | 9½/17 | +6 -4 =7 | games |
| =5 | Ivkov, Borislav | 9½/17 | +4 -2 =11 | games |
| =7 | Sax, Gyula | 9/17 | +7 -6 =4 | games |
| =7 | Torre, Eugenio | 9/17 | +6 -5 =6 | games |
| =7 | Balashov, Yuri S | 9/17 | +4 -3 =10 | games |
| =10 | Shamkovich, Leonid Alexandrovich | 8½/17 | +4 -4 =9 | games |
| =10 | Smejkal, Jan | 8½/17 | +4 -4 =9 | games |
| 12 | Vaganian, Rafael A | 8/17 | +4 -5 =8 | games |
| =13 | Velimirovic, Dragoljub | 7½/17 | +5 -7 =5 | games |
| =13 | Garcia Gonzales, Guillermo | 7½/17 | +4 -6 =7 | games |
| 15 | Harandi, Khosro | 6½/17 | +4 -8 =5 | games |
| 16 | Bronstein, Luis Marcos | 6/17 | +3 -8 =6 | games |
| =17 | Kagan, Shimon | 4½/17 | +2 -10 =5 | games |
| =17 | Hebert, Jean | 4½/17 | +0 -8 =9 | games |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portisch, Lajos | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2 | Huebner, Robert | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Petrosian, Tigran V | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 4 | Timman, Jan H | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 5 | Sunye Neto, Jaime | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 6 | Ivkov, Borislav | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 7 | Sax, Gyula | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 8 | Torre, Eugenio | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 9 | Balashov, Yuri S | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 10 | Shamkovich, Leonid Alexandrovich | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | |
| 11 | Smejkal, Jan | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 12 | Vaganian, Rafael A | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 13 | Velimirovic, Dragoljub | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 14 | Garcia Gonzales, Guillermo | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 15 | Harandi, Khosro | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | |
| 16 | Bronstein, Luis Marcos | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 17 | Kagan, Shimon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 18 | Hebert, Jean | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.