By José M.ª González, from the Canary Islands

From 7 to 28 May, the sixth International Tournament of that city was held in Las Palmas. Its greatest interest centred on the presence of the world champion, since the rest of the field we found somewhat weaker than in previous years, not in Elo points but in the category of the names taking part. Nevertheless, the presence of Anatoly Karpov alone is a success for any organisation, and the fans truly had reasons to be satisfied with the great display of play given by the champion. He practically had no rivals, just as he had none at Bad Lauterberg, nor in the recent European Team Championship, where he scored 100 percent from the five games he played.

And just as the wine did not convince us at the last tournament in Montilla-Moriles in 1976, despite coming out the winner, here he scored 13.5 points out of a possible 15, without the slightest effort, giving a sublime lesson in how chess must be played in order to win.

He also reminded us of Bobby Fischer’s sensational victories before winning the crown, and made us yearn for what today could still be a match between the two phenomena. Dreaming costs nothing.

Larsen took second place alone, displaying that irregular play of his which often delights the spectator, but which also costs him points won by preventing him from improving his standings. That was not the case here, since his second place was clear-cut; but there were moments when he risked his position too much, because Timman was coming on very strongly, and the Dutchman, on an upward path, is always very dangerous.

Tahl played with his faculties much diminished, hence his inexplicable defeats against theoretically inferior opponents, which relegated him to that shared fourth place.

The Cuban Román Hernández produced a magnificent performance, rewarded with his grandmaster norm, which in a tournament of this class is doubly meritorious. He played with great intelligence and risked only what was necessary for his aims. Very good!

Browne did well enough, if we bear in mind that, according to his own statements, the American considers himself Bobby’s successor... and this seems exaggerated to us, because apart from the “difference,” Byrne and Kavalek, for example, will have something to say. Nevertheless, he played a serious tournament and had some very good moments.

The Hungarian Adorján merely fulfilled his duty, although he was an uncomfortable opponent for almost everyone. With the same score, the Argentine Debarnot, who had settled in Las Palmas years earlier, qualified. He achieved the international master title by completing his third norm in this tournament; with a little luck, and having surpassed it quite easily, he might even have achieved the score for a GM norm. Very well prepared, he played the tournament that interested him and had some games that any grandmaster would sign. Congratulations.

The Englishman Miles disappointed, because much more had been expected of him. Tatai and Pomar performed in their usual line, while Bellón, García Padrón, Martín and Visier were below what would be normal. Bellón in particular cannot seem to find his form. All four had some partial successes, but in general more can be demanded of them. Visier may be excused somewhat, since he had long been away from competitions, but not the others mentioned, because they have class enough for better placings.

The young debutant Cabrera was out of his depth, and in our modest opinion he should by no means have been included in this tournament. In Las Palmas itself there were players with much better chances, and rather than benefiting him in any way, his inclusion in this competition must have harmed his morale.

The organisation was handled by the Canary Federation, and Antonio Medina acted as arbiter. Other points worth noting were the award to Karpov of the prize for fighting spirit, the prize for the best attacking combination to our collaborator Bellón for his game against Martín, and the beauty prize, which was shared by Karpov and Visier for their games against Tatai and Tahl respectively.

We shall now see the crosstable, all the games played by the world champion — some of them annotated — and a selection of games.