Hungarian chess grandmaster (born 1937)
Lajos Portisch
(born 4 April 1937) is a Hungarian chess
Grandmaster
, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian
Botvinnik
". One of the strongest non-Soviet players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he 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 (1958, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1971, 1975, and 1981). He won many strong international tournaments during his career. In 2004, Portisch was awarded the title of '
Nemzet Sportoloja
' (Sportsman of the Nation), Hungary's highest national sports achievement award.
His main hobby is singing operatic arias; he has a fine baritone voice, a quality shared by
Vasily Smyslov
, a chess world champion and grandmaster who also had talent as an operatic singer. His younger brother, Ferenc (born 1939), is an
International Master
.
Early years
[
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]
Portisch represented Hungary at the
World Junior Chess Championship
,
Antwerp
1955. He scored 4½/7 in the preliminary round to advance to the final, where he scored 5½/9, to finish fourth; the winner was
Boris Spassky
. Portisch tied for first through third places in a master event at
Budapest
1956, along with
Jozsef Szily
and
Bela Sandor
, ahead of
Pal Benko
; the three winners scored 7/11. In a second master event at
Budapest
1956, Portisch made 7½/11. He was in the pack at
Debrecen
1956 with 5½/11.
Portisch successfully represented Hungary in several team matches in 1956 and 1957, against Poland,
Estonia
, the Soviet Union,
Belarus
, and
Yugoslavia
. He made his first Student Olympiad and full Olympiad appearances for Hungary in 1956; he would eventually represent Hungary at a record twenty Olympiads (see below). He excelled at his first individual international event, winning at
Balatonfured
1958 with 9/11, ahead of strong Grandmasters
Laszlo Szabo
and
Alexander Tolush
. He earned the International Master title. He finished second at
Hastings
1958?59 with 7/9, behind
Wolfgang Uhlmann
.
Nine-time Hungarian Champion
[
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]
Portisch made his first national top-level appearance in 1955 at age 18, at the
Hungarian Chess Championship
. He would eventually win or share the national title on nine occasions.
[1]
His complete Hungarian Championship results follow (from
chessmetrics
.com).
- 1955: 9½/19, shared tenth/eleventh places, champion
Gideon Barcza
;
- 1957: 7½/13, shared fifth/six places, champion Barcza;
- 1958: shared first/third places with Barcza and L Szabo, won playoff;
- 1959: shared first/third places with Barcza and L Szabo, third after playoff, champion Szabo;
- 1961: shared first/second places with L Szabo, won playoff;
- 1962: 16½/22, champion;
- 1963: 13/19, fourth place, champion
Istvan Bilek
;
- 1964: 14½/19, champion;
- 1965: 15½/21, champion;
- 1968: 14½/21, second place, champion
Gyozo Forintos
;
- 1971: 11/16, champion;
- 1975: 12½/17, champion;
- 1981: 5½/9, champion, shared first/second places with
Ivan Farago
;
- 1984: 6/10, shared second/fourth places, champion
Andras Adorjan
;
- 1991: 4½/9, sixth place, champion
Judit Polgar
;
- 2003: 5½/9, shared second/third places, champion
Zoltan Almasi
.
World Title Candidate
[
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]
In the
World Chess Championship
cycles, Portisch played in every
Interzonal
from 1962 to 1993, twelve in total. He qualified for the next stage, the
Candidates Tournament
, eight times: in the
1966
,
1969
,
1975
,
1978
,
1981
,
1984
,
1987
and
1990
cycles; with his best results when he reach the Candidates semi-finals in 1977 and 1980.
Portisch entered the World Championship cycle for the first time with the
Madrid
1960 Zonal, where he tied for second/third place, on 13½/21, along with
Arturo Pomar
; the winner was
Svetozar Gligori?
, as all three advanced. Portisch was awarded the grandmaster title by
FIDE
in 1961.
Portisch's first
Interzonal
appearance was the
1962 Interzonal in Stockholm
, where he tied for ninth/tenth places, after losing a late-round game to one of the tail-enders, and did not advance to the
Candidates Tournament
.
Portisch won the
Halle
Zonal 1963 with 14/19 to advance to the next Interzonal. At the
1964 Interzonal in Amsterdam
he finished in a tie for eighth/ninth, with 14½/23. Only six players qualified for the Candidates, but due to a rule limiting the number of players from a single country, the
Soviet Union
players
Leonid Stein
and
David Bronstein
were ineligible, so Portisch played a match against
Samuel Reshevsky
to determine who would be the sixth qualifier. Portisch won the match to the Candidates' series for the first time, but he
lost his first round match
against Mikhail Tal, by 2½?5½.
Portisch won the 1967
Halle
Zonal with 15½/19, to advance. He qualified through the
Sousse
Interzonal 1967, with 13½/21 for a solo fifth-place finish.
[2]
The winner was Bent Larsen. Portisch then lost his first-round Candidates' match to Larsen at
Porec
1968, by 4½?5½.
He qualified from the Raach 1969 Zonal, after tying for second/fifth places, on 13½/21, then winning a four-way playoff for two berths at
Prague
1970 with 4/6, against
Borislav Ivkov
,
Jan Smejkal
, and
Ulf Andersson
. He advanced, but narrowly missed Candidates' qualification at the
Palma de Mallorca
Interzonal 1970, tying with Vasily Smyslov for seventh/eighth places on 13½/23, after another late defeat at the hands of one of the outsiders; the winner was Fischer. Portisch and Smyslov played a drawn match (3?3) at
Portoro?
1971 for a reserve place, with Portisch declared the winner, as his tiebreak score from Palma was superior, though this proved unnecessary.
Portisch qualified from the
Petropolis
Interzonal 1973, scoring 11½/17 for a shared second/fourth place (the winner was
Henrique Mecking
), then surviving a further three-man playoff for two berths against
Lev Polugaevsky
and
Efim Geller
, at
Portoro?
1973, by winning outright with 5½/8; however, Portisch lost his first-round Candidates' match to
Tigran Petrosian
in 1974, by 6?7 at
Palma de Mallorca
.
At the 1976
Biel
Interzonal, he tied for second/fourth places on 12/19 with Petrosian and Tal, after Larsen. Then, in a three-way playoff for two spots, held at
Varese
1976, Portisch scored 4/8 for second place, with Tal being eliminated. In the Candidates' matches, he first advanced to the semifinals after beating Bent Larsen by 6½?3½ at
Rotterdam
1977, then lost to Boris Spassky by 6½?8½ at
Geneva
1977.
In 1979 he advanced from the
Rio de Janeiro
Interzonal, sharing first/third places, on 11½/17, along with Petrosian and
Robert Hubner
. Portisch got his revenge against Spassky in 1980, when he tied their quarterfinal match 7?7 in Mexico, and advanced to the semifinals since he had more victories with the Black pieces. He then lost the semi-final to Hubner by 4½?6½ at
Abano Terme
1980.
Qualifying from the
Toluca
Interzonal 1982, where he tied for first/second places on 8½/13 along with
Eugenio Torre
, he lost his first-round match to
Viktor Korchnoi
by 3?6 at
Bad Kissingen
1983.
Qualifying from the
Tunis
Interzonal 1985, where he scored 10/16, he made 7/15 at the
Montpellier
Candidates' tournament, and was eliminated.
At the 1987 Szirak Interzonal, Portisch scored 12/17 to tie for third/fourth places, along with
John Nunn
; he then defeated
John Nunn
by 4?2 in a playoff match at Budapest to advance to the Candidates'. He won his first-round match at
Saint John, New Brunswick
1988 by 3½?2½ over
Rafael Vaganian
; he then lost to
Jan Timman
by 2½?3½ at
Antwerp
1989.
At the 1990
Manila
Interzonal, he scored +3?5=5, after beginning with +3=2.
In his final appearance in the world championship series, Portisch played well at the 1993
Biel
Interzonal, scoring 7½/13 and outperforming his ranking significantly, but did not advance.
Portisch was Karpov's second in his last
world championship match against Kasparov in 1990
. In Hungary,
Bobby Fischer
was telling Portisch that all the games between Karpov and Kasparov were rigged, so Portisch asked, in that case, "What was I doing there?"
[3]
Tournament successes
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Portisch was very active on the international tournament scene from the late 1950s through the early 1990s, and was one of the top performers for over thirty years, with many titles against elite fields. He often finished ahead of the top Soviet Grandmasters at important events, was usually near the top of the table, and only rarely finished with minus scores, showing remarkable consistency. Portisch won at least one major international event per year for nearly two decades.
His first top-class round-robin event was Moscow 1959, where he was the youngest contestant, and scored 6/11 for a shared fourth/sixth place; the winners were Spassky, Smyslov, and
David Bronstein
. At
Balatonfured
1959, he shared third/fifth with 7½/13; the winner was
Ratmir Kholmov
. Portisch stepped up his activity in 1961. At
Budapest
1961, he scored 9/15 for a shared fourth/seventh place; the winner was Korchnoi. At Moscow 1961, he made 6/11 for a shared fifth/seventh place; the winners were Smyslov and
Evgeni Vasiukov
. Two disappointing results followed, but he was gathering top-class experience, which would come in useful. At
Torremolinos
1961, he made only 5/11 for eighth place; the winners were Gligoric and
Arturo Pomar
. Then at
Bled
1961, with six of the world's top eleven players in the field, Portisch scored 8/19 for a shared fifteenth/sixteenth place; Tal won.
Beginning in 1962, Portisch became a consistent tournament winner at the international level. He shared the title at
Sarajevo
1962 with Svetozar Gligori? on 8/11. He shared second/third places at
Kecskemet
1962 on 10½/15 behind
Ratmir Kholmov
. Portisch won
Amsterdam
IBM
1963 with 6/9 ahead of
Jan Hein Donner
. He won
Sarajevo
1963 with 7/11, ahead of Gligoric,
Vladimir Simagin
,
Wolfgang Uhlmann
, and
Borislav Ivkov
. At
Havana
1964, he scored 14/21 for fifth place as Uhlmann and Smyslov won. At
Beverwijk
1964, he was third with 11/15 behind
Paul Keres
and
Iivo Nei
. He shared second/third at
Malaga
1964 on 7½/11 behind
Arturo Pomar
. He shared the title at Beverwijk 1965 on 10½/15 with Geller. At
Yerevan
1965, he was fifth with 7/13 as Korchnoi won. With six of the world's top 25 in the field at
Zagreb
1965, Portisch scored 12/19 for a shared third/fourth place, as
Borislav Ivkov
and Uhlmann won. He was third at
Mar del Plata
1966 on 9½/15, with Smyslov winning. Portisch shared the title at Kecskemet 1966 on 6½/9, along with
Vlastimil Hort
. At
Santa Monica
1966, with seven of the world's top 16 players in the field, he shared fourth/fifth places on 9½/18, as Spassky won, ahead of Fischer. Portisch was third at
Palma de Mallorca
1966 on 10/15, with Tal winning.
Portisch won
Amsterdam
IBM
1967 with 8/11 ahead of
Alexander Kotov
. At Moscow 1967, which had 12 of the world's top 33 players, he shared sixth/eighth places with 9½/17, and defeated World Champion Petrosian; the tournament winner was
Leonid Stein
. Portisch placed fourth at
Palma de Mallorca
1967, where seven of the top 30 played, with 11½/17; Larsen won. At
Wijk aan Zee
1968, he shared second/fourth places with 9/15 as Korchnoi won. Portisch shared sixth/eighth places at
Monte Carlo
1968, which had five of the top 16 players; Larsen won. One of Portisch's career highlights was his clear first place at
Skopje
/
Ohrid
1968, ahead of Geller,
Lev Polugaevsky
, and Hort, with 14/19.
The year 1969 was his most successful to date. He won
Amsterdam
IBM
1969 by 1½ points with 11½/15. At Wijk aan Zee 1969, he shared third/fourth places on 10/15, behind winners
Mikhail Botvinnik
and
Efim Geller
. Portisch shared first/second places at
Monte Carlo
1969 with Vasily Smyslov on 8/11. Then he took clear first at
Hastings
1969?70 with 7/9, ahead of
Wolfgang Uhlmann
, Vasily Smyslov, and Svetozar Gligori?. At
Budapest
1970, he shared fifth/sixth places on 8/15, with
Paul Keres
winning. Portisch played board three at
Belgrade
1970 in the
USSR vs Rest of the World
match, defeating
Viktor Korchnoi
by 2½?1½. Portisch won at Hastings 1970?71 with 6/9, ahead of
Vlastimil Hort
, Svetozar Gligori?, and
Wolfgang Uhlmann
. At
Amsterdam
IBM
1971, he shared second/fourth places on 9/15 behind Vasily Smyslov.
By 1972, Portisch was a major contender to win any tournament he entered. He won Wijk aan Zee 1972, which had six of the top 25 players, with 10½/15, ahead of
Arturo Pomar
,
Walter Browne
,
Vlastimil Hort
, and Vasily Smyslov. Portisch won
Las Palmas
1972 with 12/15, ahead of Bent Larsen, Vasily Smyslov, and David Bronstein. At
Teesside
1972, he finished third with 9½/15, as Bent Larsen won. Portisch shared first/third places at
San Antonio
1972 (with eight of the top 25), on 10½/15, with
Anatoly Karpov
and Tigran Petrosian. Portisch shared third/fourth places at
Palma de Mallorca
1972 on 10/15, with
Oscar Panno
and
Ljubomir Ljubojevi?
winning. He won at
Ljubljana
/
Portoro?
1973 (
Vidmar Memorial
) with 12½/17. At
Madrid
1973, Portisch shared sixth/seventh places on 9/15, with
Anatoly Karpov
winning. He won at Wijk aan Zee 1975 (ahead of
Vlastimil Hort
and
Jan Smejkal
). He won the second Interpolis Tournament in the Netherlands in 1978, ahead of Timman. He tied with
Borislav Ivkov
for first/second at the Tigran Petrosian Memorial, Moscow 1999.
Team chess results
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Portisch represented Hungary four times at Student Olympiads, steadily improving his results, and winning three medals. His totals are: (+19?8=11),
[4]
his detailed record follows:
- Uppsala
1956: board 2, 3/6 (+2?2=2), team silver;
- Reykjavik
1957: board 2, 6/11 (+5?4=2), Hungary fourth;
- Varna
1958: board 1, 5/9 (+3?2=4), Hungary fifth;
- Budapest
1959: board 1, 10½/12 (+9?0=3), board gold, team bronze.
He also led the Hungarian chess team to the gold medal in the
23rd Chess Olympiad
held in
Buenos Aires
in 1978 with a personal score of 10/14. This was the only Olympiad not to be won by the Soviet Union between 1952 and 1990 (except in
1976
when Soviet Union boycotted the competition). He participated in a record 20 Olympiads from 1956 until 2000,
[4]
playing a record 260 games, over a record six decades, and won 11 medals. His total Olympiad score is: (+121?26=113), for 68.3 per cent. His detailed Olympiad data follows:
- Moscow 1956
: second reserve, 6/8 (+4?0=4), team bronze;
- Munich 1958
: board 3, 10½/15 (+7?1=7);
- Leipzig 1960
: board 2, 11/17 (+7?2=8);
- Varna 1962
: board 1, 9½/16 (+6?3=7);
- Tel Aviv 1964
: board 1, 12/16 (+9?1=6), board bronze;
- Havana 1966
: board 1, 11½/16 (+8?1=7), team bronze;
- Lugano 1968
: board 1, 11/15 (+8?1=6);
- Siegen 1970
: board 1, 11/16 (+7?1=8), team silver;
- Skopje 1972
: board 1, 12/17 (+8?1=8), team silver;
- Nice 1974
: board 1, 10/16 (+6?2=8);
- Buenos Aires 1978
: board 1, 10/14 (+8?2=4), team gold;
- Valletta 1980
: board 1, 9½/13 (+6?0=7), team silver;
- Lucerne 1982
: board 1, 7½/12 (+6?3=3);
- Thessaloniki 1984
: board 1, 7½/12 (+5?2=5);
- Dubai 1986
: board 1, 6/10 (+4?2=4);
- Thessaloniki 1988
, board 1, 8½/11 (+6?0=5), board silver, rating bronze;
- Manila 1992
, board 2, 4½/9 (+3?3=3);
- Moscow 1994
, board 2, 7/9 (+5?0=4), board silver, rating bronze;
- Yerevan 1996
, board 2, 5½/9 (+4?2=3);
- Istanbul 2000
, board 4, 6/9 (+4?1=4).
Portisch has also represented Hungary at eight
European Team Championships
, winning a total of nine medals. He has scored (+16?4=39). His detailed European teams data
[4]
follows:
- Oberhausen
1961: board 2, 6½/10 (+4?1=5), board gold, team silver;
- Hamburg
1965: board 1, 5/9 (+1?0=8), team bronze;
- Kapfenberg
1970: board 1, 4/7 (+1?0=6), team silver;
- Bath, Somerset
1973: board 1, 3½/5 (+2?0=3), team bronze;
- Moscow 1977: board 1, 4½/7 (+3?1=3), team silver;
- Skara
1980: board 1, 3½/6 (+1?0=5), team silver;
- Plovdiv
1983: board 1, 4½/7 (+3?1=3), board gold, team bronze;
- Debrecen
1992: board 1, 4/8 (+1?1=6).
Portisch played board one for Hungary at the inaugural
World Team Championship
,
Lucerne
1985. He scored 5½/9 (+2?0=7), as Hungary won the team silver medals.
Personal life
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Portisch is a devout
Catholic
.
[5]
Notable games
[
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]
- Portisch vs. Laszlo Szabo, Budapest 1958, Grunfeld Defence, Exchange Variation (D85), 1?0
The experienced Szabo, 20 years older, tries the unusual knight retreat to b6, perhaps hoping to confuse young Portisch, but it backfires.
- Portisch vs. Svetozar Gligori?, Madrid Zonal 1960, King's Indian Defence, Orthodox Variation (E99), 1?0
In a very heavily analyzed line, one of the veteran Gligoric's favourites, Portisch proves he has the knowledge to prevail.
- Portisch vs. Leonid Stein, Amsterdam Interzonal 1964, Benoni Defence (A56), 1?0
In what would turn out to be a vital game for eventual qualification, Portisch takes out the Soviet champion.
- Portisch vs. Tigran Petrosian, Moscow 1967, Slav Defence, Exchange Variation (D10), 1?0
Although not really considered a tactician, Portisch proves here in a quiet opening variation that not even the World Champion can be proof against his attacking skills.
- Bent Larsen vs. Portisch, Porec Candidates' match 1968, game 4, Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Variation (D61), 0?1
Portisch takes up the often thankless defensive task, but grinds out a hard-fought win.
- Portisch vs. David Bronstein, Monte Carlo 1969, Queen's Gambit, Symmetrical Defence (D06), 1?0
Inventive Bronstein pushes the boundaries too far in this game, and pays the price.
- Vasily Smyslov vs. Portisch, Portoro? Candidates' Reserve match 1971, game 4, Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation (B92), 0?1
Ex-world champion Smyslov did not lose very often with the White pieces, but Portisch turns the trick here.
- Portisch vs. Anatoly Karpov, San Antonio 1972, Nimzo-Indian Defence, Rubinstein / Gligoric Variation (E55), 1?0
Karpov would ascend to the World Champion's throne less than three years later.
- Mikhail Tal vs. Portisch, Varese Candidates' Playoff 1976, Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation, Poisoned Pawn (B97), 0?1
Portisch had lost his match to Tal 11 years earlier, but gets his revenge here.
- Boris Spassky vs. Portisch, Mexico Candidates' match 1980, game 1, Sicilian Defence, Closed Variation (B25), 0?1
Another revenge tilt sees Portisch open the match by turning back one of Spassky's favourite systems.
- Anthony Miles vs. Portisch, Lucerne Olympiad 1982, Reti Opening / Tarrasch Defence (A04), 0?1
Miles wants to mix it up, but finds the veteran Portisch can answer blow for blow. Portisch had a massive career edge against Miles.
- Nigel Short vs. Portisch, Linares 1990, Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Variation (C75), 0?1
Crafty win over the rising star Short, who is 28 years younger.
References
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External links
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Chess players for Hungary with the
FIDE title
of grandmaster (GM)
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Grandmasters
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