For the fifth Palma de Mallorca tournament the organisers again drew a stellar eighteen — the newly crowned World Champion Boris Spassky, ex-champion Tigran Petrosian, Viktor Korchnoi, and Vlastimil Hort all took part. And once more it was Bent Larsen who finished on top, winning clear first with 12/17 ahead of the entire field.
A world champion in the field
Boris Spassky had won the world title from Petrosian in Moscow only months earlier, in June 1969, and he came to Palma as reigning champion. The field around him was among the strongest of the era — Petrosian, Korchnoi, Hort, Miguel Najdorf, Oscar Panno, Bruno Parma, Wolfgang Unzicker, the young Henrique Mecking, and Spain's own Jesús Díez del Corral.
Yet the champion could not master it. Spassky finished fifth on 10, behind a cluster of rivals, while Larsen — for the second time in three years at Palma — proved the man to beat.
The Dane on top again
Larsen won clear first on 12/17, with Petrosian alone in second on 11½. Korchnoi and Hort shared third and fourth on 10½, and Spassky was fifth on 10. A turning point came in round seven, when Larsen and Korchnoi — in Panno's phrase, the two combatants most willing to court chaos — met in a fighting game that Larsen won outright, keeping him ahead of the pack.
The result completed a Palma hat-trick of sorts for the Dane: after his clear win in 1967 and a shared second in 1968, he topped the podium again in 1969, confirming his standing among the very best players in the world on the eve of the 1970 Interzonal that the island would host the following year.
“Bent Larsen wins at Palma de Mallorca with 12/17, from Petrosian (11½/17). It's an impressive win for the Danish GM, given that the line-up also contains Viktor Korchnoi, Vlastimil Hort and Boris Spassky.”
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Larsen, Bent | 12/17 | +10 -3 =4 | games |
| 2 | Petrosian, Tigran V | 11½/17 | +6 -0 =11 | games |
| =3 | Hort, Vlastimil | 10½/17 | +7 -3 =7 | games |
| =3 | Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich | 10½/17 | +6 -2 =9 | games |
| 5 | Spassky, Boris Vasilievich | 10/17 | +3 -0 =14 | games |
| 6 | Diez del Corral, Jesus | 9½/17 | +7 -5 =5 | games |
| =7 | Mecking, Henrique | 9/17 | +5 -4 =8 | games |
| =7 | Panno, Oscar | 9/17 | +5 -4 =8 | games |
| =9 | Najdorf, Miguel | 8½/17 | +3 -3 =11 | games |
| =9 | Parma, Bruno | 8½/17 | +1 -1 =15 | games |
| =11 | Unzicker, Wolfgang | 8/17 | +3 -4 =10 | games |
| =11 | Szabo, Laszlo | 8/17 | +2 -3 =12 | games |
| 13 | Pomar Salamanca, Arturo | 7½/17 | +1 -3 =13 | games |
| =14 | Penrose, Jonathan | 6½/17 | +3 -7 =7 | games |
| =14 | Bobotsov, Milko Georgiev | 6½/17 | +1 -5 =11 | games |
| =14 | Damjanovic, Mato | 6½/17 | +0 -4 =13 | games |
| 17 | Toran Albero, Roman | 6/17 | +1 -6 =10 | games |
| 18 | Medina Garcia, Antonio Angel | 5/17 | +2 -9 =6 | games |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Larsen, Bent | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Petrosian, Tigran V | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 3 | Hort, Vlastimil | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | |
| 5 | Spassky, Boris Vasilievich | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 6 | Diez del Corral, Jesus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | Mecking, Henrique | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 8 | Panno, Oscar | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 9 | Najdorf, Miguel | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 10 | Parma, Bruno | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 11 | Unzicker, Wolfgang | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 12 | Szabo, Laszlo | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | |
| 13 | Pomar Salamanca, Arturo | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 14 | Penrose, Jonathan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 15 | Bobotsov, Milko Georgiev | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | |
| 16 | Damjanovic, Mato | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 17 | Toran Albero, Roman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | |
| 18 | Medina Garcia, Antonio Angel | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.