Caorle 1972

Craig Pritchett was Scotland's representative at the European Zonal No. 1 in Italy.

Craig has played for Scotland in nine Olympiads: Havana 1966, Siegen 1970, Skopje 1972, Nice 1974, Haifa 1976, Buenos Aires 1978, Malta 1980, Dubai 1986 and Novi Sad 1990. He also played in several Students Olympiads. At the European Junior Championship in Groningen 1969/70, a particularly strong event, he was =3rd with Belyavsky behind Adorjan and Ljubojević. In the Master B section of the Decin 1974 tournament he was 1st. He was awarded the title of International Master in 1976, as a result of his performances at the Nice Olympiad 1974 and the Pula Zonal tournament of 1975. He won the Scottish championship in 1977 and 2005.

Source for crosstable: Scaccomato, 1972-09, p.249 (web site of Mark Weeks)

The following is extracted from Craig's report in Scottish Chess, September 1972.

'My own result was very poor. I never completely settled down. My openings proved to be 'ropey' and, though I could probably claim with some justification that my luck was out, I certainly did not deserve to finish much higher than I did. My game completely snapped after 10 rounds for with 5½/10, I then lost 5 in a row - Bohosian, Jansa, Forintos, Ivkov and Ljubojevic - all good players but, they should not be so good!

The quality of the organisation was oddly variable - 1st class hotels but no air-conditioning in the playing room, an important detail when playing in such a hot place as Adriatic Italy in high summer. Moreover, half of the players had to stay in a hotel some 5 km from the playing-hall and travel connections often left something to be desired. It was not that the Italian organisation had not the money or the will to please, rather they seemed temperamenatlly to have to stop at half-organisation, allowing the details to look after themselves.

A further peculiarity of the organisation was the non-printing of bulletins during the tournament. (Instead, a tournament book has been promised.) Consequently, I cannot give a selection of the more interesting games of the tournament. Hence, one of my own efforts must suffice. Played in round 3, it indicates why Pritchett and Tatai did not qualify for the Interzonal. A chess savant might comment, 'Yes, they show promise but...'

Pritchett - Tatai [B93]
Caorle 1972, Zonal (3)
Notes by Craig Pritchett.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 Nbd7 So far so good. The text is a wise decision. Tatai lost against me in Siegen with the main line 6...e5 - in a good game! 7.f4 g6 8.0-0 Bg7 9.Kh1? Going off the rails. Nervous, fearing phantoms, White recoils from real decision-making. 9. f5 with the idea of g4, g5 cramping Black severely on the King-side and in the centre is the bold and confident way of treating this position. 9...0-0 10.Bf3? Still f5! 10...e5! A crunching central blow, after which the initiative is Black's. 11.Nde2! Is White wakening up? The text, and White's next few moves, form part of a real plan to contain Black's central pressure. 11...Qc7 12.a4 b6 13.Qe1 Bb7 14.Qh4 Rae8! 15.Ng3! d5! A powerful blow, the logical continuation of Black's flawless opening play. White's position is critical. 16.fxe5! Still playing chess! 16. exd5? Qc4 would be positional suicide. 16...Nxe5 17.Bf4 Nxf3 Has Black better? 17...d4 18. Ne2 Nxf3 19. gxf3 Qc4 20. c3 d3 21. Nd4 for example is extremely unclear. 18.Rxf3 Qc5? In the thick of things, the minutes ticking away, Black cracks. 18...Qc6 was essential. 19.e5?! Unable to believe his luck, White goes for fireworks. 19 Bh6 assured White a powerful attack without complications. 19...Ne4? Fortunately, Black's equilibrium had now completely gone. 19...Nd7 gives White real problems. 20.Nf5! gxf5 21.Nxe4 dxe4 22.Rh3 f6 23.Qxh7+ Kf7 24.Bh6 Rg8 25.Rg3 Qf8 26.exf6 The attacks just rolls home now. 26...Kxf6 27.Rg6+ Kf7 28.Rxb6 Bc8 29.Qg6+ Ke7 30.Bg5+ Bf6 31.Bxf6+ Kd7 32.Rd1+ Black resigns. It is mate in two, but was it really deserved?

Alan McGowan
Historian, Chess Scotland