The Linares International Chess Tournament (
Spanish: ''Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez Ciudad de Linares'') was an annual
chess tournament
A chess tournament is a series of chess games played competitively to determine a winning individual or team. Since the first international chess tournament in London, 1851, chess tournaments have become the standard form of chess competition am ...
, usually played around the end of February, which takes its name from the city of
Linares in the
Jaén province of
Andalusia
Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...
, Spain, in which it was held. It is sometimes described as the
Wimbledon of
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
, being one of the strongest annual tournaments held on the ''de facto'' chess tour, along with the
"Tata Steel" (Wijk aan Zee),
Tal Memorial and
Dortmund
Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
events.
The Linares tournament began in 1978 and was held annually from 1988 to 2010 (with the exception of 1996). Since 2010, the tournament has not been held for financial reasons.
History
The event, sponsored by Spanish businessman Luis Rentero, was first held in 1978.
At that time it was not an elite event and was won by the relatively unknown Swede
Jaan Eslon, on tie-break from the Argentine
Roberto Luis Debarnot). After the following year's event, it was held every other year until 1987 when no tournament took place, that being the year that Linares hosted the Candidates' Final, a match to determine a challenger for
Kasparov's world
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
title featuring
Anatoly Karpov and
Andrei Sokolov
Andrei Yurievich Sokolov (russian: Андре́й Ю́рьевич Соколо́в; born 20 March 1963, in Vorkuta, Komi ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a chess Grandmaster of Russian origin, now living in France. He was one of the lead ...
. The postponed 1987 event was deferred to 1988 and the tournament from that point onwards became an annual event, with the exception of 1996, when the
Women's World Chess Championship
The Women's World Chess Championship (WWCC) is played to determine the world champion in women's chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE.
Unlike with most sports recognized by the International Olympic Committee, w ...
was held.
Rentero was a strong opponent of short
draws in chess, to the point that he offered cash bonuses for playing longer games. It's said that participants in these so-called "
grand master draws" were sometimes penalised by receiving no invitation for the next year's edition.
The 1994 tournament had an average
Elo rating
The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American physics professor.
The Elo system was invented as an improved c ...
of 2685, the highest ever at that time. The field, in eventual finishing order, consisted of Karpov, Kasparov,
Shirov,
Bareev,
Kramnik,
Lautier,
Anand,
Kamsky,
Topalov,
Ivanchuk,
Gelfand,
Illescas,
Judit Polgár, and
Beliavsky. Karpov won with an undefeated 11/13.
Jeff Sonas Jeff Sonas is a statistical chess analyst who invented the Chessmetrics system for rating chess players, which is intended as an improvement on the Elo rating system. He is the founder and proprietor of the Chessmetrics.com website, which gives So ...
considered Karpov's performance the best tournament result in history.
The 1994 tournament was also noted for an incident in which
Garry Kasparov "took a move back" against
Judit Polgár. Kasparov's fingers briefly released a knight before he realized the move was a blunder; he then moved the knight to a different square. Polgár (17 years old at the time) did not protest and the arbiter did not intervene. Kasparov went on to win the game.
In 1998, the format of the tournament changed from a single
round-robin tournament
A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & C. Me ...
to a double round-robin event (meaning that each participant plays every other participant twice, once with each colour).
Kasparov announced his retirement from chess after the 2005 tournament.
From 2006 through 2008, the first half of the tournament took place in the Mexican city of
Morelia. The second half took place in Linares. Consequently, the event is sometimes referred to as Morelia-Linares.
In 2009 and 2010, the whole event took place in Linares.
The Linares tournament of 2011 was cancelled, for reasons including general economic problems. The tournament was cancelled again in 2012, with no return since.
Winners
* 1978
Jaan Eslon
* 1979
Larry Christiansen
* 1980 no tournament
* 1981
Anatoly Karpov and
Larry Christiansen
* 1982 no tournament
* 1983
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky ( rus, Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский, Borís Vasíl'yevich Spásskiy; born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 ...
* 1984 no tournament
* 1985
Ljubomir Ljubojević and
Robert Hübner
* 1986 no tournament
* 1987 no tournament
* 1988
Jan Timman
* 1989
Vasyl Ivanchuk
* 1990
Garry Kasparov
* 1991
Vasyl Ivanchuk
* 1992
Garry Kasparov
* 1993
Garry Kasparov
* 1994
Anatoly Karpov
* 1995
Vasyl Ivanchuk
* 1996 no tournament
* 1997
Garry Kasparov
* 1998
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have ...
* 1999
Garry Kasparov
* 2000
Garry Kasparov and
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Ch ...
* 2001
Garry Kasparov
* 2002
Garry Kasparov
* 2003
Peter Leko
Peter Leko ( hu, Lékó Péter; born September 8, 1979) is a Hungarian chess player and commentator. He became the world's youngest grandmaster in 1994. He narrowly missed winning the Classical World Chess Championship 2004: the match was dra ...
(with the same score as
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Ch ...
; won on tiebreak because of more wins)
* 2004
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Ch ...
* 2005
Garry Kasparov (with the same score as
Veselin Topalov; won on tiebreak because of more wins with black)
* 2006
Levon Aronian
Levon Grigori Aronian ( hy, Լևոն Գրիգորի Արոնյան, Levon Grigori Aronyan; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian chess grandmaster, who currently plays for the United States Chess Federation. A chess prodigy, he earned the titl ...
* 2007
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have ...
* 2008
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have ...
* 2009
Alexander Grischuk (with the same score as
Vassily Ivanchuk
Vasyl Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk ( uk, Василь Михайлович Іванчук; born March 18, 1969), also transliterated as Vassily Ivanchuk, is a Ukrainian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1988. A leading ...
; won on tiebreak because of more wins)
* 2010
Veselin Topalov
Only six players won the Linares Tournament multiple times: Garry Kasparov (9 wins), Vassily Ivanchuk (3), Viswanathan Anand (3), Vladimir Kramnik (2), Anatoly Karpov (2), and Larry Christiansen (2).
Full results
1970s
1978
30 November - 8 December 1978
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
01 Jaan Eslon * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 0 1 6
02 Roberto Luis Debarnot ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 6
03 F. Javier Ochoa ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 5½
04 Ángel Martín ½ ½ ½ * ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 5
05 Ernesto Palacios ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 4½
08 Antonio Àngel Medina 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 4½
07 Orestes Rodríguez 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 4½
06 Fernando Visier 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ * ½ ½ 0 1 4½
09 Oscar H. Castro Rojas 1 0 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ * ½ 3½
10 V. Pacheco 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ * 1
V (2363)
1979
30 November - 11 December 1979
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
01 Larry M. Christiansen * 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 8
02 Viktor Korchnoi 1 * 0 1 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 8
03 Manuel Rivas ½ 1 * 0 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 7½
04 Oscar Castro 0 0 1 * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 7½
05 Jaan Eslon 0 0 1 ½ * ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 5½
06 Dragutin Sahovic ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 5
07 Drazen Marovic 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 5
08 Ricardo Calvo 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 1 * 0 ½ 1 1 5
09 Evgenij Ermenkov ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 * ½ 0 ½ 4½
10 Milorad Knesevic ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 4
11 Juan Manuel Bellon 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 1 ½ * ½ 3½
12 Fernando Visier 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 3
IX (2459)
1980s
1981
Casa de la Cultura, Linares, Spain, 17–31 January 1981
Age Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
01 Anatoly Karpov 29 2690 * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 8
02 Larry M. Christiansen 24 2515 0 * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 8
03 Bent Larsen 45 2610 ½ ½ * 0 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 7
04 Zoltan Ribli 29 2585 ½ ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ 6½
05 Boris Spassky 43 2635 ½ 0 1 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 6
06 Lubomir Kavalek 37 2550 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 6
07 Lajos Portisch 43 2650 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 1 5½
08 Ljubomir Ljubojevic 30 2605 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ 1 ½ 5
09 Svetozar Gligoric 57 2530 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 * 1 0 1 5
10 Miguel A. Quinteros 33 2505 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 * 1 1 4
11 Juan M. Bellón 29 2415 ½ 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 * 1 3½
12 Guillermo García 27 2520 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 * 1½
XIII (2568). Chief arbiter: IA José María González.
1983
Casa de Cultura, Linares, Spain, 12–25 February 1983
Age Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
01 Boris Spassky 46 2605 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 6½
02 Anatoly Karpov 31 2710 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 6
03 Ulf Andersson 31 2630 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 6
04 Artur Yusupov 23 2565 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 0 5½
05 Anthony Miles 27 2585 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 5½
06 Gyula Sax 31 2560 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 0 1 ½ 1 1 5½
07 Jan Timman 31 2605 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 * 1 1 ½ 0 5
08 Efim Geller 57 2575 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 * ½ ½ 1 5
09 Vlastimil Hort 39 2585 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 5
10 Yasser Seirawan 22 2600 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 3
11 Bent Larsen 47 2555 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 * 2
XIV (2598). Chief arbiter: IA José María González.
1985
Pabellón Julián Jiménez, Linares, Spain, 8–22 March 1985
Age Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
01 Ljubomir Ljubojevic 34 2595 * ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 7
02 Robert Hübner 36 2605 ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 7
03 Lajos Portisch 47 2635 ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 6½
04 Viktor Korchnoi 53 2630 0 0 0 * ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 6½
05 Boris Spassky 48 2580 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 6
06 Jan Timman 33 2650 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 0 0 1 ½ 5½
07 Lev Polugaevsky 50 2625 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 5½
08 Anthony Miles 29 2570 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ * 1 ½ 1 1 5½
09 Manuel Rivas 24 2480 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 5
10 Larry M. Christiansen 28 2560 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ * 0 ½ 4
11 Rafael Vaganian 33 2640 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 * ½ 4
12 Andras Adorján 34 2565 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ * 3½
XIV (2595). Chief arbiter: Antonio Romero Briones.
1988
1989
1990s
1990
Hotel Anibal, Linares, Spain, 18 February - 3 March 1990
Age Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
01 Kasparov 26 2800 * ½ ½ 1 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 8
02 Gelfand 21 2615 ½ * 1 ½ 0 1 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 7½
03 Salov 25 2645 ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 7
04 Ivanchuk 20 2665 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 6½
05 Short 24 2635 0 1 0 ½ * 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 6
06 Gulko 43 2610 1 0 ½ ½ 0 * ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 5½
07 Yusupov 30 2615 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 0 ½ 1 5½
08 Beliavsky 36 2640 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ * 1 0 1 ½ 5
09 Spassky 53 2560 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 * 1 ½ ½ 4
10 Illescas 24 2530 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 0 * ½ ½ 4
11 Portisch 52 2605 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ * 1 4
12 Ljubojevic 49 2625 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 3
1991
Hotel Anibal, Linares, Spain, 23 February - 14 March 1991
Age Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
01 Ivanchuk 21 2695 * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 9½
02 Kasparov 27 2800 0 * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 9
03 Beliavsky 37 2640 ½ 0 * 1 ½ 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 8
04 Yusupov 31 2605 ½ ½ 0 * 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 7½
05 Speelman 34 2610 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 7½
06 Salov 26 2645 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 7
07 Timman 39 2630 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 6½
08 Karpov 39 2725 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ * 0 0 ½ 1 1 1 6½
09 Ljubojevic 40 2590 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * ½ 0 0 1 0 6
10 Anand 21 2635 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 1 ½ * 0 0 ½ 1 6
11 Gurevich 32 2650 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 * 1 ½ 1 6
12 Gelfand 22 2700 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 1 0 * 0 1 5½
13 Ehlvest 28 2650 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 * 0 3½
14 Kamsky 16 2640 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 1 * 2½
1992
:
1993
:
1994
:
1995
:
1997
:
1998
Final Results of 1998:
:
1999
Final Results of 1999:
:
2000s
2000
FIDE World Champion
Alexander Khalifman
Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman (russian: Алекса́ндр Вале́рьевич Халифма́н; born 18 January 1966) is a Russian chess player and writer. Awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1990, he was FIDE World Chess Cha ...
was a late replacement for
Alexander Morozevich
Alexander Sergeyevich Morozevich (russian: Александр Серге́евич Морозе́вич, translit=Aleksandr Sergéevich Morozévich; born July 18, 1977) is a Russian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE ...
.
Final Results of 2000:
:
2001
Final Results of 2001:
:
2002
Final Results of 2002:
:
2003
Final Results of 2003:
:
2004
Final Results of 2004:
:
2005
Final Results of 2005:
:
2006
:
2007
:
2008
:
GM Alejandro Ramírez (
2509) won the III Morelia Open tournament.
2009
:
2010
:
References
External links
*
– a brief history and news of the 2008 event.
– winners, crosstables from 1990–2006.
Chess Tournaments at Linaresat
Chessgames.com
Chessgames.com is an Internet chess community with over 224,000 members. The site maintains a large database of chess games, where each game has its own discussion page for comments and analysis. Limited primarily to games where at least one pl ...
{{Chess
Chess competitions
Chess in Spain
Chess in Mexico
1978 in chess
Recurring sporting events established in 1978