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Bled (1961) Bled, Yugoslavia (Slovenia), 3 September - 3 October 1961 1 1 Tal * 0 = = = = = 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 14.5 2 Fischer 1 * 1 = = 1 1 = 1 = = = = 1 1 = = 1 = = 13.5 3 Petrosian = 0 * = 1 = = 1 = = = = 1 1 0 = 1 1 1 1 12.5 4 Keres = = = * = = = = 0 = = 1 = 1 1 1 1 = 1 1 12.5 5 Gligoric = = 0 = * = = = 1 1 = = = = = 1 1 1 1 1 12.5 6 Geller = 0 = = = * = 1 0 = = = = 0 1 1 = 1 1 = 10.5 7 Trifunovic = 0 = = = = * = = = = = = = = = 1 = 1 1 10.5 8 Parma 0 = 0 = = 0 = * = = = = = 1 = 1 = = 1 1 10 9 Bisguier 0 0 = 1 0 1 = = * 0 = 0 1 0 = 1 = = 1 1 9.5 10 Matanovic 0 = = = 0 = = = 1 * = = 0 1 = = 0 1 1 = 9.5 11 Darga = = = = = = = = = = * = = 0 = 0 = 1 0 1 9 12 Donner 0 = = 0 = = = = 1 = = * 1 0 = 1 = 0 0 1 9 13 Najdorf 0 = = = = = = = 0 1 = 0 * 1 = 0 = 1 1 = 9 14 Olafsson 0 0 0 0 = 1 = 0 1 0 1 1 0 * 1 = = = = = 8.5 15 Portisch = 0 1 0 = 0 = = = = = = = 0 * 0 = = = 1 8 16 Ivkov 0 = = 0 0 0 = 0 0 = 1 0 1 = 1 * 1 = = = 8 17 Pachman 0 = 0 0 0 = 0 = = 1 = = = = = 0 * = = = 7 18 Bertok 0 0 0 = 0 0 = = = 0 0 1 0 = = = = * = 1 6.5 19 Germek 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 = = = = = * = 5.5 20 Udovcic 0 = 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 = 0 0 = = 0 = = 0 = * 4 <FISCHER THE "MORAL" VICTOR AT BLED> By R. Braine, Chess Life, November 1961, pp. 304–305. "The recent International Jubilee Grandmaster Tournament held at Bled, Yugoslavia should bring joy to American chess players and to the American public in general, because of two things. One is the remarkable showing of young, but experienced chesswise, 18 year old Bobby Fischer. The other is the showing of our two representatives, Fischer and Arthur Bisguier, at this invitation tournament, against the USSR players. Against the four Soviet Grandmasters, Tal, Keres, Petrosian and Geller, our players scored 6 out of 8 points! Bobby beat Tal, Petrosian and Geller, and drew with Keres, scoring 3.5 out of 4. Bisguier beat Keres and Geller, drew with the current USSR Champion, Petrosian, and lost only to Tal, for a plus score of 2.5 out of 4. A wonderful showing! An omen for the future! "Bobby won from Tal, the latter’s only loss, and was the only one who went through the tournament undefeated! Tal won the tournament with 14.5 points, with Bobby second with 13.5. But Bobby beat Tal in their individual game, and so Bobby comes home a “moral” victor. Tal won 11, lost one and drew only seven games, his score 14.5, or 76.3%. Bobby won eight, lost none, and drew eleven games, scoring 13.5, or 71%. Bisguier won six, lost six, an drew nine games, scoring 9.5 points, or 50%. "It was in the second round that Fischer beat Tal. And in the third round, Bisguier won from the great Paul Keres. In round four, Bobby scored a wonderful win against Olafsson. When the veteran Najdorf and Dr. Trifunovic in the 5th round produced a grandmaster draw of eleven moves, the Judge, Milan Vidmar, stopped all play, and appealed, with the support of the on-lookings, for fighting games and for non-participation of seconds in analysis of adjourned games. Readers will recall the report of Hugo Bjork, Secretary of FIDE in the September issue of Chess Life on both of these questions raised by Grandmaster Milan Vidmar of Yugoslavia at the 1960 FIDE Congress in Leipzig. In round six, Fischer received a standing ovation when he defeated Geller. In round nine, Fischer beat Bisguier. In round 10, Fischer, in fine form, sacrificed the Exchange against Bertok of Yugoslavia, and after winning, found himself for the first time at the head of the bandwagon, and remained at the top through the twelfth round, at which point he had a score of 75%. "Tal and Fischer were shoulder to shoulder through the 15th round, but in the final four rounds Bobby won only one game and drew three, scoring only 2.5 points; while in reverse, Tal drew one and won three, scoring 3.5. In round 16, Tal won from Germek, but Fischer only drew with Keres. Tal now led with 12 points, followed by Bobby with 11.5; and Gligoric and Petrosian with 11. In round 17, Bisguier beat Geller in excellent style. Tal against Pachman played eight consecutive Pawn moves in the opening, and still won. But Fischer only drew with Najdorf. Now Tal led by a whole point, having 13; Gligoric crept up alongside of Fischer, with 12; then came Petrosian with 11.5, and Keres with 11. In round 18, the next to the last round, Tal quickly drew his own game, expecting Petrosian to make quick work of Bobby, but when the latter defeated the USSR champion, the crowd roared. After round 18, Tal with 13.5, led Bobby by only half a point. If Bobby won his last round game, and Tal drew, they would be co-champions. Gligoric had 12.5; with Keres and Petrosian a point behind. "But in the final round, the 19th, Tal won against Najdorf, and Fischer only drew against Ivkov. Tal was first, and Fischer second. In the scramble for third place, Gligoric lost to Petrosian for his only loss in the tournament, and Keres beat Donner, thus bringing about a triple tie for third place between Gligoric, Keres and Petrosian. "Bruno Parma, of Yugoslavia, current Junior World Champion, distinguished himself by attaining eighth place." 2 1 Schach-Echo, 1961, no. 10, front cover. In Gino Di Felice, Chess Results 1961-1963 (McFarland 2013), pp. 17-18. 2 R. Braine in Chess Life, November 1961, pp. 304–305. Based on an original collection by User: TheFocus.  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 190  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. A Bisguier vs P Trifunovic   ½-½ 25 1961 Bled C77 Ruy Lopez 2. Gligoric vs Fischer ½-½ 33 1961 Bled E98 King's Indian, Orthodox, Taimanov, 9.Ne1 3. Portisch vs Geller 0-1 40 1961 Bled E67 King's Indian, Fianchetto 4. Ivkov vs Tal 0-1 68 1961 Bled E92 King's Indian 5. Parma vs Keres ½-½ 43 1961 Bled C75 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense 6. Najdorf vs F Olafsson 1-0 41 1961 Bled D71 Neo-Grunfeld 7. Pachman vs A Matanovic 1-0 53 1961 Bled A30 English, Symmetrical 8. J H Donner vs Petrosian   ½-½ 22 1961 Bled B06 Robatsch 9. K Darga vs M Udovcic 1-0 33 1961 Bled E96 King's Indian, Orthodox, 7...Nbd7, Main line 10. M Germek vs M Bertok   ½-½ 17 1961 Bled A74 Benoni, Classical, 9...a6, 10.a4 11. F Olafsson vs J H Donner 1-0 30 1961 Bled A22 English 12. Fischer vs Tal 1-0 47 1961 Bled B47 Sicilian, Taimanov (Bastrikov) Variation 13. M Udovcic vs A Bisguier 0-1 31 1961 Bled A14 English 14. Geller vs Najdorf ½-½ 17 1961 Bled B84 Sicilian, Scheveningen 15. F Olafsson vs Ivkov   ½-½ 20 1961 Bled A34 English, Symmetrical 16. Keres vs K Darga   ½-½ 33 1961 Bled E14 Queen's Indian 17. M Bertok vs Pachman   ½-½ 42 1961 Bled B42 Sicilian, Kan 18. Petrosian vs Parma 1-0 33 1961 Bled E55 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System, Bronstein Variation 19. A Matanovic vs Portisch   ½-½ 37 1961 Bled B14 Caro-Kann, Panov-Botvinnik Attack 20. Gligoric vs J H Donner   ½-½ 21 1961 Bled B14 Caro-Kann, Panov-Botvinnik Attack 21. P Trifunovic vs M Germek   1-0 38 1961 Bled D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 22. A Bisguier vs Keres 1-0 35 1961 Bled E10 Queen's Pawn Game 23. Ivkov vs Geller 0-1 35 1961 Bled A57 Benko Gambit 24. Najdorf vs A Matanovic   1-0 47 1961 Bled E64 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav System 25. Pachman vs P Trifunovic 0-1 38 1961 Bled D48 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, Meran  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 190    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> Feb-17-13    solskytz: actually anybody who goes through this tournament catalogue will understand immediately why my suggestion to make it a drop-down menu is impractical. Just check it out... it will be a drop-dead menu. Jul-31-14    offramp: User: solskytz Thank you for your comments about Bled. Aug-12-14    Nosnibor: The official record of the event was published by DZS of Ljubljana in 1962 and is entitled "Jubilarni Medjunarodni Veleturnir" and of course is in Serbo-croat.The book contains some excellent photographs including that of all the players in the 1931 event held in Bled. The games are annotated by Tal,Gligoric,Keres,Petrosian and Geller, with a theoretical overview by Pirc. 200 pages of sheer delight! Jan-20-16    perfidious: <Nosnibor> Have tried to get hold of a copy of the book, but no dice so far. Thanks for the heads-up! Jan-20-16    TheFocus: <Ljubljana in 1962 and is entitled "Jubilarni Medjunarodni Veleturnir"> It is a nice book. I think I bought mine from John Donaldson. Jun-22-16    RookFile: Good tournament for Bisguier. He played with the big boys and held his own. Jun-24-16    offramp: It's odd to see Fischer going through undefeated, especially at the age of 18. Jan-16-17    offramp: <Nosnibor: The official record of the event was published by DZS of Ljubljana in 1962 and is entitled "Jubilarni Medjunarodni Veleturnir" and of course is in Serbo-croat.The book contains some excellent photographs including that of all the players in the 1931 event held in Bled. The games are annotated by Tal,Gligoric,Keres,Petrosian and Geller, with a theoretical overview by Pirc. 200 pages of sheer delight!> Will we ever see another tournament book? I mean of a non-historical tournament. Which was the last tournament to have a published book? I think there was one about 12 years ago, about a Candidates' tournament, won by Topalov. I can't think of anyting since then. I am not saying it is a <very> bad thing; just a bit of a shame and a sign of the passing of an age. Mar-01-17    Sally Simpson: In 'Fischer - Spassky, Move by Move' by Larry Evans and Ken Smith. (an excellent book the way. A note [in some cases quite funny] after every diagram and every move.) In the introduction when discussing the bidding war for the match they state: "Yugoslav journalists bitterly recalled a time 12 years ago when Fischer, on stage in front of 2,000 chess fans, counted out his money in dinars bill for bill." That sounds like our Bobby. Mar-02-17    offramp: Against the 6 other top 7 finishers Fischer did much better than the winner, Tal. Mar-02-17    ughaibu: Amazing for Fischer to manage that considering the advantage Tal accrued by the short draws with his compatriots. Mar-02-17    HeMateMe: aren't Bob's 11 wins better than Tal's 8? It seems that Tal could have done even better if he hadn't taken so many draws. Mar-02-17    Sally Simpson: Hi HeMateMe, In round 18 (the penultimate round) Tal agreed a 15 move draw with Portisch because he was expecting Petrosian to beat or at least draw with Fischer. The Fischer - Petrosian game is the famous one where Fischer grinds out a win refusing a draw offer from Petrosian only because Tal was standing near by and watching the game and it would have given Tal first prize with a round to go. Fischer vs Petrosian, 1961 Mar-02-17    HeMateMe: you can't blame Tal for that. people like to finish first. Didn't fischer agree to a bloodless draw with Gligoric so both could qualify for interzonal play, in 1959? I would blame Portisch for not making people work. Mar-02-17    Sally Simpson: It was a good move by Tal, Fischer was at time trailing Petrosian by 2-0 in wins and losses. He had no reason to suspect Fischer might win. Tal's bad move was staying in the tournament hall, if he had not being hanging about the board like a Hooded Vulture Bobby would have accepted Petrosian's draw offer. Mar-02-17    keypusher: <HeMateMe: aren't Bob's 11 wins better than Tal's 8? It seems that Tal could have done even better if he hadn't taken so many draws.> Ummmm...what? Mar-02-17    tamar: If Tal were alive, he'd make a crack about HeMateMe's higher mathematics:) Mar-02-17    HeMateMe: He'd probably tell me to "get new glasses." Then, we'd buy each other a shot of vodka. He'd probably drink me under the table. Mar-02-17    offramp: <offramp: Against the 6 other top 7 finishers Fischer did much better than the winner, Tal.> I agree. But, oddly, Fischer was not as ruthless as Tal with the people who finished in the bottom 5. Tal beat all of them. Fischer, a win and 4 draws. May-05-17    colmor: Fischer has 5 games from Bled in 'My 60 memorable Games', he was playing very inspired chess in this tournament. Normally one would expect him to make a tasty snack out of the tail Enders. He could have finished a mile in front of the pack! Jan-13-18    Fusilli: The Soviet collusion machine at work, with all pacific draws among their four representatives, but they all also drew with Trifunovic (who had a winning position against Geller and botched it). Was Trifunovic part of the collusion too? Jul-11-18    ewan14: Tal short draws with Geller , Tal and Petrosian 21 , 16 and 16 moves respectively Sep-19-24    Stonehenge: <Immediately after Bled, he (Fischer) travels to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he has scheduled simuls in Sarajevo and, you won't believe it, Ljubija! We were unable to find out who (and how) arranged that match in a small mining town near Prijedor... According to witness statements, the simultaneous match was indeed played in the Culture Center there, and it was agreed that Fischer would compete against thirty miners, chess players. However, upon arriving in Ljubija, something unpleasant happened - the young American felt severe pain in the lower part of his stomach. Despite this, Fischer played the match and simply "swept" the miners - he won 29, with only one draw! Nevertheless, the stomach pains, which probably influenced Fischer's "merciless treatment" of the miners, became stronger and stronger, so the American chess player asked to be taken urgently to the hospital to see a good doctor. The decision fell on Banja Luka, where he arrived on October 7. The doctors determined that he had an appendicitis attack. Bobby Fischer's arrival in Banja Luka and problems with his appendix were then written about by all major American and Yugoslav newspapers (but surprisingly not the Banja Luka "Krajiške novine", which did not even publish a letter about it). Belgrade's "Politika" reported that the famous chess player was admitted to the Surgery Department of the General Hospital in Banja Luka. “Bobby Fischer was brought to our ward early yesterday morning. We found that it was a chronic attack of the appendix. We recommended an operation for him, but he refused because he had two similar attacks before, but he suppressed them with the use of antibiotics," said Dr. Stipo Ravlić, then director of surgery in Banja Luka. The incredible information "leaked" from the circles close to the chess player that Fischer believes that his chess genius lies in that part of the stomach (!?), which is why he refused the operation. Basically, the Banja Luka doctors prescribed him antibiotic therapy and his condition soon really improved. And how did Fischer spend his time in the Banja Luka hospital? "CUTTING" AT BL SURGERY We found the following story in the depths of the internet and it is completely unverified, but it is so beautiful that we take it as completely true: While he was lying in a hospital bed in Banja Luka, Fischer asked for someone to cut his hair and shave him, since he had "let down" a little. They brought him Fahrudin Suvalic, known as Štroco, a famous barber from Banja Luka, but also a passionate chess player. When he finished cutting and shaving, Strozzo asked the American champion to play a few games, right there in the hospital room. Surprisingly, Bobby agreed! The hairdresser from Banja Luka immediately took out a prepared wooden chess set from his bag, and so there, on the hospital bed of surgery, an "angry" Banja Luka-American chess match took place, in which Fahro managed to "cut" Fischer in chess - he won in two or even three games! After finishing, Šuvalić asked Bobi to sign the paper that he managed to beat him, which Fischer did with a laugh! Later, this "diploma" adorned the wall of Štroca's hairdressing shop for years... After spending three days in the Banja Luka hospital, Fischer's health improved greatly, so the chess champion traveled to Zagreb. As the press reported, he bought a pair of shoes and two suits there (he thought that the best clothes and shoes were made in Yugoslavia) and flew to Munich and on to America. This is how this Krajina "adventure" of Bobi Fischer ended...> https://sahklubbanjaluka.com/sah-u-... (towards the bottom) Mar-26-25    MissScarlett: <FIDE CEO and Grandmaster Emil Sutovsky shares a fascinating story from 1961—when 🤯 Tal and Fischer narrowly escaped a major accident!> https://x.com/FIDE_chess/status/190... Mar-26-25    stone free or die: For those who wish to skip tweet, it's also on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lQQd... . search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! 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