In Preliminary Group A, future grandmasters Vladimir Tukmakov and Raymond Keene tied for second with 2.5/4. Their Sonneborn-Berger scores were identical, and they had drawn their individual game, so they drew lots to break the tie. Tukmakov drew the right number to advance to the Final A. There, experience again proved helpful, with Kurajica, who had been third in Vrnjacka Banja, scoring 6.5/9 to nose out Hartoch and Tukmakov by a half-point.