Reggio Emilia 1970/71
The thirteenth Torneo di Capodanno fielded sixteen players — four grandmasters among them — and stretched past Epiphany to 10 January. Yugoslavia's Bruno Parma went through all fifteen rounds without losing a game, scoring 11½ to finish a full point clear of the American grandmaster Pal Benko.
◈Sixteen players over the New Year
The 1970/71 edition assembled a sixteen-player, 120-game round-robin with four grandmasters — Parma, Benko, Mato Damjanović, and Hungary's László Bárczay — plus six international masters, among them Bulgaria's Luben Popov, Romania's Theodor Ghițescu, the Israeli veteran Moshe Czerniak, and the Philippines' Rodolfo Tan Cardoso. The previous winner Ladislav Mista returned, as did founder Enrico Paoli and the Italian regulars Trincardi, Cosulich, and Masera.
Bruno Parma had been world junior champion at The Hague in 1961 and a grandmaster since 1963, when FIDE granted him the title on the strength of his performance at Beverwijk. In Reggio Emilia he was in complete control: eight wins, seven draws, no defeats.
◈The chase behind Parma
Benko, winning eight games of his own but dropping two, took clear second on 10½. A half point further back on 10 came a shared third between grandmaster Damjanović — who, like Parma, went unbeaten, drawing ten games — and a young American named Andrew Soltis, whose six wins against a single loss were a sign of things to come: Soltis would return the following winter and win the tournament outright.
Bárczay took fifth on 9½, while at the other end of the table Cardoso endured a miserable event, managing just 1½ points from his fifteen games.
◈Final Standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parma, Bruno | 11½/15 | +8 -0 =7 | games → |
| 2 | Benko, Pal C | 10½/15 | +8 -2 =5 | games → |
| 3 | Soltis, Andrew E | 10/15 | +6 -1 =8 | games → |
| 4 | Damjanovic, Mato | 10/15 | +5 -0 =10 | games → |
| 5 | Barczay, Laszlo | 9½/15 | +7 -3 =5 | games → |
| 6 | Mista, Ladislav | 9/15 | +6 -3 =6 | games → |
| =7 | Ghitescu, Theodor | 9/15 | +4 -1 =10 | games → |
| =7 | Popov, Luben | 9/15 | +4 -1 =10 | games → |
| 9 | Czerniak, Moshe | 7½/15 | +6 -6 =3 | games → |
| 10 | Trincardi, Tullio | 7/15 | +3 -4 =8 | games → |
| 11 | Paoli, Enrico | 6½/15 | +3 -5 =7 | games → |
| 12 | Mihaljcisin, Mihajlo | 6/15 | +2 -5 =8 | games → |
| 13 | Cosulich, Roberto | 5½/15 | +2 -6 =7 | games → |
| 14 | Mashian, Yaacov | 4½/15 | +1 -7 =7 | games → |
| 15 | Masera, Umberto | 3/15 | +1 -10 =4 | games → |
| 16 | Cardoso, Radolfo Tan | 1½/15 | +1 -13 =1 | games → |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parma, Bruno | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Benko, Pal C | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Soltis, Andrew E | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | Damjanovic, Mato | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Barczay, Laszlo | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 6 | Mista, Ladislav | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | Ghitescu, Theodor | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 8 | Popov, Luben | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 9 | Czerniak, Moshe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 10 | Trincardi, Tullio | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 11 | Paoli, Enrico | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 12 | Mihaljcisin, Mihajlo | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 13 | Cosulich, Roberto | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 14 | Mashian, Yaacov | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | |
| 15 | Masera, Umberto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | |
| 16 | Cardoso, Radolfo Tan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.