The Jubilee International Grandmaster Tournament: Bled 1961

Even by the standards of the cities of the former Yugoslavia, the Slovenian capital Bled has an outstanding chess tradition. In 1959 the first half of the marathon (28-round!) FIDE Candidates’ tournament took place there, and in more recent times it hosted the 35th FIDE Olympiad. In 1931, World Champion Alexander Alekhine scored one of the greatest successes of his illustrious career, winning the great Bled international tournament with the score of 20½/26, undefeated and 5½ points clear of Bogoljubov in 2nd place. In 1961, to mark the 30th anniversary of that famous event, a ‘Jubilee International Chess Tournament’ was held.It was in the second round that Fischer beat Tal, the latter’s only loss, and was the only one who went through the tournament undefeated! Tal won the tournament with 14.5 points, with Bobby second with 13.5. But Bobby beat Tal in their individual game, and so Bobby comes home a “moral” victor.