From 6 to 19 February, the XVII International Costa del Sol Tournament was held in Torremolinos, Málaga, with the participation of 14 players representing eight countries. The young giant of 19, Christiansen, won brilliantly, at the same time achieving his third norm and therefore the grandmaster title, which will later be confirmed by FIDE. The North American merely proved his worth in front of his compatriot Byrne, playing a brave tournament whose fruit was that highest title of grandmaster, which had already begun to germinate in the previous Costa del Sol.

Robert Byrne obtained second place without great difficulty, also alone, and without making the slightest effort.

The Romanian Ciocâltea finished tied for third place with García Padrón and his compatriot Gheorghiu, prevailing on better Sonneborn score and fulfilling his duty without taking too many risks. Our compatriot García Padrón had a good tournament, also achieving his first international master norm, improving on previous performances and finishing as the best Spaniard in the competition. Together with the winner, he was the player who won the most games — five — and his chess trajectory, unless it goes wrong, is frankly good.

Gheorghiu performed, as in Orense, well below his possibilities and as if lacking appetite for the struggle. Much more may be demanded from a grandmaster of his prestige.

The Austrian grandmaster Robatsch remained undefeated by dint of playing for draws from the very first move. Tatai, Castro and Piasecki fulfilled their duty without more, although we liked the Canadian’s play. The Cuban Hernández gave us the impression of having too many tournaments behind him. Medina began very well, but declined in the final rounds, in which he played in a blurred manner and without fighting spirit. Contrary to the previous year, I think he lacks tournaments.

Manolo Ruiz was, once again, the local player destined to occupy last place. Even so, he had some very good games which he spoiled in the endings, and in general we saw him better than in previous years.

We have left until the end our collaborator Juan Manuel Bellón, who was forced to withdraw after the eighth round as a result of a categorical order from the Spanish Chess Federation that he should join the national team, then in Denmark playing in the Clare Benedict tournament. His withdrawal caused great commotion in the tournament, because, having played more than 50 percent of his games, it obviously benefited some and harmed others. There were complaints even at FIDE level, and there are things that cannot be done without damaging our world chess prestige.

The organisation had a great asset in the deputy arbiter Luis Haritver. A modest but well-prepared bulletin was produced by Sánchez Ibargüen, and once again the halls of the Hotel Cervantes provided the setting for the tournament, which was embellished by the presence of some very charming hostesses.

We believe that Pereiro should pay more attention to the “small details” next year, with some refreshing organisational reinforcements so as not to fall into the present routine, unworthy of the dean of Spanish tournaments and the third oldest in the world.