By José M.ª González, from Torremolinos

From 7 to 18 April, the twentieth International Costa del Sol Tournament was held in the halls of the Hotel Meliá in Torremolinos. It is the dean of Spanish tournaments, with the merit of having reached its twentieth edition.

Eleven players representing six countries took part. The tournament was left somewhat short of grandmasters when the North American Alburt, from Lone Pine, where he had had a fine performance, was unable to travel at the last moment.

The world junior champion Yasser Seirawan won without apparent effort. He had practically no rivals, and if he conceded four draws, I think it was more because the points were unnecessary to him and because he played at half speed, given the quality of his opponents.

I must make an exception for the Catalan Martín, who played an excellent, head-to-head game against him. Despite the champion’s efforts to win, the positional equality made other attempts impossible. His draws with Ochoa were meritorious for the North American, after he had cleanly “forgotten” his queen.

I do not know whether Seirawan will be, as they say, Fischer’s successor, but there is no doubt that, at the age of 19, his fighting spirit, his sensational technique, his speed of calculation, the depth of his analysis in any position, and the “wood” shown in his short but brilliant career mean that he has all the necessary ingredients to become a great world figure. In addition, to his virtues at the board one must at all times add exquisite correctness toward his opponents, good manners, chivalry, sympathy, simplicity, and a personal neatness difficult to find among today’s young chess players.

The much-discussed absence of his compatriot Alburt was a pity, because it would have allowed us to see Seirawan’s true worth in the fight for first place.

The Peruvian Rodríguez had a comfortable performance, finishing second, and third place went to the Swede Eslon, who is improving every day, accompanied on points by the Italian Tatai, fourth, who offered us only a few little drops of his class.

Outstanding performances by Martín, Rivas and Ochoa as regards their strategy for reaching the 5.5 points required for the international master title. The understandable nervousness in the final rounds, by those who were playing in one game — and in the results of the others — for the longed-for title, meant that the good play usual in all three did not appear. We suppose that from now on we shall see it again in their performances, now that “duty has been fulfilled.”

Medina gave us both lime and sand. His placing should have been better, but it is clear that he is saving himself for Benidorm.

Bellón was very poor. One single win and four “goose eggs” in a competition of this category is too much. Looking for excuses anywhere, the trauma of the second round comes to mind: losing to G. Polo — something a man of his recognised category should overcome within 24 hours — and the tremendous struggle he sustained in the last three rounds, even with two adjourned games at the same time — against Rivas and Medina — after many hours of fighting, in all honesty, knowing that indirectly three international titles depended on his results.

The Colombian Cuartas was a caricature of the player the fans expected, and only in flashes did one see some detail from him.

The good play of Gómez Polo at local level was nowhere to be seen in this tournament, and he turned out to be the weakest player we have seen in a Costa del Sol.

The joint organisation of the Málaga Federation, the Liceo de Málaga and the Peña Malaguista was as it always is. The technical direction, under Luis Haritver, was impeccable: he was everywhere and took care of even the smallest detail. He was assisted by the international arbiter Eleazar Pereiro, whom I did not have the good fortune to greet, Ezequiel López and Manuel Sánchez.

And without doubt the best thing about the tournament was the tournament itself, for having completed four decades. The effort to ensure that the Costa del Sol is not missing from the national calendar already deserves the highest praise for the Málaga chess community.

Congratulations to everyone!