1971 Oxford International, Manchester College, Oxford, 24 July - 1 August 1971

1971 Oxford International		Fed	Elo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total
1	George S Botterill	ENG		♦ ½/8	◊ 1/12	◊ 1/4	♦ ½/6	◊ ½/3	♦ ½/2	◊ 1/10	♦ ½/5	♦ 1/7	6½
2	Victor Ciocaltea	ROU	2460m	◊ ½/6	♦ ½/5	◊ ½/3	♦ 1d/4	◊ 1/8	◊ ½/1	♦ ½/7	♦ ½/10	◊ 1/9	6
3	Peter R Markland	ENG	2510	◊ ½/9	♦ ½/6	♦ ½/2	◊ 1/12	♦ ½/1	♦ ½/8	◊ ½/4	◊ 1d/13	◊ ½/5	5½
4	Jaan Eslon	SWE		♦ 1/13	◊ ½/7	♦ 0/1	◊ 0d/2	♦ 1/9	◊ ½/11	♦ ½/3	◊ ½/12	♦ 1/6	5
5	Roger Rance Smith	ENG		♦ 1/11	◊ ½/2	♦ ½/9	◊ ½/7	♦ 0/10	♦ ½/13	◊ 1/14	◊ ½/1	♦ ½/3	5
6	Andrew J Whiteley	ENG	2310	♦ ½/2	◊ ½/3	♦ 1/13	◊ ½/1	♦ 1/7	◊ ½/10	♦ ½/9	♦ ½/8	◊ 0/4	5
7	Daniel Wright	ENG	2340	◊ 1/10	♦ ½/4	◊ ½/8	♦ ½/5	◊ 0/6	♦ 1/14	◊ ½/2	♦ 1/11	◊ 0/1	5
8	Darko Gliksman	YUG	2385m	◊ ½/1	♦ 1/14	♦ ½/7	◊ 1/9	♦ 0/2	◊ ½/3	♦ ½/11	◊ ½/6	♦ 0/12	4½
9	Joaquim Durao	POR	2280m	♦ ½/3	◊ 1/11	◊ ½/5	♦ 0/8	◊ 0/4	♦ 1/12	◊ ½/6	♦ ½/14	♦ 0/2	4
10	Hans Dieter Weichert	FRG		♦ 0/7	◊ ½/13	♦ ½/12	◊ 1/14	◊ 1/5	♦ ½/6	♦ 0/1	◊ ½/2	◊ 0/11	4
11	Alar Puhm	CAN		◊ 0/5	♦ 0/9	◊ 0/14	◊ ½/13	♦ 1/12	♦ ½/4	◊ ½/8	◊ 0/7	♦ 1/10	3½
12	Norman Rischbieth	FRG		◊ 1/14	♦ 0/1	◊ ½/10	♦ 0/3	◊ 0/11	◊ 0/9	♦ ½/13	♦ ½/4	◊ 1/8	3½
13	David Parr	ENG		◊ 0/4	♦ ½/10	◊ 0/6	♦ ½/11	♦ 1/14	◊ ½/5	◊ ½/12	♦ 0d/3	0/def	3 / 7
14	L Fromm	NED		♦ 0/12	◊ 0/8	♦ 1/11	♦ 0/10	◊ 0/13	◊ 0/7	♦ 0/5	◊ ½/9	1/bye	2½

Crosstable compiled from results given in CHESS, September 1971, Vol.36/633-4, ppn 361-365. Three games were defaulted: Eslon arrived too late for his 4th round game with Ciocaltea, while David Parr defaulted his last two rounds.

1971 Oxford Ladies' Tournament (10-player all-play-all)

1971 Oxford Ladies International		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Elisabeta Polihroniade	Romania	&;	1	½	1	1	½	1	½	½	½	6½
2	Jana Hartston (Bellin)	Cambridge	0	&;	½	½	1	0	1	1	1	½	5½
3	Irina Cohn	West Germany	½	½	&;	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	5
4	Gordana Jovanovic (Markovic)	Yugoslavia	0	½	½	&;	½	½	½	1	½	1	5
5	Rowena M Bruce	Plymouth	0	0	½	½	&;	1	½	½	½	½	4
6	Ada van der Giessen	Netherlands	½	1	½	½	0	&;	½	0	½	½	4
7	Fenny Heemskerk	Netherlands	0	0	½	½	½	½	&;	½	1	½	4
8	Hannelore Weichert	West Germany	½	0	½	0	½	1	½	&;	½	½	4
9	Eileen B Tranmer	London	½	0	0	½	½	½	0	½	&;	1	3½
10	Dinah M Wright (now Norman)	London	½	½	½	0	½	½	½	½	0	&;	3½

1971 Oxford Open (7 rounds, 46 competitors, 25 July - 1 August, rest day 29 July - time control 40/2½hrs+16/1hr etc)

(1) Jonathan I Century 6/7; (2-3) Akihiro Kanamori, John D M Nunn 5½; (4-5) Philip J Booth, Graham P Burton 5; (6-11) James M Aitken, Graham J Bromley, Mike J Conroy, David A Hester, John M Ripley, Kevin J Wicker 4½; (12-18) Tim D Harding, John C Saunders, David Everett, Gareth D Pearce, Johann P Sommerville, Guy Rouverol (FRA), Vladimiro Miranda (POR) 4.

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BCM, September 1971, ppn 327-329

THE FIRST OXFORD INTERNATIONAL CHESS CONGRESS July 24th to August 1st, 1971 - by W.R.HARTSTON

The first in a proposed annual series of tournaments was held in the very pleasant surroundings of Manchester College, Oxford. The Congress took the form of two small international events for men and women respectively, supported by an open Swiss tournament.

The preliminary organisation of the whole congress fell largely on the shoulders of Alan Crombleholme, who must be congratulated on his enterprise in undertaking such an ambitious venture. He and his helpers, of whom David Blake and Paul Kendall were most conspicuous, did a good job on the whole, though their lack of experience did give rise to one or two anxious moments.

The men’s tournament, after many changes of plan, finally took the form of a fourteen-player, nine-round Swiss. The final scores were as follows:

(1) G.S.Botterill 6½; (2) V.Ciocaltea 6; (3) P.R.Markland 5½; (4-7) J.Eslon, R.R.Smith, A.J.Whiteley, D.Wright 5; (8) D.Gliksman 4½; (9-10) J.Durao, H.Weichert 4; (11-12) A.Puhm, N.Rischbieth 3½; (13) D.Parr 3; (14) L.Fromm 2½.

Botterill’s win was well merited and achieved without defeat. He played good aggressive chess throughout and never looked in difficulties. His last round victory against Wright was perhaps the best game of the whole event. [score of game]

The pre-tournament favourites had been the two international masters Ciocaltea and Gliksman, but both were somewhat disappointing. The Roumanian Champion, Ciocaltea, started very slowly with draws against Whiteley, Smith and Markland. In the fourth round his opponent, Eslon, arrived more than an hour late, thus donating a free point. Spurred on by this fortune, Ciocaltea won an exciting game against Gliksman the following day, but then resumed his drawing run until a last round win brought him second prize. It is interesting to note that the gods had sufficient pity on Eslon to give him a gift point by clouding Durao’s brain a couple of rounds later. The Portuguese player thought that he had passed the time control at move 36 when there were still four moves to make and just sat there while his flag dropped.

Markland’s third place was achieved by winning two and drawing seven games, several from highly dubious positions. His play seemed to lack sharpness, perhaps due to the soporific Oxford air.

Of the fourth prize-winners only Whiteley ever looked in contention for a high place, but an unnecessary loss in the last round against Eslon deprived him of an unbeaten record and a better result.

The Yugoslav, Gliksman, also might have done much better. He played very interesting chess, but handicapped himself by an apparent liking for time-trouble. His game against Whiteley was very exciting and a good example of his enterprising style. [score of game]

Subsequent analysis failed to show who stood better in the final position; White’s bishops are certainly powerful enough to cause the rooks great trouble. Possibly Black could have won earlier with 16...P-KR3! instead of 16...P-KB3. [Stockfish prefers the move played - JS]

The Ladies' tournament was a ten-player all-play-all and had an entry more impressive than the men’s. The event turned into a very easy victory for the Roumanian, E Polihroniade with 6½. Second place was deservedly taken by the British Lady Champion, Jana Hartston with 5½ while G Jovanovic (Yugoslavia) and H Cohn [Other sources suggest it was Irina Cohn - JS] (W.Germany) shared the remaining prizes with 5 points. Remaining scores were: R.M. Bruce, A. van der Giessen, F.Heemskerk and H.Weichert 4; Mrs D Wright and E Tranmer 3½.

There was an astonishingly high percentage (64.4%) of draws in the tournament and a lack of fighting spirit was greatly in evidence.

Jana Hartston and Dinah Wright (née Dobson) were both somewhat out of form, though the former just managed to scramble into second place thanks to a good win in the last round at the expense of Rowena Bruce. Dinah, I am sure, had other things on her mind. [Hartston is alluding to her very recent marriage to Daniel Wright - JS]

The tournament was somewhat marred at the start when the controller’s confusion led to an incorrect draw for the order of play being adopted instead of that determined by lot at the opening ceremony. Since the draw may influence the result of a tournament such mix-ups should not be allowed to happen.

The Open Swiss Tournament had the following results:

(1) J I Century 6; (2-3) A Kanamori, J Nunn 5½; (4-5) P J Booth, G P Burton 5; (6-11) J M Aitken, G Bromley, M J Conroy, D A Hester, J M Ripley, K J Wicker 4½. (46 competitors).

The Congress was supported by The Friends of Chess and it is to be hoped that other enterprising individuals will follow in Mr.Crombleholme’s footsteps by organising similar events. If the Oxford Congress and other similar events can become established fixtures, they will fill an important need in the English chess calendar. [Sadly, there was to be no second Oxford International - JS]

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CHESS, September 1971, Vol.36/633-4, ppn 361-366

Oxford’s First International Tournament by G. S. Botterill, WINNER

Energetic organization by Alan Crombleholme and sponsorship by the Friends of Chess have at last given Oxford the congress it is so well suited to house. Held in Arlosh Hall, Manchester College, 24 July to 1 August, this first congress boasted the special attraction of a ladies’ tournament of grandmistress standard. The master group posed an interesting question: how well would the home players Markland, Whiteley, Wright and Botterill stand up to a foreign challenge headed by Ciocaltea, Gliksman and Durao? It was hoped that the nine rounds of a Swiss system tournament of 14 players would invest the final outcome with not much less debatable significance than an all-play-all. In this case it would have been impossible to have had so strong an entry from abroad without the Swiss system.

Alan Perkins was expected but failed to turn up. To fill the gap Fromm, Holland, was promoted from the Open Swiss.

Round 1

Whiteley held Ciocaltea to a draw with a solid Winawer French. By contrast David Parr played a loose and incoherent opening and was crushed. Although their wives played a quiet draw, Mr. Wright and Herr Weichert were not so peacably inclined.

I had to sweat for the draw in an interesting rook and pawn ending against the Yugoslav international master Gliksman.

Round 2

Smith came very close to bringing off a sensational win against Ciocaltea.

Round 3

Wright v Gliksman and Durao v Smith were steady draws. Peter Markland was under pressure for a long time, as he had been in the previous round against Whiteley, but once again he produced a patient and accurate defence.

My win against Eslon was scored in a game too sharp and dubious for my taste.

Round 4

Whiteley had the edge in the early middle game [vs Botterill], but liquidated limply. Smith v Wright was short and amicable. Ciocaltea scored a point in effortless fashion — Eslon’s watch stopped as he was browsing through Blackwell’s bookshop on the way to the congress and he failed to arrive within the first hour! Markland also scored easily, but Puhm had to struggle to do so much as open his account.

Gliksman deservedly came up to share the lead, playing quite a creative game [vs Durao].

Round 5

In my game with Peter Markland the Four Knights’ Game lived up to its unmerited reputation as a drawing variation but only when White was positionally forced to sacrifice his queen in order to secure perpetual check. Wright seemed to have a good endgame [vs Whiteley], but evidently overestimated his chances. Durao made up for Eslon’s give-away point of the day before when he lost on time with the better rook ending and several minutes for the last move before the control. Meanwhile Weichert and Puhm were partially recovering at the expense of those who had started better than they had.

Ciocaltea’s handling of the Yugoslav Attack against the Dragon did not impress, but at the critical moment Gliksman was unable to find the right solution.

Round 6

No change this round. Naturally Ciocaltea could make no progress against the Pirc-Ufimtsev Defence [played by Botterill]. Whiteley had a lost position, but Weichert miscalculated a trade of the black rooks for the white queen.

By this stage most of the leaders had played each other so that a sprint for the finishing line was in prospect. One extra incentive for Whiteley and myself was that 7 points out of 9 would probably qualify as a norm performance for the International Master title.

Round 7

Play was much keener this round. Danny [Wright] had perhaps a slight edge when the draw was agreed [vs Ciocaltea], and this allowed me to resume the sole lead with a win [vs Weichert] based on theory.

Durao v Whiteley was a hectic tussle with the Portuguese master forcing perpetual check in the direst time-trouble. After a bewildering series of interchanges Markland emerged with rather the better ending against Eslon, which ceased to be favourable when an oversight cost him a pawn. To Gliksman’s chagrin Puhm showed form much improved on his play of the early rounds.

Round 8

Gliksman v Whiteley was rather silly, for the Yugoslav made a horrible gaffe on move 8 and Whiteley still stood much better when the draw was agreed on move 21. Markland’s win was by default since Parr, who had been commuting to Oxford each day, was unable to make either of the last two rounds when his car broke down. Weichert v Ciocaltea was a dull and steady draw, much to the relief of the other leaders.

Only Danny Wright won a real game [vs Puhm].

Round 9

Whilst Ciocaltea was outplaying Durao, Markland got nowhere with the English against Smith. Playing 4 Q—B2 in the Nimzo-lndian Whiteley also failed to gain any advantage against Eslon’s Zurich Variation and eventually lost a long knight and pawn ending. Gliksman rounded off the tournament in depressing fashion by blundering a good position away [vs Rischbieth]. The toothache he was suffering from must have been at least partly responsible for his poor showing in the later rounds.

Ladies International

Polihroniade dominated from first to last, registering four wins and five draws. She seemed to be in a different class from the rest of the players and the games that she won were so one-sided as to be unsuitable for publication. Jana Hartston lost two games and did not play too well. But to admit that her form was poor when she came second in this event implies that we know the British Champion is capable of better things.

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File Updated

Date	Notes
29 December 2023	First upload. 9 games, 5 part-games from the International, plus 14 games from the 7-round open event running alongside. There are currently no game scores available from the women's international.
21 October 2024	Added the full score of V Ciocaltea 1-0 D Gliksman (which had previously been a part-game of 36 moves). Many thanks to Florin Dan for sending the score.