Andersson and Tseskovsky Share First Place

They finished ahead of O. Rodríguez and Cebalo

Organisation

This year’s Costa Catalana was one of the strongest tournaments ever held in Catalonia, surpassed only by one edition of the Elo tournament in which the Soviet player Veev, rated in Category 9, took part.

The strength of the field lay in two leading grandmasters, Tseskovsky and Andersson. The local players were represented by two competitors with provisional Elo ratings, Josep Garriga and myself.

The organisation was very successful. The chess clubs of Calella and Malgrat, the Barcelona Chess Association and the Maresme tourist organisations all took part. The first three rounds were played at the Hotel Guillem in Malgrat de Mar, and the remainder at the Hotel Vila in Calella, where the closing ceremony was also held. It was a very fine event.

Category 8: average rating 2449

Cebalo Takes the Lead

From the start, the Yugoslav player Miso Cebalo stood out. After a brilliant beginning, he moved towards a grandmaster norm. However, in rounds four and five—when he already had three points—he stumbled against Tseskovsky and Vadasz.

Even so, he did not lose heart and reached the final round with five points, having to play Black against Orestes Rodríguez. The game was very hard-fought and reached move 40 without any exchanges. Then Miso put everything on the line and was met by a forceful reaction from Orestes, who opened the position on the kingside and eventually prevailed.

By the middle of the tournament, it was already clear that the original forecast was being confirmed and that Andersson and Tseskovsky were justifying their status as favourites. Nevertheless, in the sixth round Castro inflicted Tseskovsky’s only defeat of the tournament, while Andersson defeated Rodríguez in brilliant fashion. Thus the Swede was one point ahead with only three rounds remaining.

The Favourites Secure Their Positions

Tseskovsky then reacted strongly and convincingly won his next two games against me and Vadasz, while Andersson conceded two draws against Fraguela and Debarnot.

The final round was very exciting, especially because Garriga gradually outplayed Tseskovsky and even left him without any useful move. Just as Josep’s victory seemed imminent, he made a serious error, blundering a piece, and Tseskovsky, to everyone’s astonishment, scored the point.

Andersson also had to work very hard to win his game against Castro, in which the Colombian master had excellent chances. In the end, Andersson and Tseskovsky tied for first place with seven points.

Orestes Rodríguez and Cebalo shared third and fourth place with five points, two fewer than the winners. In a nine-round tournament, this indicates the clear superiority of the two leaders. Both Cebalo and Orestes performed well. The former proved to be a formidable fighter, while the latter successfully upheld his recently awarded grandmaster title, obtained at the Maspalomas tournament earlier that year.

Disappointing Supporting Performances

Castro and Vadasz performed reasonably well, but they would surely have liked to achieve more and left somewhat disappointed. Vadasz was playing in Spain for the first time, and we hope to welcome him again.

Debarnot finished slightly below what might have been expected from his category, but three and a half points in this tournament was not a poor result. His victory over Vadasz was particularly good.

Two Somewhat Dissatisfied Players

After officially receiving the international master title, the Canarian player Fraguela had decided to take a year away from chess and was now returning to international competition. He shared seventh and eighth places with Debarnot, significantly improving on his performance in the same tournament the previous year.

Expressed as a rating performance, his result was 2380, which is entirely reasonable for an international master. More importantly, he played attacking chess and showed quality. His draws against Andersson and Tseskovsky were certainly not the result of luck.

Garriga Confirms His Rating

Garriga finished the tournament with two and a half points.

He had the disadvantage of having to work while the tournament was being played, which is very difficult in an event of this category. Under such conditions, it is understandable that his aim was rather conservative and that he could not challenge for an international master norm.

He achieved what he needed: establishing a final Elo rating without major losses—around 15 points. However, the impression remained that, under more favourable conditions and with a little more experience, he would have been capable of doing better.

I took more risks, aiming for the norm, but once again the attempt failed.

I Made Too Many Mistakes

Both Garriga and I missed good opportunities.

In my case, especially against Tseskovsky and Andersson, I obtained better positions and winning attacks, but I even rejected a draw offered by the great Swedish master.

It must be said that these mistakes, which occurred mainly between moves 30 and 40, were not simply the result of bad luck. They keep recurring, and this year alone they have already happened to me on three occasions.

There are several specific factors involved: experience, professionalism, physical and chess preparation, and so on. Anyone who wants to compete in a tournament of this level must work hard to eliminate many weaknesses; otherwise, the result will inevitably be poor. This requires a great deal of time and effort.

Lluís González i Mestres