Szirak 1987 Interzonal
One of three Interzonals in the 1988–1990 World Championship cycle, Szirák was a gate to the Candidates and, beyond it, a shot at Garry Kasparov's title. Jóhann Hjartarson and Valery Salov shared first place on the round-robin, and two grandmasters barely into their careers stepped up among the world's elite.
One of three gates to the Candidates
For the 1988–1990 cycle FIDE split the Interzonal into three separate tournaments — Subotica, Szirák, and Zagreb — each a round-robin feeding qualifiers into the Candidates matches, whose winner would challenge World Champion Garry Kasparov. Szirák gathered eighteen grandmasters in Hungary for a seventeen-round round-robin.
Three places from Szirák led onward to the Candidates. Jóhann Hjartarson of Iceland and Valery Salov of the Soviet Union shared first on 12½/17 and both qualified directly. Lajos Portisch and John Nunn tied for third a half-point behind on 12/17, which left a single qualifying spot to be decided between the two of them.
The Budapest play-off
Level on the round-robin, Portisch and Nunn met afterwards in a separate play-off in Budapest for the final Candidates place. Portisch, the veteran Hungarian grandmaster, won the match 4–2 to claim the spot; Nunn was eliminated.
Those play-off games were later archived together with the tournament, which is why the computed cross-table on this page overstates Portisch's and Nunn's totals — the extra games belong to the Budapest match, not to Szirák. On the round-robin proper each of them scored 12/17.
Breakthroughs
Szirák proved a springboard for its joint winners. Hjartarson carried his qualification into the Candidates and pulled off a celebrated upset, ousting the great Viktor Korchnoi 4½–3½ at Saint John in early 1988, while Salov established himself as a fixture of Soviet elite chess. For Portisch, then in his fifties, it was another chapter in a career of Candidates appearances stretching back to the 1960s.
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Hjartarson, Johann | 12½/17 | +9 -1 =7 | games |
| =1 | Salov, Valery | 12½/17 | +9 -1 =7 | games |
| =3 | Portisch, Lajos | 12/17 | +8 -1 =8 | games |
| =3 | Nunn, John DM | 12/17 | +9 -2 =6 | games |
| 5 | Beliavsky, Alexander G | 11/17 | +7 -2 =8 | games |
| 6 | Andersson, Ulf | 10½/17 | +5 -1 =11 | games |
| 7 | Ljubojevic, Ljubomir | 10/17 | +5 -2 =10 | games |
| 8 | Christiansen, Larry Mark | 9/17 | +6 -5 =6 | games |
| =9 | Todorcevic, Miodrag | 8½/17 | +7 -7 =3 | games |
| =9 | Benjamin, Joel | 8½/17 | +4 -4 =9 | games |
| =11 | Velimirovic, Dragoljub | 7½/17 | +5 -7 =5 | games |
| =11 | Marin, Mihail | 7½/17 | +3 -5 =9 | games |
| =13 | Milos, Gilberto | 7/17 | +5 -8 =4 | games |
| =13 | Adorjan, Andras | 7/17 | +3 -6 =8 | games |
| 15 | Flear, Glenn C | 6/17 | +3 -8 =6 | games |
| 16 | De la Villa Garcia, Jesus Maria | 5½/17 | +2 -8 =7 | games |
| 17 | Bouaziz, Slim | 4½/17 | +2 -10 =5 | games |
| 18 | Allan, Denis | 1½/17 | +0 -14 =3 | games |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hjartarson, Johann | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Salov, Valery | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Portisch, Lajos | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 4 | Nunn, John DM | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Beliavsky, Alexander G | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | Andersson, Ulf | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 7 | Ljubojevic, Ljubomir | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 8 | Christiansen, Larry Mark | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 9 | Todorcevic, Miodrag | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 10 | Benjamin, Joel | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 11 | Velimirovic, Dragoljub | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 12 | Marin, Mihail | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 13 | Milos, Gilberto | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 14 | Adorjan, Andras | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 15 | Flear, Glenn C | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 16 | De la Villa Garcia, Jesus Maria | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | |
| 17 | Bouaziz, Slim | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | |
| 18 | Allan, Denis | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.