Reggio Emilia 1972/73

◈First place, shared three ways

Nobody could break clear of the fifteenth New Year tournament. Lengyel and Popov each finished unbeaten with three wins and eight draws, while Torre took the more combative route — four wins against a single loss — and all three ended level on 7 from 11. Wikipedia's roll of tournament winners records the edition under Lengyel's name, but the table itself declared no separation.

A point behind came another three-way knot on 6: American grandmaster Arthur Bisguier, Cuba's Eldis Cobo Arteaga, and Romania's Dumitru Ghizdavu, who drew a remarkable ten of his eleven games. England's Peter Markland and Italy's Alvise Zichichi shared seventh on 5½, and tournament founder Enrico Paoli — approaching his 65th birthday — was among the four players who closed the table on 4.

◈Torre before the title

For Eugenio Torre the shared first place at Reggio Emilia was an early European landmark in a fast-rising career. Born in Iloilo in 1951, he had become an international master in 1972 by winning the Asian Zonal — only the third IM in Philippine history — and went on to the Leningrad Interzonal in 1973.

The breakthrough came in 1974: an unbeaten nine wins and ten draws on top board at the Nice Olympiad earned him the individual silver medal and made him the first Filipino, and the first Asian from outside the Soviet Union, to qualify for the grandmaster title.

◈The seasoned co-winners

Levente Lengyel brought the deepest résumé in the field: a Hungarian grandmaster since 1964, he had tied for first in the 1962 Hungarian Championship, played the 1964 Amsterdam Interzonal, and represented Hungary in six Olympiads. Luben Popov, Bulgarian champion in 1970, matched him draw for careful draw — and would be back at Reggio Emilia a year later to share first place again.