Today we offer our readers the International Tournament Ciudad de Arrecife, Lanzarote, which was extensively commented on by our collaborator GM Miguel Angel Quinteros. We were unable to include it in our previous June issue for lack of space.

Report and technical comments by our collaborator GM Miguel Angel Quinteros.

It had not yet been 24 hours since the spectacular Las Palmas Tournament had ended, and we were already drawing the numbers for the Second International Tournament Ciudad de Arrecife, Lanzarote. On the plane that carried us to the majestic island, everyone was weaving his dreams or arguing about the latest games played. There was also comment on the original way in which the North American GM Walter Browne resigned his games: when he adjourns, he replaces his sealed move with the word “resigns”.

But without doubt, each player had his own reason for playing in Lanzarote. Olafsson came to confirm his outstanding performance in Las Palmas, and the Cuban Guillermo García not only for that, but also to obtain the grandmaster title. Zuckerman, Silvino García and Enklaar were also fighting for the higher title. Almost the same ambitions were held by the young North American Martz, the talented Visier and my compatriot Debarnot. Kawalek was aiming to make up for the poor tournament he had played on the other island, and I wanted to break the bad luck I had had in the aforementioned previous tournament.

Not half an hour had passed since we had boarded the plane when the stewardess asked us to fasten our seat belts and stop smoking because we were arriving at Arrecife. Loud sighs were heard from Betancort and Andrés Armas, and I, who am still quite afraid of flying, did the same. After hearing about the Fire Mountain and the Cueva de los Verdes, tourist attractions of this beautiful island, we moved to the Arrecife Gran Hotel, where we stayed and where the tournament was played.

One of the rules of this luxurious hotel is that jacket and tie must be worn for dinner. This led to a great “battle” between Zuckerman and the maître d’, since the North American had come very “sportingly” to play the tournament and had left his jacket behind. This did not disturb Zucky, who handled the tournament very well and lost a very good opportunity to add points towards the GM title by drawing, from a winning position, against the young Cuban Guillermo García.

Olafsson began the tournament by taking three points from four possible, but the one for whom everything was going wonderfully was me, since in the first four rounds I had obtained the full four points. One of those points came against Kawalek, in an interesting ending that Jacobo Bolbochán, one of the best endgame specialists we Argentines have, would have liked to play.

The final rounds proved dramatic. Martz, like Visier, was pursuing the International Master norm, for which he had to beat the Icelandic GM Olafsson with the black pieces. Visier’s task, apparently easier, was at least to draw with Kawalek. But there was one difficulty: Olafsson also urgently needed the point at stake, in view of a possible failure by Quinteros in the game he had to play against Fernández, which would allow him to share first place. On the other hand, it was clear that Kawalek’s intentions towards his rival were wholly hostile, sportingly speaking. This was perfectly understandable, considering that the American’s Elo rating was suffering in this tournament because of his poor performance. All these ingredients foreshadowed a truly exciting tournament finish. And so it was.

At last the appointed day arrived. No sooner had the games begun than we knew it was going to be a hard fight, not only because Olafsson had to “sacrifice quality” in order to dominate the aggressive intentions of the likeable Martz, but also because on the other board, where Kawalek wanted to “hunt” the Canarian Visier, Visier had to sacrifice the exchange in order to secure a defensive position. As for my game, I had chosen a not very ambitious but solid opening, since a draw would secure first place for me, tied with the Icelander if he won his game.

The tension in the playing hall increased notably when the fifth hour of play arrived. This was reflected not only among the players, but also among the public. Olafsson, who had obtained a very superior position at the cost of time, began to feel pressure from the clock. He had to make his last ten moves at a dizzying pace, to the detriment of his accuracy. Martz capitalised on his mistakes and was finally able to beat him, accomplishing the feat. Let us see the game in question:

With this result, the young American added another International Master norm. He now lacks only a few more games for FIDE to award him the desired title.

Now no one could dislodge me from first place; therefore, before adjourning my game with Fernández, although I stood somewhat better, we agreed to draw. In the end only one adjourned game remained: Visier–Kawalek. Although the analysis showed that there was no possibility of tipping the balance in his favour, the North American stubbornly set out to exhaust all possibilities, and so the game was adjourned once again.

An unforeseen detail, incidentally: the closing ceremony had to be held without these players, and the prizes were distributed subject to the most probable result, namely a draw. Understandably, during the final dinner we constantly saw the contestants excuse themselves for a moment, on the pretext of making a telephone call, and then rush off to take a “little look” at the marathon game in question.

It is not surprising that such zeal led them to continue the struggle until 4 a.m., by which time exhaustion was already the main actor in the encounter. Suddenly Kawalek left a rook en prise, and Visier simply took it. It was an abrupt but not surprising outcome to such a battle. Naturally, this filled the Canary Islands with justifiable pride, as they see that their intense work on behalf of chess is bearing fruit.