Tallinn 1971
The second Tallinn International was a sixteen-player powerhouse, and it ended in a title shared by two men the Estonian public adored: the local hero Paul Keres and the Magician from Riga, former World Champion Mikhail Tal. Both finished on 11½/15, half a point clear of David Bronstein — a fitting result in the event that, from 1971 on, Keres would win in his own home city.
◈A sixteen-man powerhouse
Contemporaries called it "a powerhouse of a tournament" — a sixteen-player single round-robin of 120 games over 15 rounds, staged in Estonia in the depths of the Baltic winter. Alongside the Soviet contingent of Tal, Keres, Bronstein, Leonid Stein, Alexander Zaitsev and Semyon Furman came a genuinely international field: Czechoslovakia's Jan Smejkal, Finland's Heikki Westerinen, Hungary's Gedeon Barcza, Bulgaria's Georgi Daskalov, England's Robert Wade, the Americans Arthur Bisguier and Anthony Saidy, and Mongolia's Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren.
Two of the local men — Iivo Nei and Andres Vooremaa — carried Estonian colours in a field otherwise stacked with grandmasters, while all eyes were on Keres, playing before his own people.
◈Two champions, one title
Tal was in one of the great phases of his career, in the middle of the unbeaten streaks that would run to dozens of games. At Tallinn he went through the field at +9 −1 =5 for 11½/15. Keres matched him point for point, also on 11½, the two sharing first prize with David Bronstein just behind on 11.
For Keres it was a beloved homecoming result, the first of his two victories in the Tallinn tournament (he would win again in 1975). For Tal it was the first of five Tallinn triumphs across the 1970s and 1980s. After Keres's death the event was renamed the Paul Keres Memorial Tournament in his honour.
◈Final Standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Tal, Mihail | 11½/15 | +9 -1 =5 | games → |
| =1 | Keres, Paul | 11½/15 | +8 -0 =7 | games → |
| 3 | Bronstein, David Ionovich | 11/15 | +7 -0 =8 | games → |
| 4 | Stein, Leonid | 10/15 | +7 -2 =6 | games → |
| 5 | Zaitsev, Alexander N | 9½/15 | +6 -2 =7 | games → |
| 6 | Smejkal, Jan | 8½/15 | +7 -5 =3 | games → |
| 7 | Furman, Semen Abramovich | 8/15 | +5 -4 =6 | games → |
| 8 | Barcza, Gedeon | 8/15 | +4 -3 =8 | games → |
| 9 | Nei, Iivo | 7½/15 | +5 -5 =5 | games → |
| 10 | Saidy, Anthony Fred | 6/15 | +4 -7 =4 | games → |
| 11 | Vooremaa, Andres M | 6/15 | +2 -5 =8 | games → |
| 12 | Westerinen, Heikki MJ | 5½/15 | +4 -8 =3 | games → |
| 13 | Daskalov, Georgi Ilchev | 5/15 | +2 -7 =6 | games → |
| 14 | Wade, Robert Graham | 4½/15 | +2 -8 =5 | games → |
| 15 | Bisguier, Arthur Bernard | 4/15 | +1 -8 =6 | games → |
| 16 | Myagmarsuren, Lhamsuren | 3½/15 | +2 -10 =3 | games → |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tal, Mihail | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 2 | Keres, Paul | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 3 | Bronstein, David Ionovich | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | Stein, Leonid | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | Zaitsev, Alexander N | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 6 | Smejkal, Jan | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 7 | Furman, Semen Abramovich | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 8 | Barcza, Gedeon | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 9 | Nei, Iivo | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 10 | Saidy, Anthony Fred | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 11 | Vooremaa, Andres M | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | |
| 12 | Westerinen, Heikki MJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | |
| 13 | Daskalov, Georgi Ilchev | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 14 | Wade, Robert Graham | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | |
| 15 | Bisguier, Arthur Bernard | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | |
| 16 | Myagmarsuren, Lhamsuren | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.
“A powerhouse of a tournament was the recent 16-man Tallinn International, in Estonia, in which Paul Keres, one of the greats, shared first prize with a former world champion, Mikhail Tal.”
“Paul Keres and Mikhail Tal share a win at Tallinn with 11½/15, ahead of David Bronstein on 11/15.”