7th Louis D. Statham Tournament
Lone Pine, California
March 20-30, 1977
The tournament was lengthened to nine rounds, ensuring FIDE ratability and possible title norms. Eligibility requirements reverted to the 1975 standards: GM or IM title, adults with rating of at least 2350, juniors with rating of at least 2250. Forty-eight players with an average rating of 2410 participated. They produced an exciting tournament, full of twists and turns with numerous lead changes.
No perfect scores remained after three rounds. The fourth round saw Yuri Balashov, William Lombardy, and John Peters sharing the lead with 3.5, while only Oscar Panno and Peter Biyiasas had three points. Cautious play among the three leaders left them tied at 4.0/5 with Biyiasas going into the two-day break, with Panno, Nona Gaprindashvili, Pal Benko, and Jaime Sunye Neto lurking a half-point behind.
Round 6 saw Balashov defeat Biyiasas and Peters overcome Lombardy, with Panno and Benko just a half-point down. As Balashov and Peters had already played, they were paired into the next score group for round 7. Panno pulled off a win over the Soviet GM to tie for the lead with Peters, who drew with Benko. The pursuit pack on five points consisted of Balashov, Benko, and a relative unknown in Yugoslavian IM Dragutin Sahovic, who had been creeping back into contention after a first round loss. At 4.5, and still in the hunt, were Gaprindashvili, Lombardy, Walter Browne, Kenneth Regan, Samuel Reshevsky, and Biyiasas.
Panno took a draw with Benko in round 8, and was joined on 6.0 points by Sahovic, who knocked off Peters. The group on 5.5 included Balashov, Gaprindashvili, Peters, and Benko.
For the decisive round, Panno and Sahovic decided not to press their luck. Balashov and Gaprindashvili emerged from the fray with wins to make it a four-way tie at the top, making this the first Statham tournament with co-champions.
This version of the crosstable allows colors in each game to be determined. If the result (W, L, D) comes first, the player had White. If the result follows the opponent's number, the player had Black. For example, Balashov's first three results are win with Black vs. #12, draw with White vs. #07, win with Black vs. #16.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
01 Yuri Balashov 12W D07 16W W08 05D W20 L03 09D W10 6.5
02 Dragutin Sahovic 08L W26 22W D04 15D W30 W06 07W D03 6.5
03 Oscar Panno W41 16D D15 W29 07D W04 01W D10 02D 6.5
04 Nona Gaprindashvili W48 W18 05L 02D W11 03L W13 20W W07 6.5
05 William James Lombardy 36D W38 W04 23W D01 07L 20D D14 17W 6.0
06 Larry Christiansen W24 08D D30 20L W31 W32 02L W12 15W 6.0
07 John A Peters W43 01D W42 11W D03 W05 10D L02 04L 5.5
08 Roy C Ervin W02 D06 09W 01L D17 D14 25D 26D W20 5.5
09 Walter Shawn Browne 15D D34 L08 43W W33 17D W23 D01 14D 5.5
10 Pal Benko D21 40D W37 30D W23 29W D07 03D 01L 5.5
11 Anatoly Lein 37D W36 33W L07 04L W27 12L W38 22W 5.5
12 Kenneth Regan L01 48W D31 42D W35 13D W11 06L 25W 5.5
13 Leonid Shamkovich 22D D37 21D W40 32D D12 04L W29 W26 5.5
14 Samuel Reshevsky D42 21D W46 15D D30 08D W29 05D D09 5.5
15 Julio P Kaplan D09 19W 03D D14 D02 39D D17 24W L06 5.0
16 Michael Rohde 25W D03 L01 17L 47D W28 18D W39 D19 5.0
17 Norman Weinstein 46D D22 40D W16 08D D09 15D W21 L05 5.0
18 James Tarjan W26 04L W34 32D L20 21D D16 23D W30 5.0
19 Miguel Quinteros 34D L15 24W D33 29L W46 38D W27 16D 5.0
20 Peter Biyiasas 35D D46 44W W06 18W 01L D05 L04 08L 4.5
21 Yasser Seirawan 10D D14 D13 25D 27D D18 W33 17L D23 4.5
22 Edward W Formanek D13 17D L02 34D D38 35W 32W D25 L11 4.5
23 John A Grefe 47W W31 29D L05 10L W42 09L D18 21D 4.5
24 Eugene Meyer 06L D27 L19 45W 28D W34 30W L15 32D 4.5
25 Laszlo Szabo L16 44D W36 D21 42D 37W D08 22D L12 4.5
26 Peter Cleghorn 18L 02L W48 35L W41 44W W39 D08 13L 4.5
27 Mark Diesen L29 24D W45 31D D21 11L W42 19L W37 4.5
28 William E Martz D40 42L D35 46D D24 16L D37 47W W38 4.5
29 Jaime Sunye Neto 27W W39 D23 03L W19 L10 14L 13L 34D 4.0
30 Helgi Olafsson 39D W45 06D D10 14D 02L L24 W35 18L 4.0
31 Denis Verduga W32 23L 12D D27 06L 38L W41 33D D39 4.0
32 Arthur Bisguier 31L W47 43W D18 D13 06L L22 37D D24 4.0
33 Kenneth Frey Beckman 45D W35 L11 19D 09L W47 21L D31 36D 4.0
34 Arnold Denker D19 09D 18L D22 46D 24L D40 42W D29 4.0
35 Jonathan D Tisdall D20 33L 28D W26 12L L22 W48 30L W43 4.0
36 John Fedorowicz D05 11L 25L L44 D43 48W D47 46W D33 4.0
37 Curt Justin Brasket D11 13D 10L D39 40W L25 28D D32 27L 3.5
38 Carlos Garcia Palermo D44 05L 39D D47 22D W31 D19 11L 28L 3.5
39 Larry Melvyn Evans D30 29L D38 37D W44 D15 26L 16L 31D 3.5
40 David Simon Charles Goodman 28D D10 D17 13L L37 43D 34D L41 48W 3.5
41 David J Strauss 03L L43 47L W48 26L D45 31L 40W W46 3.5
42 Lawrence Day 14D W28 07L D12 D25 23L 27L L34 45D 3.0
43 Bryon Nickoloff 07L 41W L32 L09 36D D40 46D D45 35L 3.0
44 Jay E Whitehead 38D D25 L20 36W 39L L26 45L 48L W47 3.0
45 Vincent McCambridge D33 30L 27L L24 48L 41D W44 43D D42 3.0
46 Arthur William Dake D17 20D 14L D28 D34 19L D43 L36 41L 2.5
47 Ron W Henley L23 32L W41 38D D16 33L 36D L28 44L 2.5
48 Eugene Martinovsky 04L L12 26L 41L W45 L36 35L W44 L40 2.0
GM Norms: Dragutin Sahovic, Nona Gaprindashvili. IM Norms: John A Peters, Roy C Ervin, Kenneth Regan.PRIZES
1st-4th - Balashov, Panno, Sahovic, Gaprindashvili: $5,750
5th-6th - Lombardy, Christiansen: $1,250
7th-14th - Browne, Lein, Benko, Shamkovich, Reshevsky, Peters, Regan, Ervin: $ 281
Total prize fund: $27,250
PREVIOUS: Lone Pine (1976).
NEXT: Lone Pine (1978).
Original collection: Game Collection: Lone Pine 1977, by User: Phony Benoni.
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