Wijk aan Zee 1984 (Hoogovens)

◈Two Kasparov victims arrive with something to prove

The 1984 field averaged 2557 — category XIII, one of the strongest Hoogovens line-ups of the era. Defending champion Ulf Andersson returned, joined by Robert Hübner, Tony Miles, András Adorján, Vladimir Tukmakov, Eugenio Torre, the 23-year-old Yugoslav Predrag Nikolić, and a five-strong Dutch contingent of John van der Wiel, Gennadi Sosonko, Hans Ree, Gert Ligterink and Paul van der Sterren.

The two headliners shared an unwelcome distinction: both had just been eliminated from the Candidates cycle by Garry Kasparov. Beliavsky had lost their Moscow quarterfinal match 6–3 in the spring of 1983; Korchnoi, after the notorious Pasadena forfeit was set aside, went down 7–4 in the rescheduled London semifinal at the end of the year, only weeks before play began at Wijk aan Zee.

◈Unbeaten, together, to the tape

Neither man lost a game. Korchnoi, the 2635-rated top seed, and Beliavsky, giving away 70 rating points, each scored seven wins and six draws for 10/13 — performance ratings of 2762 and 2767 respectively. Their personal meeting came in round 11, on 26 January: a Nimzo-Indian draw, their pre-game handshake before a crowd of spectators and press photographers captured by Anefo photographer Rob Bogaerts.

For the 52-year-old Korchnoi it was a third Hoogovens title, adding to his victories at Wijk aan Zee in 1968 and 1971 — and he would take a fourth, shared with Nigel Short, in 1987. For Beliavsky it was his first and only Hoogovens crown.

◈Daylight to third

The winners finished two and a half points clear of the field. Nikolić took clear third on 7½, with defending champion Andersson fourth on 7 after a typically solid +2 −1 =10. Five players bunched at 6½: Hübner, Miles, Van der Wiel, Tukmakov and Adorján, the Hungarian drawing eleven of his thirteen games. Of the home players only Van der Wiel reached fifty percent; Van der Sterren finished last on 3½ without winning a game.