World Chess Championship 1987 - 1985-87 Candidates Tournament

1985-87 Candidates Tournament

The 12 qualifiers from the Interzonals were joined in the Candidates Tournament by three seeded players: Smyslov, Korchnoi, and Ribli (no. 2-4 from the previous tournament). The final spot went to Spassky, who was given a wild card by the organizers.

These 16 players first played a round-robin in Montpellier in October and November 1985, from which the top 4 would qualify for the knock-out phase.

1985 Candidates Tournament

		Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Total	Tie break
1	Artur Yusupov (Soviet Union)	2600	-	0	1	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	9	65.75
2	Rafael Vaganian (Soviet Union)	2625	1	-	½	0	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	9	64.00
3	Andrei Sokolov (Soviet Union)	2555	0	½	-	½	½	0	½	1	½	½	½	1	1	1	½	1	9	63.25
4	Jan Timman (Netherlands)	2640	½	1	½	-	½	1	½	½	½	1	1	0	½	½	½	0	8½	65.25
5	Mikhail Tal (Soviet Union)	2565	½	½	½	½	-	½	½	½	1	0	½	½	1	1	½	½	8½	62.50
6	Boris Spassky (France)	2590	0	1	1	0	½	-	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	0	8	60.25
7	Alexander Beliavsky (Soviet Union)	2640	½	½	½	½	½	½	-	0	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	8	58.25
8	Vasily Smyslov (Soviet Union)	2595	½	½	0	½	½	½	1	-	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	1	7½	55.25
9	Alexander Chernin (Soviet Union)	2560	½	½	½	½	0	½	½	½	-	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	7½	54.50
10	Yasser Seirawan (United States)	2570	½	½	½	0	1	0	½	½	½	-	1	½	0	½	½	½	7	52.75
11	Nigel Short (England)	2575	½	½	½	0	½	½	0	½	½	0	-	1	½	1	½	½	7	51.50
12	Lajos Portisch (Hungary)	2625	½	0	0	1	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	-	1	0	½	1	7	50.75
13	Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland)	2630	½	0	0	½	0	½	½	½	½	1	½	0	-	½	1	½	6½	46.50
14	Zoltán Ribli (Hungary)	2605	0	½	0	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	0	1	½	-	1	½	6½	46.50
15	Jesus Nogueiras (Cuba)	2545	0	0	½	½	½	0	½	1	½	½	½	½	0	0	-	1	6
16	Kevin Spraggett (Canada)	2550	½	0	0	1	½	1	0	0	0	½	½	0	½	½	0	-	5

A playoff match for fourth place was held after the main event. It ended 3-3, and Timman advanced because he had more wins during the tournament (4 against Tal's 3).

The top 4 from the round-robin played a series of matches in 1986, the winner of which (Sokolov) in turn got to play Anatoly Karpov in a final match in Linares to determine the championship challenger.

Karpov had earned the special privilege of being seeded directly into this match as part of the agreement regarding the controversial championship matches of 1984, 1985, and 1986.

Challenger Match February-March 1987

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total
Andrei Sokolov (USSR)	½	0	½	½	½	0	½	½	½	0	0	3½
Anatoly Karpov (USSR)	½	1	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	1	1	7½

Karpov won, thus earning the right to face Kasparov in a championship match for the fourth year in a row.