Sarajevo 1967 (Bosna)
Sarajevo's Bosna tournament was already one of the strongest annual events in Yugoslavia, and its 1967 edition drew a formidable, Soviet-heavy field. At the finish two players could not be separated: the Ukrainian grandmaster Leonid Stein, a three-time USSR champion, and the Yugoslav star Borislav Ivkov shared first place on 10½ points from 15 games.
The Bosna tournament
The Sarajevo international, long known as the Bosna tournament after its organizing chess club, is one of the oldest recurring events on the European calendar, held annually in the Bosnian capital since the late 1950s. In this era it was contested as a single round-robin and staged, by tradition, in the spring.
The 1967 field was unusually strong, mixing leading Soviet grandmasters with the best of Yugoslavia. Sixteen players met over fifteen rounds, 120 games in all.
A two-way tie at the top
Stein and Ivkov each finished on 10½/15 to share first place. Half a point behind came Pal Benko and Vladimir Savon on 10, with Robert Byrne and Dragoljub Ćirić next on 9½. The result underlined how evenly matched the strongest Soviet and Yugoslav players were at the time.
Two champions
Leonid Stein was among the most dangerous attacking players of the 1960s and won the Soviet Championship three times, yet FIDE rules limiting the number of Soviet qualifiers repeatedly kept him from a deep World Championship run.
Borislav Ivkov had made history in 1951 as the first-ever World Junior Champion and remained a fixture at the top of Yugoslav chess for decades. The shared Sarajevo title stands among his notable tournament results.
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Stein, Leonid | 10½/15 | +7 -1 =7 | games |
| =1 | Ivkov, Borislav | 10½/15 | +6 -0 =9 | games |
| =3 | Benko, Pal C | 10/15 | +7 -2 =6 | games |
| =3 | Savon, Vladimir A | 10/15 | +7 -2 =6 | games |
| =5 | Byrne, Robert Eugene | 9½/15 | +7 -3 =5 | games |
| =5 | Ciric, Dragoljub M | 9½/15 | +5 -1 =9 | games |
| =7 | Nikolic, Stanimir | 8½/15 | +6 -4 =5 | games |
| =7 | Tringov, Georgi Petrov | 8½/15 | +4 -2 =9 | games |
| =9 | Kavalek, Lubomir | 7/15 | +5 -6 =4 | games |
| =9 | Vukic, Milan | 7/15 | +3 -4 =8 | games |
| =11 | Dueckstein, Andreas | 6/15 | +3 -6 =6 | games |
| =11 | Janosevic, Dragoljub | 6/15 | +2 -5 =8 | games |
| 13 | Pietzsch, Wolfgang | 5/15 | +1 -6 =8 | games |
| =14 | Bogdanovic, Rajko | 4½/15 | +2 -8 =5 | games |
| =14 | Kozomara, Vladimir | 4½/15 | +2 -8 =5 | games |
| 16 | Mestrovic, Zvonimir | 3/15 | +1 -10 =4 | games |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stein, Leonid | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Ivkov, Borislav | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Benko, Pal C | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | Savon, Vladimir A | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 5 | Byrne, Robert Eugene | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | Ciric, Dragoljub M | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | Nikolic, Stanimir | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 8 | Tringov, Georgi Petrov | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 9 | Kavalek, Lubomir | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 10 | Vukic, Milan | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 11 | Dueckstein, Andreas | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | |
| 12 | Janosevic, Dragoljub | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 13 | Pietzsch, Wolfgang | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | |
| 14 | Bogdanovic, Rajko | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | |
| 15 | Kozomara, Vladimir | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 16 | Mestrovic, Zvonimir | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.