Rubinstein Memorial 1967

◈A field to match the occasion

By its fifth edition the Rubinstein Memorial could draw a genuinely distinguished field to Polanica-Zdrój: Salo Flohr, one of the world's leading players of the 1930s and by 1967 a respected elder statesman of the game, sat alongside East Germany's Wolfgang Uhlmann, Czechoslovakia's Vlastimil Hort, and Canada's Duncan Suttles. A surviving photograph from the tournament shows Furman, Flohr, Uhlmann and Hort seated together with Max Euwe — the former world champion whose suggestion had founded the memorial in 1963.

◈Furman's title, half a point at a time

Semyon Furman, who would earn his grandmaster title later that same year, won eight games against a single loss to finish on 11 from 15 rounds. Uhlmann and Hort each reached 10½, sharing second only half a point behind. Poland's Zbigniew Doda and Bulgaria's Kolarov tied for fourth on 9, level with Flohr himself, who closed out the tournament still capable of matching players decades his junior.

Furman's win in Poland came two years before he began the long collaboration with Karpov that would define the rest of his career — the meticulous opening theoretician who helped shape a future world champion.