Ljubojević Confirms His Excellent Form in Olot

Díez del Corral Finishes Half a Point Behind and Earns a Grandmaster Norm

The seventh edition of the Olot International Tournament ended with victory for Ljubomir Ljubojević. For the first time, the event reached Category 7 on the Elo scale.

Ljubojević, winner of the latest Palma de Mallorca tournament and recent runner-up in the Yugoslav championship behind Borislav Ivkov, played an excellent event full of strong and combative chess. His personality, youth and friendliness, together with his ability at the board, make him a true gentleman of the game.

From the opening rounds, Ljubojević and the Spanish International Master Díez del Corral fought a close battle for first place. Díez del Corral led after the first two rounds; after the third round the leaders were the Yugoslav, the Spaniard and Pfleger. By the sixth round, Ljubojević and Díez del Corral had opened a gap of one and a half points over their nearest rival.

By chance, the draw paired the two leaders in the final round. Díez del Corral employed the Keres Attack against the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defence and obtained a strong initiative. The Yugoslav grandmaster nevertheless defended with precision and composure, neutralised the attack and secured a draw on move 30. This result gave Ljubojević first place.

Díez del Corral finished only half a point behind the winner and achieved a Grandmaster norm, exceeding the FIDE requirement by half a point. To obtain the title permanently he would need to repeat two comparable performances within three years.

Grandmaster Robatsch also finished undefeated, but conceded too many draws because of an excessively cautious approach. Much the same could be said of Pomar, another of the favourites, who lost contact with the leaders after his defeat by Mariotti. Pfleger did not reproduce the standard of some of his earlier performances. Medina and Mariotti were very irregular: alongside games of high quality, they also committed serious errors.

Bellón disappointed after his good performance shortly before at the Costa del Sol Tournament in Málaga, although luck was not always on his side. In particular, he drew against Pfleger after obtaining a clearly advantageous position. The local representatives, Jurado and Parés, completed the standings and were understandably outclassed by opponents with greater technique and experience.

After the main event, a rapid tournament was held. Pomar won it, followed half a point behind by Díez del Corral and Mariotti, with Ljubojević fourth.

The closing ceremony was attended by provincial and local authorities. The speeches preceding the prize-giving emphasised the importance of the Olot event, which had established itself among the leading competitions on the Spanish calendar. For the following year, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the club's foundation, the organisers planned to increase the field to twelve players and raise the tournament's category.

It was therefore another success for Club Ajedrez Olot, an outstanding example of enthusiasm and organisational efficiency. Once again the club brought an ambitious undertaking to a successful conclusion and showed that it still had more than enough energy to continue this commendable work.

Source: "Jaque" No. 5/1972