A year after Yuri Averbakh shared the top prize, the Soviet grandmaster returned to Polanica-Zdrój and finished in the thick of the field again — but the fourteenth Rubinstein Memorial belonged to a rising twenty-seven-year-old countryman, Gennadi Timoshchenko, who won five games, drew nine, lost none, and took the title on 9½ from 14.
An unbeaten run for a future coach
Timoshchenko was still a few years from the grandmaster title he would earn in 1980, but he was already known in Soviet circles as the co-inventor, alongside Evgeny Sveshnikov, of what became the Chelyabinsk Variation of the Sicilian Defense — one of the most heavily analyzed lines in modern opening theory. His Polanica-Zdrój win in 1976 came in his mid-twenties, well before the years from 1982 to 1986 in which he served as one of Garry Kasparov's coaches on the young champion's rise to the world title.
He went through the fourteen-round event without a loss, five wins carrying him a half-point clear of a three-way tie for second on 9 between Averbakh, Poland's Włodzimierz Schmidt — the best-placed home player — and Yugoslavia's Milorad Knežević.
Averbakh, still near the top
For Averbakh, shared second came a year after his shared first at the same event; he was still in good form in his fifties. Miroslav Filip of Czechoslovakia completed the top five on 8, in a fifteen-player field of 105 games that kept the memorial a regular stop on the Eastern European calendar.
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Timoscenko, Gennadij A | 9½/14 | +5 -0 =9 | games |
| =2 | Averbakh, Yuri L | 9/14 | +5 -1 =8 | games |
| =2 | Schmidt, Wlodzimierz | 9/14 | +5 -1 =8 | games |
| =2 | Knezevic, Milorad | 9/14 | +4 -0 =10 | games |
| 5 | Filip, Miroslav | 8/14 | +2 -0 =12 | games |
| =6 | Knaak, Rainer | 7½/14 | +4 -3 =7 | games |
| =6 | Suba, Mihai | 7½/14 | +2 -1 =11 | games |
| =8 | Giorgadze, Tamaz | 7/14 | +2 -2 =10 | games |
| =8 | Popov, Luben | 7/14 | +1 -1 =12 | games |
| =8 | Kirov, Nino | 7/14 | +0 -0 =14 | games |
| =11 | Adamski, Jan | 6/14 | +1 -3 =10 | games |
| =11 | Navarovszky, Laszlo | 6/14 | +0 -2 =12 | games |
| 13 | Maciejewski, Andrzej | 5/14 | +1 -5 =8 | games |
| 14 | Doda, Zbigniew | 4/14 | +0 -6 =8 | games |
| 15 | Boudy Bueno, Julio Leonardo | 3½/14 | +1 -8 =5 | games |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Timoscenko, Gennadij A | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Averbakh, Yuri L | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 3 | Schmidt, Wlodzimierz | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | Knezevic, Milorad | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Filip, Miroslav | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 6 | Knaak, Rainer | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | Suba, Mihai | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 8 | Giorgadze, Tamaz | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 9 | Popov, Luben | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 10 | Kirov, Nino | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 11 | Adamski, Jan | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | |
| 12 | Navarovszky, Laszlo | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 13 | Maciejewski, Andrzej | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 14 | Doda, Zbigniew | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | |
| 15 | Boudy Bueno, Julio Leonardo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.