Yugoslav Kurajica Wins the 2nd Costa Brava Tournament

The second Costa Brava International Tournament required an increase in the number of participants and, consequently, the same format was played with 12 players, whereas the first edition had been played with 10. Of these 12 participants, three held the Grandmaster title, eight were International Masters, one was a National Master, and one was the local champion.

Under a flawless organisation, efficiently directed by that great chess enthusiast from Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Don Roberto de Robert, Marquis of Robert, the supporters of the local club once again demonstrated their organisational ability through a series of thoughtful details that were rightly praised by the participants and by those attending the rounds.

The tournament was directed by Mr Jorge Puig, while the chief arbiter was Mr Juan Torquet, and the entire event proceeded with complete normality. The prize-giving ceremony, presided over by the President of the Provincial Council, was very successful and well attended. In addition to other local authorities, it was also attended by Mr Pedro Casajuana and Mr Antonio Guillén, respectively president and vice-president of the Catalan Federation.

This second edition of the Costa Brava Tournament was won by the Yugoslav Kurajica, a former World Junior Champion, who finished a quarter of a Sonneborn-Berger point ahead of the Icelandic player Sigurjonsson. The latter obtained his third Grandmaster norm, while Kurajica obtained his first.

The games were very hard-fought and the standard of play was extremely high, especially as most of the participants hoped to achieve a Grandmaster norm. In this important tournament, the magnificent work carried out by our future Grandmaster Pomar deserves special mention, as he reached third place, only half a point behind the leaders.

Bellón also performed very well, despite failing to reach the minimum score required for the higher norm. As a curious detail, it should be noted that the only two games he lost were against his former “teachers”, Pomar and Medina. Martín also took half a point from him, so that the participation of the Catalan players was disastrous for Bellón’s ambitions. Martín’s performance was irregular, as several incomprehensible mistakes caused him to lose games that had been genuinely favourable.

As for Payet, the local representative, he obtained only one point, but it was a point of merit, since he defeated Grandmaster Quinteros.

Medina, then, was the winner against Kurajica, who suffered only one defeat, against Bellón, and Sigurjonsson’s performance was excellent, as he also remained unbeaten. Quinteros, Hamann and Tatai played only discreetly, while Grandmaster Andersson appeared below form or possibly fatigued by his continuous participation in international tournaments. Medina improved noticeably in his final appearances and, with a little more luck, might have achieved a better placing.

Rodríguez of Peru, without disappointing, was the least outstanding of the invited foreign players.

In view of the success of this second chess event in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, we hope that the tournament will continue successfully and that the third edition will, if possible, surpass the previous ones.