Portisch wins 'Portisch 75' rapid tournament

Portisch 75 rapid tournament

The “Portisch 75” rapid tournament was organized by the Foundation for Hungarian Chess to celebrate the birthday of the famous Hungarian grandmaster. Lajos Portisch, who turned 75 on April 4th 2012. The venue of the event was the fabulous Hilton Budapest Hotel where the press conference and a gala reception were also held.

Spectacular: the Hilton Budapest, viewd from the Pest side of the city

The entrance to the finest hotel in Budapest

In addition to Portisch, the other participants of the tournament were Vlastimil Hort, Lubomir Ljubojevic and Istvan Csom.

During the press conference that introduced the Foundation and the tournament, Lajos Portisch mentioned that at some time in the late seventies the whole Hungarian team went through a psychological examination. For him, the result of the examination was a bit of a shock. It clearly stated that Portisch had no logic abilities but had very good reflexes. Ever since that time, he feels a certain commitment to show in the games that he is not lacking that logic. In his first game with Ljubojevic, he had a chance to show it and above all to cold-bloodedly resist Ljubo’s aggressive attack.

After the game, Lajos went through a brief analysis of the game with GM Ferenc Berkes, who was commenting the games for the audience. They had rather different opinions of the key position, but did not go into the details. Thus, the game is up for analysis by the hundreds of spectators and kibitzes. Hort and Csom played a rather balanced game in which Hort gradually overcame Csom’s defence and won the game.

In the second round, the two close Hungarian friends competed with each other. It is well known – and not denied by Portisch himself – that he could always play better against those whom he liked, but had certain problems against players who were unfriendly to him. Once, Csom said that sometimes he would have preferred to have less friendly relations with Portisch, so that his results against him could be positive. In this tournament their game ended in a draw.

In the last round of the day, the two leaders of first day, Portisch and Hort, met and their game ended in draw after move 41. Ljubojevic and Csom followed the same pattern.

Second day

After the first day, when the players changed colours, Lajos Portisch was in the lead by half a point, ahead of Hort and Ljubojevic. Round four immediately brought an intense game between Portisch and Ljubojevic just as in the first round. Csom just could not come to terms with himself. After a balanced opening position, he gradually lost the initiative and went through a difficult phase in the game. He was unable to recover and lost.

The audience – in the front row in the brown blazer is Pal Benkö

In the commentary cabin IM Ferenc Portisch, Lajos' younger brother, and GM Ferenc Berkes

In round five Portisch played safe against Hort, and they agreed on a draw. Thus, the outcome was left to the last games between Portisch-Csom and Ljubojevic-Hort. While the later resulted in an equal position, in the game between the two Hungarian the “Portisch affection” syndrome gained power and Portisch won against his best friend.

Final results of the tournament:

• Click to download all games in PGN

At the closing ceremony, Portisch recalled the 1987 Portisch-Nunn world championship candidate match, which was held in the same Hilton Hotel Budapest under equally pleasant conditions. Now the situation was even more pleasant for Portisch, as he was greatly celebrated in an official gala dinner on the night after the tournament.

After the event: GMs Czom, Hort, Ljubojevic and Portisch, Arbiter WGM Zsuzsa Veröci

Lajos Portisch, a chess legend Lajos Portisch, born on April 4th 1937 in Zalaegerszeg (Hungary), was one of the strongest non-Soviet players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s – in fact at the time he was nicknamed the "Hungarian Botvinnik". Portisch participated in twelve consecutive Interzonals from 1962 through 1993, qualifying for the World Chess Championship Candidates' cycle a total of eight times (1965, 1968, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1985, and 1988). Portisch set several all-time records in Chess Olympiads. In Hungarian Chess Championships, he either shared the title or won it outright a total of eight times, and was awarded the "Nemzet Sportoloja", Hungary's highest national sports achievement award. His main hobby is singing operatic arias, having a fine baritone voice, a quality shared by Vasily Smyslov. [Source: Wikipedia]

Previous reports

A talk with legendary Lajos Portisch – Part II 02.02.2012 – In this second part of a fascinating talk with Lajos Portisch, one of the dominating players in the sixties, seventies, and eighties, you will read about his impressions of Bobby Fischer, the study preferences of Petrosian, and his overall disdain for using chess engines. Unhappy with the focus on openings, he also proposes a greater focus on endgames. Food for thought.

A talk with legendary Lajos Portisch – Part I 01.02.2012 – Lajos Portisch is one of the greatest Hungarian players of all time, and was third in the world at his height. He recently agreed to speak with Albert Silver and gave his first serious interview in English in over 20 years. In it he regaled us with stories ranging from his start in chess ate age twelve, to meetings with the great players, and even his many secret meetings with Bobby Fischer!

Kavalek in Huffington: Long Live the Chess King 28.07.2011 – Chess sometimes becomes a beautiful game even in the eyes of those who don't play it. Find a charming town, bring back its glorious past, turn people into chess pieces, invite kids and a jester and you can evoke magical moments. GM Lubomir Kavalek tells us about "living chess" in medieval costumes, and a blindfold game between him and Hungarian GM Lajos Portisch. Big pictorial column.

Copyright ChessBase