Golden Sands 85 - Success for Ubilava, Inkiov and Knaak

The Golden Sands international tournament no longer required special publicity. The fact that it was being held for the 24th consecutive time was enough to show that it was Bulgaria's oldest international chess event. In recent years its prestige had risen further through the participation of highly rated players and the possibility of achieving a grandmaster norm. The organizers also enjoyed valuable support from the mayor of Varna.

This year's event was Category VIII, with an average Elo of 2436. Seven Bulgarians, including three grandmasters, were joined by players from the USSR, Yugoslavia, the GDR and Cuba. Particular attention focused on grandmaster Rainer Knaak, the highest-rated participant, and Elizbar Ubilava, a trainer of Nona Gaprindashvili and a frequent participant in the Soviet championship's first league.

The field was extremely even. The grandmaster norm of eight points from eleven games - effectively plus five - proved beyond even the eventual winners.

Unfortunately, the festive atmosphere one would expect at such an event was missing. Spectators had restricted access to the playing hall, while music from neighbouring rooms sometimes drowned out the ticking of the chess clocks. This inevitably affected the players' psychological preparation, and it took them a long time to find the rhythm of serious competition. The struggle became truly sharp only in the final three rounds.

Even so, there were many interesting ideas, attractive tactical blows and difficult endgames. What was hard to find was a single game played perfectly from beginning to end: gross mistakes or surprising technical errors repeatedly spoiled promising creative work. Inkiov showed the best technique in converting advantages and fully deserved his high placing; Spiridonov, by contrast, probably missed the greatest number of opportunities.

Knaak started with a draw and a loss, then reacted to his defeat by Ubilava with five consecutive victories and eventually joined the fight for first place. The tournament ended with Ubilava, Inkiov and Knaak sharing the leading score, a fitting reflection of how closely matched the strongest players had been.

Semko Semkov