Mar del Plata 1942
In 1942 Miguel Najdorf won Mar del Plata for the first time, and he would not surrender it for years. The Polish-born master, by then settled in Argentina, scored 13½ out of 17 and lost only a single game across the whole tournament — to Hermann Pilnik, whose victory was afterwards singled out by Reuben Fine as a Game of the Month.
◈The first of many
A year after finishing second to Stahlberg, Najdorf returned to win the fifth Mar del Plata tournament outright. He conceded just one defeat across seventeen rounds and finished a half-point clear of Hermann Pilnik and Gideon Stahlberg, who tied for second on 13, with the Argentine Julio Bolbochan fourth on 12.
It was the start of an extraordinary run. Najdorf would win Mar del Plata again in 1943, 1945, 1946 and 1947, and share first in 1944 — taking or sharing the title in every edition from 1942 through 1947 and binding his name to the tournament for the rest of his life.
◈The one that got away
Najdorf's lone blemish was his loss to the German-born Argentine Hermann Pilnik. The game travelled well beyond Argentina: the American grandmaster Reuben Fine annotated it as a Game of the Month for Chess Review in mid-1942, presenting Pilnik's attack as a lesson in how sharp play punishes small positional concessions. Pilnik's win did not cost Najdorf the tournament, but it kept the runner-up within touching distance to the finish.
◈Final Standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Najdorf, Miguel | 13½/17 | +11 -1 =5 | games → |
| 2 | Pilnik, Hermann | 13/17 | +12 -3 =2 | games → |
| 3 | Stahlberg, Gideon | 13/17 | +11 -2 =4 | games → |
| 4 | Bolbochan, Jacobo | 12/17 | +9 -2 =6 | games → |
| 5 | Michel, Paul | 11/17 | +7 -2 =8 | games → |
| =6 | Luckis, Marcos | 9½/17 | +7 -5 =5 | games → |
| =6 | Pelikan, Jorge | 9½/17 | +7 -5 =5 | games → |
| 8 | Maderna, Carlos Hugo | 9/17 | +7 -6 =4 | games → |
| 9 | Guimard, Carlos Enrique | 9/17 | +6 -5 =6 | games → |
| 10 | Villegas, Benito H | 9/17 | +5 -4 =8 | games → |
| 11 | Rossetto, Hector | 7½/17 | +6 -8 =3 | games → |
| 12 | Czerniak, Moshe | 7/17 | +5 -8 =4 | games → |
| 13 | Espina, Carlos | 7/17 | +4 -7 =6 | games → |
| 14 | Iliesco, Juan Traian | 5½/17 | +3 -9 =5 | games → |
| 15 | Fenoglio, Virgilio | 5½/17 | +2 -8 =7 | games → |
| 16 | Corte, Cesar Juan | 5/17 | +4 -11 =2 | games → |
| =17 | Canepa, Jose | 3½/17 | +2 -12 =3 | games → |
| =17 | Graf Stevenson, Sonja | 3½/17 | +2 -12 =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 | Najdorf, Miguel | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Pilnik, Hermann | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Stahlberg, Gideon | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | Bolbochan, Jacobo | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Michel, Paul | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | Luckis, Marcos | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 7 | Pelikan, Jorge | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 8 | Maderna, Carlos Hugo | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 9 | Guimard, Carlos Enrique | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 10 | Villegas, Benito H | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 11 | Rossetto, Hector | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 12 | Czerniak, Moshe | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Espina, Carlos | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 14 | Iliesco, Juan Traian | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | |
| 15 | Fenoglio, Virgilio | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | |
| 16 | Corte, Cesar Juan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 17 | Canepa, Jose | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | |
| 18 | Graf Stevenson, Sonja | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.