By José María González, Jaque No. 58, October 1976

From Madrid to Córdoba, along the Andalusia road, there are 401 kilometres according to the road maps; and if we continue towards Málaga, we find, 38 kilometres from the city of the Mosque, a pleasant, whitewashed and agreeable little town — which then turns out not to be so small — called Montilla, famous for its amontillado wines and, for several years now, much better known for its important International Chess Tournament.

About a hundred metres further on stands the Hostal Don Gonzalo, venue of the tournament, where on this occasion, from 16 to 26 August, its sixth edition was held, with the exceptional presence, as a participant, of the world champion Anatoly Karpov.

The large participation of titled Spanish players also offered us the greatest incentive to be present at such an important chess event. Apart from our national title-holders IM Román Torán and Antonio Medina, this tournament was practically a genuine Spanish Championship.

The Soviet player Karpov won. Although he finished a point and a half ahead of the runner-up, he did not play with the authority expected from the best player in the world. In his first game, against Pomar, he needed several adjournments and nine and a half long hours of play. In the second round, against Bellon, he also needed too much time and the resulting adjournments. Against Calvo, in his third game of the event, he was inferior at several moments and finally had to concede a draw.

Then, again with a series of adjournments, he needed no fewer than 100 moves to beat Díez del Corral. His next games, victories over Fraguela and Pfleger, were simple. After that, against Byrne, he drew in 14 moves; then against Stean, in 13; and finally he also split the point in 17 moves with the American Kavalek. These last three games, with the tournament already decided, suggest that his state of health was not ideal, with constant stomach discomfort, and that his repeated adjournments in the early rounds had taken too much out of him. On the other hand, the temperature difference between the Soviet Union and Montilla must also have had an effect.

Ricardo Calvo gave an excellent performance, achieving his first grandmaster norm in a fully regular tournament, with the sole exception of his only defeat, against the American Kavalek, which should not have occurred. He played with grit, confirming his statement that he had not come to Montilla to train, and he was the highest-placed Spaniard in the tournament.

Although it may seem unusual, he was also the best Spaniard among the Spaniards. For us, this competition — Elo aside — was equivalent to identifying the best national player in 1976. In other words, the true Spanish individual champion, because there is no doubt that this classification is more real than the one we will obtain in a few days from the official event to be held in Ceuta, from which a new champion will emerge who, barring error or omission, will in no way reflect “the truth”.

Within this “official” reflection, we have allowed ourselves to draw up a classification table of the Spanish players in Montilla. There we can see — except for the already-mentioned absences of Torán and Medina — that theoretically the Spanish champion would be Ricardo Calvo, and the runner-up Juan Manuel Bellon. As proof of our theory, we can note that the current Spanish champion at the time of writing, Fraguela, finished last with one and a half points.

The Englishman Stean — who replaced the Soviet Furman at the last moment — Kavalek and Pfleger performed adequately. The American Byrne disappointed, mentally tired from the Interzonal in Switzerland, although physically he gave us excellent demonstrations at tennis.

Bellon still has not found his form, although he displayed it in his games with Stean and Byrne, whom he defeated cleanly. Díez del Corral and Pomar performed below their possibilities: the former with some flashes of his great class, the latter too conformist.

Fraguela, in yet another of his recent disappointing performances — unworthy both of the ability and “chess fibre” we have always defended in him, and of the responsibility imposed by his honourable title — deservedly finished last.

Despite the “family” atmosphere of the tournament, the organization was one of the best we know. This is logical if we consider that the tournament director was O’Kelly, assisted by Medina as chief arbiter and Mesa as assistant. At the head was Molina, who, apart from the “thrashings” in his sensational audition room, managed to assemble a group of collaborators on a diplomatic and hospitality mission for participants and visitors that any embassy corps would envy.

We should note the presence at the tournament of Florencio Campomanes, Nicolás Paladino, Alfonso Campoy, Jorge Puig, Rafael Betancort and others.

There was a picturesque closing ceremony and prize-giving. In addition to the substantial cash prizes, the following awards were presented:

Donated by the Regulatory Council of the Montilla-Moriles Designation of Origin:

• Silver wine-tasting cups for all players and for Messrs. O’Kelly, Medina, Torán, Campomanes, and for the magazine Jaque.

Donated by the firm Carbonell y Cía. S.A. of Córdoba:

• A beautiful silver cup for the world champion Karpov.

Donated by Bodegas Montulia S.A.:

• A silver trophy for the highest-placed Spanish player, Ricardo Calvo.

Donated by Bodegas Alvear S.A.:

• A silver tray for the last-placed player, José Miguel Fraguela.

Donated by the Caja Provincial de Ahorros de Córdoba:

• The sum of 10,000 pesetas for the best game, awarded to GM Jesús Díez del Corral for his game against Fraguela.

At the end of the prize-giving, the jury’s decision was announced regarding the two prizes of 17,500 pesetas for the best series of articles published in the national and foreign press. These went to Messrs. Torán and R. Byrne.

Let us now look at the final table and a selection of games.

/ José María Fernández, Revista JAQUE, No.58, Oct 1976 /