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Garry Kasparov
and Ljubomir Ljubojevic shared first prize at the
1987 S.W.I.F.T super tournament in Brussels, Belgium.
The tournament was sponsored and funded by the Belgian
company S.W.I.F.T (Society for Worldwide Interbank
Financial Telecommunications), which was founded in
1973. The event took place from April 10th to April
24th and was considered an FIDE Category 14, as the
average ELO rating of the participants was an impressive
2580.
Three world champions were present
in the form of Kasparov, Mikhail Tal, and
Anatoly Karpov. Tal was originally attending
the tournament as a journalist, but when Robert Huebner
fell ill during his first round game, Tal stepped in and
replaced him for the entire tournament. Joining
them in the twelve man field were the notable likes of
Victor Korchnoi, Jan Timman, Bent
Larsen, and Eugenio Torre.
World champion Kasparov took the early lead, winning his
first four games. Korchnoi kept pace by winning
his first three and drawing the fourth. By the end
of Round 6, Kasparov still had a share of the lead with
Ljubojevic at 5 points apiece. Korchnoi trailed
the leaders by a half point, with Karpov, Tal, Timman,
and Larsen just a half point behind him.
Round 8 proved to be a pivotal juncture of the
tournament as Kasparov pulled off a 43-move victory over
Larsen with the Black pieces and Ljubojevic scored an
impressive win over Korchnoi with a rarely seen Gioco
Piano opening. Their victories gave them a full
point and a half lead over the rest of the field with
three rounds remaining and a showdown between the two
leaders in the next round (which turned out to be a
disappointing 15-move draw).
A Round 10 win over Larsen, coupled with a classic
Kasparov-Karpov draw, gave Ljubojevic a half point lead
going into the final round. Kasparov ended up
scoring an impressive 31-move victory over Tal in the
final round, while Ljubojevic could only manage a draw
against former world champion Karpov. The result
was a shared first place prize between the two. |
