Pinoy test
Posted on November 08, 2012 06:34:34 PM
Bobby Ang
IM Rodolfo Tan Cardoso finished third from last in the 1958 Portoroz Interzonal, but chess historians will not forget what he did in the last round.
David Bronstein had failed by a whisker to wrest the world crown from Botvinnik in their 1951 title match. At his next attempt (Zurich 1953, made famous by its great tournament book) he challenged throughout but could only finish tied for second with Keres and Samuel Reshevsky behind Vassily Smyslov. This result qualified him directly for the 1955 Gothenburg Interzonal, which he won with an unbeaten score. From there it was on to another near miss in the 1956 Candidates’ tournament in Amsterdam, where he wound up in a large tie for third behind winner Smyslov and runner-up Keres.
Bronstein had to qualify for the 1958 Interzonal, and did so by placing third at the 1958 Riga USSR Championship. At the 1958 Portoroz Interzonal Bronstein had been picked as the pre-tournament favorite by Bobby Fischer and was well on his way to qualify for one of the six (6) slots to the 1959 Candidates’ Tournament — he only needed a draw in the last round against a never-heard of player from the never-heard country of the Philippines, to get it. The last round shock win of IM Rodolfo Tan Cardoso over Bronstein took him out of the world championship cycle, and he was never to qualify again.
The following game came from that tournament in a game between two of the tail-enders. Yes, even the less-than-elite can play brilliant chess. IM Hector Rossetto was among the best Argentinian chess players in history. In the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s he, together with Miguel Najdorf, dominated chess in his country.
Full article here.
Amazing!