Tilburg 1983
World Champion Anatoly Karpov (right) against Ulf Andersson in round 1, 12 October 1983. Rob Bogaerts / Anefo, Nationaal Archief · CC0
The seventh Interpolis tournament ended the way most of its predecessors had: with World Champion Anatoly Karpov at the top of the table. Unbeaten on 7/11, he edged Ljubomir Ljubojević and Lajos Portisch by half a point to collect his fifth Tilburg title in the event's seven editions — confirmation, a year before his marathon match with Garry Kasparov, that he remained the man to beat.
◈A Category XV field
Interpolis, the Tilburg insurance company that had sponsored the tournament since 1977, again assembled one of the strongest round-robins of the year — Category XV, with an average rating of 2613. Alongside World Champion Anatoly Karpov sat former World Champion Boris Spassky, Ljubomir Ljubojević, Lajos Portisch, Rafael Vaganian, Lev Polugaevsky, Robert Hübner, Ulf Andersson, the young American Yasser Seirawan, and the Dutch trio of Jan Timman, Gennadi Sosonko and John van der Wiel.
Karpov arrived as the tournament's defining player: he had already won Tilburg in 1977, 1979, 1980 and 1982, missing only the 1978 and 1981 editions taken by Portisch and Beliavsky.
◈Half a point of daylight
The champion never lost a game, converting three wins and eight draws into 7/11. Behind him the chase stayed close to the end: Ljubojević and Portisch both finished on 6½, half a point short, with Vaganian and home player Sosonko next on 6. Spassky drew nine of his eleven games; Andersson, true to style, drew ten.
It was Karpov's fifth Interpolis title, and his last for some time — he would not win Tilburg again until 1988. Within a year of this victory he was locked in the longest world-championship match ever played, against Garry Kasparov in Moscow.
◈Final Standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karpov, Anatoly | 7/11 | +3 -0 =8 | games → |
| 2 | Ljubojevic, Ljubomir | 6½/11 | +3 -1 =7 | games → |
| 3 | Portisch, Lajos | 6½/11 | +2 -0 =9 | games → |
| 4 | Vaganian, Rafael A | 6/11 | +3 -2 =6 | games → |
| 5 | Sosonko, Gennadi | 6/11 | +2 -1 =8 | games → |
| =6 | Huebner, Robert | 5½/11 | +2 -2 =7 | games → |
| =6 | Polugaevsky, Lev | 5½/11 | +2 -2 =7 | games → |
| 8 | Spassky, Boris Vasilievich | 5½/11 | +1 -1 =9 | games → |
| 9 | Timman, Jan H | 5/11 | +2 -3 =6 | games → |
| 10 | Andersson, Ulf | 5/11 | +0 -1 =10 | games → |
| 11 | Seirawan, Yasser | 4/11 | +1 -4 =6 | games → |
| 12 | Van der Wiel, John | 3½/11 | +2 -6 =3 | games → |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karpov, Anatoly | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Ljubojevic, Ljubomir | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | |
| 3 | Portisch, Lajos | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 4 | Vaganian, Rafael A | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | |
| 5 | Sosonko, Gennadi | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 6 | Huebner, Robert | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | Polugaevsky, Lev | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 8 | Spassky, Boris Vasilievich | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 9 | Timman, Jan H | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 10 | Andersson, Ulf | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | |
| 11 | Seirawan, Yasser | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 12 | Van der Wiel, John | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.