Reggio Emilia 1961/62
Four editions into Reggio Emilia's New Year tradition, the tournament crowned its first Italian winner. Alberto Mario Giustolisi came through a twelve-player field with six wins, four draws and a single defeat, finishing on 8/11 to become the first home player to top the event his own city had founded only three years earlier.
◈A young tournament finds its feet
Founded in 1958 by grandmaster Enrico Paoli to give the city an annual New Year event — the Torneo di Capodanno — Reggio Emilia was only in its fourth edition when it moved into the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo for the 1961/62 tournament. The twelve-player field mixed local hopefuls with genuine international class: Yugoslav grandmaster Vasja Pirc, Bulgarian international master Nikola Padevsky, Romanian master Theodor Ghițescu, and the Peruvian veteran Esteban Canal, who had won the city's very first informal tournament back in 1947 and returned here as a link to that earlier era.
It was a tightly bunched eleven rounds of 66 games, with no player running away with it before the closing stages.
◈Giustolisi's breakthrough
Alberto Giustolisi, an Italian international master, went 6/11 in wins with four draws and only one loss to finish on 8 points — half a point clear of Germany's Heinz Lehmann on 7½. Ghițescu and Padevsky shared third on 7, with Austria's Fritz Gragger close behind on 6½.
For a tournament still finding its international footing, a home victory by Giustolisi was a landmark result: the first time a local Italian player had won the event Reggio Emilia had built for itself.
◈Final Standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giustolisi, Alberto Mario | 8/11 | +6 -1 =4 | games → |
| 2 | Lehmann, Heinz | 7½/11 | +5 -1 =5 | games → |
| 3 | Padevsky, Nikola Bochev | 7/11 | +5 -2 =4 | games → |
| 4 | Ghitescu, Theodor | 7/11 | +4 -1 =6 | games → |
| 5 | Gragger, Fritz | 6½/11 | +4 -2 =5 | games → |
| 6 | Haag, Ervin | 6/11 | +3 -2 =6 | games → |
| 7 | Pirc, Vasja | 6/11 | +2 -1 =8 | games → |
| 8 | Canal, Esteban | 4½/11 | +4 -6 =1 | games → |
| 9 | Sanz Aguado, Jose | 4½/11 | +2 -4 =5 | games → |
| =10 | Marthaler, Otto | 3/11 | +1 -6 =4 | games → |
| =10 | Romani, Elio | 3/11 | +1 -6 =4 | games → |
| 12 | Contedini, Ennio | 3/11 | +0 -5 =6 | games → |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giustolisi, Alberto Mario | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 2 | Lehmann, Heinz | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 3 | Padevsky, Nikola Bochev | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | Ghitescu, Theodor | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 5 | Gragger, Fritz | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 6 | Haag, Ervin | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 7 | Pirc, Vasja | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 8 | Canal, Esteban | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 9 | Sanz Aguado, Jose | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 10 | Marthaler, Otto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 11 | Romani, Elio | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | |
| 12 | Contedini, Ennio | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.