Lajos Portisch - Tournament Successes

Tournament Successes

Portisch was very active on the international tournament scene from the late 1950s through the early 1990s, and was one of the top performers for over thirty years, with many titles against elite fields. He often finished ahead of the top Soviet Grandmasters at important events, was usually near the top of the table, and only rarely finished with minus scores, showing remarkable consistency. Portisch won at least one major international event per year for nearly two decades.

His first top-class round-robin event was Moscow 1959, where he was the youngest contestant, and scored 6/11 for a shared fourth/sixth place; the winners were Spassky, Smyslov, and David Bronstein. At Balatonfured 1959, he shared third/fifth with 7.5/13; the winner was Ratmir Kholmov. Portisch stepped up his activity in 1961. At Budapest 1961, he scored 9/15 for a shared fourth/seventh place; the winner was Korchnoi. At Moscow 1961, he made 6/11 for a shared fifth/seventh place; the winners were Smyslov and Evgeni Vasiukov. Two disappointing results followed, but he was gathering top-class experience, which would come in useful. At Torremolinos 1961, he made only 5/11 for eighth place; the winners were Gligoric and Arturo Pomar. Then at Bled 1961, with six of the world's top eleven players in the field, Portisch scored 8/19 for a shared fifteenth/sixteenth place; Tal won.

Beginning in 1962, Portisch became a consistent tournament winner at the international level. He shared the title at Sarajevo 1962 with Svetozar Gligorić on 8/11. He shared second/third places at Kecskemét 1962 on 10.5/15 behind Ratmir Kholmov. Portisch won Amsterdam IBM 1963 with 6/9 ahead of Jan Hein Donner. He won Sarajevo 1963 with 7/11, ahead of Gligoric, Vladimir Simagin, Wolfgang Uhlmann, and Borislav Ivkov. At Havana 1964, he scored 14/21 for fifth place as Uhlmann and Smyslov won. At Beverwijk 1964, he was third with 11/15 behind Paul Keres and Iivo Nei. He shared second/third at Málaga 1964 on 7.5/11 behind Arturo Pomar. He shared the title at Beverwijk 1965 on 10.5/15 with Geller. At Yerevan 1965, he was fifth with 7/13 as Korchnoi won. With six of the world's top 25 in the field at Zagreb 1965, Portisch scored 12/19 for a shared third/fourth place, as Borislav Ivkov and Uhlmann won. He was third at Mar del Plata 1966 on 9.5/15, with Smyslov winning. Portisch shared the title at Kecskemét 1966 on 6.5/9, along with Vlastimil Hort. At Santa Monica 1966, with seven of the world's top 16 players in the field, he shared fourth/fifth places on 9.5/18, as Spassky won, ahead of Fischer. Portisch was third at Palma de Mallorca 1966 on 10/15, with Tal winning.

Portisch won Amsterdam IBM 1967 with 8/11 ahead of Alexander Kotov. At Moscow 1967, which had 12 of the world's top 33 players, he shared sixth/eighth places with 9.5/17, and defeated World Champion Petrosian; the tournament winner was Leonid Stein. Portisch placed fourth at Palma de Mallorca 1967, where seven of the top 30 played, with 11.5/17; Larsen won. At Wijk aan Zee 1968, he shared second/fourth places with 9/15 as Korchnoi won. Portisch shared sixth/eighth places at Monte Carlo 1968, which had five of the top 16 players; Larsen won. One of Portisch's career highlights was his clear first place at Skopje/Ohrid 1968, ahead of Geller, Lev Polugaevsky, and Hort, with 14/19.

The year 1969 was his most successful to date. He won Amsterdam IBM 1969 by 1.5 points with 11.5/15. At Wijk aan Zee 1969, he shared third/fourth places on 10/15, behind winners Mikhail Botvinnik and Efim Geller. Portisch shared first/second places at Monte Carlo 1969 with Vasily Smyslov on 8/11. Then he took clear first at Hastings 1969-70 with 7/9, ahead of Wolfgang Uhlmann, Vasily Smyslov, and Svetozar Gligorić. At Budapest 1970, he shared fifth/sixth places on 8/15, with Paul Keres winning. Portisch played board three at Belgrade 1970 in the USSR vs Rest of the World match, defeating Viktor Korchnoi by 2.5-1.5. Portisch won at Hastings 1970-71 with 6/9, ahead of Vlastimil Hort, Svetozar Gligorić, and Wolfgang Uhlmann. At Amsterdam IBM 1971, he shared second/fourth places on 9/15 behind Vasily Smyslov.

By 1972, Portisch was a major contender to win any tournament he entered. He won Wijk aan Zee 1972, which had six of the top 25 players, with 10.5/15, ahead of Arturo Pomar, Walter Browne, Vlastimil Hort, and Vasily Smyslov. Portisch won Las Palmas 1972 with 12/15, ahead of Bent Larsen, Vasily Smyslov, and David Bronstein. At Teesside 1972, he finished third with 9.5/15, as Bent Larsen won. Portisch shared first/third places at San Antonio 1972 (with eight of the top 25), on 10.5/15, with Anatoly Karpov and Tigran Petrosian. Portisch shared third/fourth places at Palma de Mallorca 1972 on 10/15, with Oscar Panno and Ljubomir Ljubojević winning. He won at Ljubljana/Portorož 1973 (Vidmar Memorial) with 12.5/17. At Madrid 1973, Portisch shared sixth/seventh places on 9/15, with Anatoly Karpov winning.

and Wijk aan Zee 1975 (ahead of Robert Hübner and Efim Geller). He won the second Interpolis Tournament in Holland in 1978, ahead of Timman. He tied with Borislav Ivkov for first/second at the Tigran Petrosian Memorial, Moscow 1999.