The Netanya 1973 International Tournament was held in Israel from May 27th to June 14th. The top two winners were U.S. representatives: Grandmaster Lubomir Kavalek won first prize with a score of 11 points, and veteran Sammy Reshevsky was second with 10. Reshevsky suffered an upset in the 12th round at the hands of 63-year-old Israeli International Master Moshe Czerniak.
The biggest story of the event was the return of Czech emigre grandmaster Ludek Pachman after a five-year absence from tournament play as a political prisoner. From 1968 to 1972, he was imprisoned due to his opposition to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, only eventually winning his freedom through a hunger strike. Despite this, he was reported to appear as being healthy and optimistic, and had not lost his skill at the board.
The tournament suffered from scheduling issues, which led to disputes. In particular, Reshevsky objected to the scheduling of the Reshevsky-Tatai game in round 10. He did not want to play the game at 8:30 p.m. because another round was scheduled for the next morning. This scheduling conflict arose because of religious holidays and Reshevsky's adherence to a different religious interpretation of the holidays. Although the game was eventually played, it was a bad-tempered affair. In the ending, Tatai gave up his Knight to eliminate Reshevsky's last useful pawn, for a dead draw. "Inexplicably, Reshevsky pondered the position for the better part of an hour before agreeing". (1)
(1). Report in "Chess Life and Review" by Anthony Saidy, p.568
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
1 Kavalek, Lubomir USA GM 2565 * = = = = 1 = 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 = = 11.0
2 Reshevsky, Samuel USA GM 2565 = * = 1 = = = 1 = 0 = = 1 1 1 1 10.0
3 Pachman, Ludek FRG GM 2510 = = * = = = 1 = 0 1 = = 1 = 1 1 9.5
4 Damjanovic, Mato YUG GM 2465 = 0 = * 0 1 = 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 9.5
5 Kraidman, Yair ISR IM 2455 = = = 1 * 0 1 = = 1 1 1 0 0 = 1 9.0
6 Saidy, Anthony USA IM 2425 0 = = 0 1 * 1 = = 0 1 1 = 1 1 = 9.0
7 Yanofsky, Daniel CAN GM 2460 = = 0 = 0 0 * = = = = 1 1 = 1 1 8.0
8 Peretz, Malkiel ISR -- 2365 0 0 = 1 = = = * 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 = 7.5
9 Friedman, Shmuel ISR -- 2200 0 = 1 0 = = = 0 * 1 = 0 = 1 1 0 7.0
10 Czerniak, Moshe ISR IM 2370 0 1 0 0 0 1 = 1 0 * 0 1 0 = 1 1 7.0
11 Tatai, Stefano ITA IM 2460 = = = 0 0 0 = 1 = 1 * 0 1 0 0 1 6.5
12 Kaldor, Avraham ISR -- 2200 0 = = 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 * 0 1 1 1 6.0
13 Domnitz, Zadok ISR -- 2350 0 0 0 1 1 = 0 0 = 1 0 1 * = 0 0 5.5
14 Porat, Yosef ISR IM 2340 0 0 = 0 1 0 = 0 0 = 1 0 = * = 1 5.5
15 Romm, Meir ISR -- 2200 = 0 0 0 = 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 = * 1 5.5
16 Camara, Helder BRA IM 2405 = 0 0 0 0 = 0 = 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 * 3.5
Kibitzing
