By José M.ª González, from Torremolinos

We can describe as extraordinary the performance of the Argentine international master Miguel Angel Quinteros in this thirteenth edition of the Costa del Sol tournament. With great brilliance, he celebrated his twentieth birthday last February at the Hotel Amaragua in Torremolinos, where the winner ended up undefeated, defeating eight grandmasters and thus obtaining his first norm for the highest international chess title.

Quinteros played bold chess, full of continual lines that were little known — as in his last-round game against Parma, which in many moments reminded us of Bobby Fischer. It is no exaggeration to say that he has travelled extensively in recent months with the current world champion, studying and analysing, including in Iceland during the famous match against the North American. A magnificent assimilation of knowledge, which is already beginning to bear sweet fruit, judging by what we have seen in Torremolinos.

Benko, after many mediocre performances, seems to want to begin to regain the prestige that one could expect from a player of his recognised class.

The Romanian Gheorghiu also continues his upward march and, after his good performance in Orense and Palma de Mallorca, was close to sharing first place. To do so he needed to win in the final round against the American Martz, but he had a rather easy win throughout the game and could not convert it.

Matanovic and Filip made a good impression, playing very conservatively and without taking risks. Both fell short on ambition and drew too many games, and thus could not aim for the final triumph. This was also done somewhat deliberately by the Yugoslav Parma, although with more mistakes and with only one victory.

Our friend Medina played fairly recovered in form, and his main handicap was the clock, which once again deprived him of a higher placing. Even so, I saw him in better shape than in previous competitions.

Pomar and O’Kelly, both rather irregular, should have occupied better positions in the final table. Arturo still looks tired, and O’Kelly excessively cautious.

Rossolimo, as always, was discreet, and the American Martz performed more or less in line with his previous tournaments, his place being quite good for his merits.

The Filipino Torre was the revelation of the tournament. Considered at the beginning as the sacrificial victim, he was the player who achieved the most victories — five — and his final placing was deserved. He is very aggressive and has talent.

The performance of the player from Málaga, Ruiz, was also very good. He scored three and a half points and, as usual, fought stubbornly against the “phenomena” he had to face every day. His lack of these tournaments cost him some half-point that he should have obtained.

Bellón was disappointing and, alongside some good games, committed tremendous blunders. His loss of concentration was obvious, and he will have to take much more care over his preparation if he wants to obtain the national master title. In his defence it must be said that military service in the Sahara does not allow him precisely the most suitable preparation.

The organisation, directed by Eleazar Jiménez and perfectly supported by González Haro, Vivancos, and other members of the Málaga Chess Federation, was, as usual, excellent. The framework of the Hotel Amaragua in Torremolinos was suited to the event, although I estimate that the difference in setting compared with Málaga, the capital, is considerable.

As distinguished visitors to this XIII International Costa del Sol Tournament, we can mention Don Fabio Rojas, José María Gironella, Román Torán, and others.

In sum, another great tournament which, despite the “superstitious,” turned out to be as brilliant as the previous ones, even though it was number 13.