The Week in Chess

Lajos Portish won a rapid event in Budapest 3rd-4th April 2012 that celebrated his 75th birthday. Zsuzsa Veroci reports: The "Portisch 75" rapid tournament was organized by the Foundation for Hungarian Chess to celebrate the birthday of the famous Hungarian grandmaster. Lajos Portisch, who turned 75 on April 4th 2012. The venue of the event was the fabulous Hilton Budapest Hotel where the press conference and a gala reception were also held. During the press conference that introduced the Foundation and the tournament, Lajos Portisch mentioned that at some time in the late seventies the whole Hungarian team went through a psychological examination. For him, the result of the examination was a bit of a shock. It clearly stated that Portisch had no logic abilities but had very good reflexes. Ever since that time, he feels a certain commitment to show in the games that he is not lacking that logic. In his first game with Ljubojevic, he had a chance to show it and above all to cold-bloodedly resist Ljubo’s aggressive attack. At the closing ceremony, Portisch recalled the 1987 Portisch-Nunn world championship candidate match, which was held in the same Hilton Hotel Budapest under equally pleasant conditions. Now the situation was even more pleasant for Portisch, as he was greatly celebrated in an official gala dinner on the night after the tournament.