![Botvinnik-Petrosian 2019 stamp of Artsakh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Botvinnik-Petrosian_2019_stamp_of_Artsakh.jpg)
At the World Chess Championship 1963,
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (, ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style ...
narrowly qualified to challenge
Mikhail Botvinnik for the
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013.
The first event recognized as a world championship was the 1886 match ...
, and then won the match to become the ninth World Chess Champion. The cycle is particularly remembered for the controversy surrounding the
Candidates' Tournament
The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The w ...
at
Curaçao in 1962, which resulted in
FIDE changing the format of the Candidates Tournament to a series of
knockout matches.
Structure
The world championship cycle was under the jurisdiction of
FIDE, the World Chess Federation,
which set the structure for the fifth world championship series at the 1959 FIDE Congress in
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
.
Wade
Wade, WADE, or Wades may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Wade, California, a former settlement
* Wade, Maine, a town
* Wade, Mississippi, a census-designated place
* Wade, North Carolina, a town
* Wade, Ohio, an unincorporated communi ...
, pp. 54–55
The cycle began with the zonal tournaments of 1960. The top finishers in the zonals met at the
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the C ...
, with the top six players from the Interzonal qualifying for the Candidates' Tournament. They were then joined by
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...
(loser of the last World Championship match in 1961) and
Paul Keres
Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...
(runner-up at the 1959 Candidates) in the eight player Candidates Tournament in 1962. The winner of the Candidates would qualify to play a World Championship match against Mikhail Botvinnik, the incumbent champion, in 1963.
Zonal tournaments
FIDE now had more than fifty member Federations that were divided into nine zones: 1–Western Europe, 2–Central Europe, 3–Eastern Europe, 4–USSR, 5–USA, 6–Canada, 7–Central America, 8–South America, and 9–Asia.
Previous championship cycles had used only eight zones.
Each zone was allocated from one to four qualifiers based on the relative strengths of its leading players.
Zone 1 (Western Europe)
The Zonal was held at
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
, with
Jan Hein Donner
Johannes Hendrikus (Hein) Donner (July 6, 1927 – November 27, 1988) was a Dutch chess grandmaster (GM) and writer. Donner was born in The Hague and won the Dutch Championship in 1954, 1957, and 1958. He took part in the Internacional Chess Tou ...
(Netherlands),
Svetozar Gligorić
Svetozar Gligorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Глигорић, 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is consider ...
(Yugoslavia),
Arturo Pomar
Arturo Pomar Salamanca (1 September 1931 – 26 May 2016) was a Spanish chess player. He was the first Spanish player to be awarded the title of grandmaster (GM), and was a seven-time national champion.. ajedrez.pastranec.netLeontxo Garcỉ''Muere ...
(Spain), and
Lajos Portisch (Hungary) in a four-way tie for first place with 10½/15.
A Madrid playoff qualified Gligorić, Pomar, and Portisch.
Zone 2 (Central Europe)
The Zonal was allocated to
Berg en Dal, Netherlands.
Due to
Cold War political tension,
Wolfgang Uhlmann
Wolfgang Uhlmann (29 March 193524 August 2020) was a German chess grandmaster. He was East Germany's most successful chess player, reaching the 1971 Candidates Tournament. During his career, Uhlmann played many of the top players of the time a ...
(East Germany) was refused a
visa
Visa most commonly refers to:
*Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company
** Visa Debit card issued by the above company
** Visa Electron, a debit card
** Visa Plus, an interbank network
*Travel visa, a document that allows ...
, causing the players from Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Yugoslavia to withdraw.
The winners of the diminished tournament were
Friðrik Ólafsson
Friðrik Ólafsson (born 26 January 1935) is an Icelandic chess grandmaster. He was president of FIDE from 1978 to 1982. He is a six-time Icelandic Chess Champion and a two-time Nordic Chess Champion.
Chess career
Friðrik was born in Reykja ...
(Iceland) first with 7½/9 and
Andreas Dückstein (Austria) and
Rudolf Teschner (West Germany) tied for second with 7.
The Zonal tournament was replayed in the summer of 1961 at
Mariánské Lázně
Mariánské Lázně (; german: Marienbad) is a spa town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. Most of the town's buildings come from its Golden Era in the second half of the 19th centu ...
, Czechoslovakia, with Ólafsson,
Miroslav Filip
Miroslav Filip (27 October 1928 – 27 April 2009) was a Czech chess grandmaster. Filip was awarded the title of International Master in 1953, and the Grandmaster title in 1955. Filip represented Czechoslovakia in 12 consecutive Chess Olympia ...
(Czechoslovakia), and Uhlmann qualifying.
At its 1961 Congress at
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
, FIDE decided that Dückstein and Teschner would be allowed to play a match for a place in the Interzonal.
With the match tied 3–3, Dückstein withdrew giving the final qualifying spot to Teschner.
[Wade, pp. 55–56]
Zone 3 (Eastern Europe)
The Zonal was held in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, with
Gedeon Barcza
Gedeon (Gideon) Barcza (August 21, 1911, in Kisújszállás – February 27, 1986, in Budapest) was a Hungarian chess grandmaster. He was eight-time chess champion of Hungary.
Chess career
In 1940, Barcza took third place, behind Max Euwe and ...
(Hungary) finishing first with 10½/15, followed by
Mario Bertok
Mario Bertok (2 September 1929 – 20 August 2008) was a Croatian chess master and sports journalist, writing for the ''Sportske novosti'' daily sports newspaper. He was born in Zagreb, Yugoslavia.
Bertok earned the International Master ...
(Yugoslavia),
István Bilek
István Bilek (11 August 1932 – 20 March 2010) was a Hungarian chess grandmaster. He was a three-time Hungarian Chess Champion.
Biography
Bilek was a three-time Hungarian Champion (1963, 1965, and 1970), and he played in interzonals in 196 ...
(Hungary),
Aleksandar Matanović (Yugoslavia), and
Theo van Scheltinga tied for second at 10.
A playoff between the second-place finishers at Berg en Dal ended with Bilek 3½, Bertok and Matanović 3, von Scheltinga 2½.
An artificial tie-break selected Bertok over Matanović, resulting in Barcza, Bilek, and Bertok qualifying for the Interzonal.
Zone 4 (USSR)
Even though FIDE allocated the USSR four qualifying spots, Zone 4 was the hardest zone from which to qualify.
An
early 1961 USSR Championship was held as the Zonal tournament.
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (, ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style ...
won the championship with 13½/19, and the remaining qualifiers were
Victor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. H ...
with 13 and
Efim Geller
Efim Petrovich Geller (russian: Ефим Петрович Геллер, uk, Юхим Петрович Геллер; 8 March 1925 – 17 November 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Champi ...
and
Leonid Stein
Leonid Zakharovich Stein (; November 12, 1934 – July 4, 1973) was a Soviet chess Grandmaster from Ukraine. He won three USSR Chess Championships in the 1960s (1963, 1965, and 1966), and was among the world's top ten players during that era.
...
with 12.
Notable players who failed to qualify from this zone were former world champion
Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov ( rus, Васи́лий Васи́льевич Смысло́в, Vasíliy Vasíl'yevich Smyslóv; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, who was World Chess Champion from 1957 t ...
at 11, former world champion challenger
David Bronstein
David Ionovich Bronstein (russian: Дави́д Ио́нович Бронште́йн; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet and Ukrainian chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narro ...
at 9, and former Candidates
Boris Spassky at 11,
Yuri Averbakh
Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. He was the first centenari ...
at 10½,
Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (russian: Марк Евгеньевич Тайманов; 7 February 1926 – 28 November 2016) was one of the leading Soviet and Russian chess players, among the world's top 20 players from 1946 to 1971. A prolific ch ...
at 10, and
Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky ( uk, Ісаак Єфремович Болеславський, russian: Исаак Ефремович Болеславский; 9 June 1919 – 15 February 1977) was a Soviet chess player and writer.
Early caree ...
at 9.
The USSR Federation tried unsuccessfully at the 1961 FIDE Congress to get Smyslov seeded into the Interzonal.
Zone 5 (USA)
The
United States Chess Federation
The United States Chess Federation (also known as US Chess or USCF) is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, the World Chess Federation. US Chess administers the official national rating ...
designated the 1960
U.S. Championship as the Zonal tournament.
Top finishers in the championship were
Bobby Fischer
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 1 ...
with 9/11,
William Lombardy
William James Joseph Lombardy (December 4, 1937 – October 13, 2017) was an American chess grandmaster, chess writer, teacher, and former Catholic priest. He was one of the leading American chess players during the 1950s and 1960s, and a contem ...
with 7,
Raymond Weinstein Raymond A. Weinstein (born April 25, 1941) is an American chess master from Brooklyn, New York, who was awarded the FIDE International Master title in 1962. He has been detained in a psychiatric hospital since killing a man in 1964.
Chess caree ...
with 6½, and
Arthur Bisguier
Arthur Bernard Bisguier (October 8, 1929April 5, 2017), paternal surname Bisgeier, was an American chess player, chess promoter, and writer who held the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM).
Bisguier won two U.S. Junior Championships (1948, 1949), ...
,
Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-196 ...
, and
James Sherwin
James Terry Sherwin (born October 25, 1933) is a corporate executive and International Master in chess.
Born in New York City in 1933, Sherwin attended Stuyvesant High School, Columbia College of Columbia University, Columbia College (Phi Beta Kap ...
with 6.
Zone 5 was allotted three players, but the lack of true chess professionals in America aside from Fischer greatly affected the players the U.S. sent to the Interzonal.
Lombardy was too busy to play as he was in
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...
, and Weinstein was also busy with college studies.
Reshevsky declined a spot in the Interzonal, and Sherwin could not get enough time off work to participate.
Fischer and Bisguier won the first two spots, and
Pal Benko
Pál C. Benkő ( hu, Benkő Pál; July 15, 1928 – August 26, 2019) was a Hungarian-American chess player, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems.
Early life
Benko was born on July 15, 1928 in Amiens, France, where his ...
was nominated to fill the final position.
Wade
Wade, WADE, or Wades may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Wade, California, a former settlement
* Wade, Maine, a town
* Wade, Mississippi, a census-designated place
* Wade, North Carolina, a town
* Wade, Ohio, an unincorporated communi ...
, pp. 56–57
Zone 6 (Canada)
Daniel Yanofsky
Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, (March 25, 1925 – March 5, 2000), commonly known as Daniel Yanofsky or Abe Yanofsky, was a Canadian chess player, chess writer, chess arbiter, and lawyer. He was Canada's first Grandmaster and an eight-time Canadian ...
, a former
Canadian champion and
British champion was nominated for the one qualifying spot allotted.
Zone 7 (Central America)
Zone 7 comprised Central America along with northern parts of South America.
Miguel Cuéllar (Colombia) qualified from the
Caracas Zonal.
Zone 8 (South America)
The top finishers at the
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...
Zonal were
Julio Bolbochán
Julio Bolbochán (Buenos Aires, 20 March 1920 – Caracas, 28 June 1996) was the Argentine chess champion in 1946 and 1948.
He learned the game from his older brother, Jacobo Bolbochán, later an International Master.
He represented Argenti ...
(Argentina) first with 13½/17,
Samuel Schweber
Samuel Schweber (16 July 1936 in Buenos Aires – 1 January 2017) was an Argentine chess player.
Schweber played in several Argentine Chess Championship, Argentine chess championships. He was 7-8th in 1956 (Raúl Sanguineti won), 4-6th in 1960 (Mi ...
(Argentina) second with 13, and
Eugênio German
Eugênio Maciel German (24 October 1930 – 1 April 2001) was a Brazilian International chess master.
German was born in Ubá, Brazil. In 1949, Eugênio German won a match against Jayme Schreibman Moses in Belo Horizonte (+2 –1 =1). In 1949, ...
(Brazil),
Rodrigo Flores (Chile), and
Bernardo Wexler tied for third with 11½.
After a playoff for third place, the qualifiers were Bolbochán, Schweber, and German.
Zone 9 (Asia)
Zone 9 included Asia (except the USSR) and the Pacific, and was divided into two subzones.
The Southeast Asia and Pacific subzonal tournament was held in Sydney, with
C. J. S. Purdy winning.
As the West and Central Asia subzonal tournament at
Madras had only two players, it was decided in match play.
Manuel Aaron (India) beat
Sürengiin Möömöö (Mongolia) 3–1.
Aaron qualified by beating Purdy 3–0 in the Zonal final match also held at Madras.
Interzonal
The fifth Interzonal was planned for the Netherlands in 1961, but the sponsors could not guarantee that
visas
Visa most commonly refers to:
*Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company
** Visa Debit card issued by the above company
** Visa Electron, a debit card
** Visa Plus, an interbank network
*Travel visa, a document that allows ...
could be obtained for all participants.
Subsequently, efforts were made to play in Moscow, and then
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
, but these arrangements also fell through.
Finally the Interzonal was played in
Stockholm under the direct sponsorship of FIDE, from 26 January to 8 March 1962.
The 23-player single
round-robin tournament was won convincingly by 18-year-old American
Bobby Fischer
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 1 ...
, with 17½ points out of 22 (13 wins, 9 draws, no losses), a margin of 2½ points. The next four places were taken by the
Soviets
Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union.
Nationality policy in ...
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (, ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style ...
and
Efim Geller
Efim Petrovich Geller (russian: Ефим Петрович Геллер, uk, Юхим Петрович Геллер; 8 March 1925 – 17 November 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Champi ...
with 15 points each, and the Soviet
Victor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. H ...
and the
Czechoslovak
Czechoslovak may refer to:
*A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93)
**First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38)
**Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39)
**Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60)
**Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...
Miroslav Filip
Miroslav Filip (27 October 1928 – 27 April 2009) was a Czech chess grandmaster. Filip was awarded the title of International Master in 1953, and the Grandmaster title in 1955. Filip represented Czechoslovakia in 12 consecutive Chess Olympia ...
with 14 points each.
For the sixth and final qualifying spot there was a three-way tie at 13½ points.
Leonid Stein
Leonid Zakharovich Stein (; November 12, 1934 – July 4, 1973) was a Soviet chess Grandmaster from Ukraine. He won three USSR Chess Championships in the 1960s (1963, 1965, and 1966), and was among the world's top ten players during that era.
...
(USSR),
Pal Benko
Pál C. Benkő ( hu, Benkő Pál; July 15, 1928 – August 26, 2019) was a Hungarian-American chess player, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems.
Early life
Benko was born on July 15, 1928 in Amiens, France, where his ...
(USA), and
Svetozar Gligorić
Svetozar Gligorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Глигорић, 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is consider ...
(
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
) played a double round-robin playoff tournament which was dominated by Stein and Benko. Although Stein won, a rule adopted in 1959 allowed no more than three players from a single Federation to qualify from the Interzonal. Stein could play in the Candidates only if one of the other qualifiers from the USSR (Geller, Petrosian, or Korchnoi) was unable to participate.
With Stein excluded, Benko took the final place in the Candidates Tournament.
Crosstables
Players in bold advanced to the Candidates' Tournament, along with seeded players
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...
and
Paul Keres
Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...
.
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament was played as an eight-player, quadruple
round-robin tournament in
Curaçao in 1962.
[1962 Curacao Candidates Tournament](_blank)
Mark Weeks' Chess Pages The field was largely the same as at the 1959 Candidates Tournament in
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, with
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...
(USSR),
Paul Keres
Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...
(USSR),
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (, ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style ...
(USSR),
Bobby Fischer
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 1 ...
(USA), and
Pal Benko
Pál C. Benkő ( hu, Benkő Pál; July 15, 1928 – August 26, 2019) was a Hungarian-American chess player, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems.
Early life
Benko was born on July 15, 1928 in Amiens, France, where his ...
(USA) as the five returning players. The three new players were
Efim Geller
Efim Petrovich Geller (russian: Ефим Петрович Геллер, uk, Юхим Петрович Геллер; 8 March 1925 – 17 November 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Champi ...
(USSR),
Miroslav Filip
Miroslav Filip (27 October 1928 – 27 April 2009) was a Czech chess grandmaster. Filip was awarded the title of International Master in 1953, and the Grandmaster title in 1955. Filip represented Czechoslovakia in 12 consecutive Chess Olympia ...
(Czechoslovakia), and
Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. H ...
(USSR), in place of former champion
Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov ( rus, Васи́лий Васи́льевич Смысло́в, Vasíliy Vasíl'yevich Smyslóv; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, who was World Chess Champion from 1957 t ...
(USSR),
Svetozar Gligorić
Svetozar Gligorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Глигорић, 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is consider ...
(Yugoslavia), and
Friðrik Ólafsson
Friðrik Ólafsson (born 26 January 1935) is an Icelandic chess grandmaster. He was president of FIDE from 1978 to 1982. He is a six-time Icelandic Chess Champion and a two-time Nordic Chess Champion.
Chess career
Friðrik was born in Reykja ...
(Iceland). Only Korchnoi was really new to this level of competition, as Geller was a candidate at Zürich in 1953 and Filip at Amsterdam in 1956.
Pre-tournament predictions
The favourites were Tal (the recently dethroned World Champion) and Fischer, based on his powerful Interzonal showing.
Botvinnik also picked Tal, as did a poll of Russian readers, narrowly ahead of Fischer.
Former world champion
Max Euwe
Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served as ...
picked Petrosian.
Keres said Fischer deserved to be favourite but had faith that a Soviet player would win; and similarly
Alexander Kotov
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov (Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Ко́тов; – 8 January 1981) was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet chess champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific write ...
and
Svetozar Gligorić
Svetozar Gligorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Глигорић, 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is consider ...
thought one of the Soviets would win ahead of Fischer.
American magazine ''
Chess Life
The monthly ''Chess Life'' and bi-monthly ''Chess Life Kids'' (formerly ''School Mates'' and ''Chess Life for Kids'') are the official magazines published by the United States Chess Federation (US Chess). ''Chess Life'' is advertised as the "most ...
'' picked Fischer ahead of Tal.
Of the others it said: Petrosian had a reputation of drawing many games, and it was unclear if his tendency to split points might prevent him from reaching the championship; Keres at age 46 was the oldest player, and it was thought by some that this might be his last shot at the championship title; Korchnoi and Geller had very imaginative and adventurous styles, which often got them into trouble and led to erratic results; Filip had been ill and had not played many major events between 1958 and 1960, and had the reputation as a solid player who scored many draws; and Benko was not a full-time professional chess player (he worked as an investment broker in New York) which limited his opportunities to play against grandmaster-strength opposition, and he had a tendency to get into time trouble.
Results
The pre-tournament favorites were Tal and Fischer, but Tal lost his first three games and Fischer lost his first two games, indicating an unpredictable tournament could be unfolding. Tal was in bad health, withdrew due after the third of four cycles, and was hospitalized.
Korchnoi took the early lead, scoring 5/7 in the first cycle, ahead of Petrosian, Geller and Keres with 4 points. But in the twelfth round, Korchnoi blundered against Fischer in a winning position and lost, and soon after lost four games in a row. The tournament became a three-way race between Petrosian, Keres and Geller. After three full cycles (21 rounds), Keres led on 14½, narrowly ahead of Petrosian and Geller on 14, with the others out of contention (Korchnoi 11, Fischer 10, Benko 9, Tal 7, Filip 4½).
At the start of the fourth and final cycle, Geller lost to Fischer while Petrosian defeated Korchnoi, effectively giving Keres and Petrosian a one-point lead over Geller. The three leaders drew all their games in the next four rounds. With two rounds remaining, Petrosian and Keres shared the lead on 16½ and two games to play, while Geller was on 16 with only one game to play.
In the penultimate round, Petrosian drew with Fischer, and Geller had the bye. Keres, who had won his previous three games against Benko, unexpectedly lost to Benko, giving Petrosian a half point lead (Petrosian 17, Keres 16½, Geller 16).
In the last round, Petrosian made a short draw with white against Filip. Keres had white against Fischer but could only draw, meaning Petrosian was the winner. Petrosian drew his last five games of the tournament. Geller won his last game, against Benko, to finish equal second with Keres.
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Since the championship rules provided an automatic berth into the next cycle's Candidates Tournament to the Candidates runner-up, Keres and Geller played a match to determine second place. Keres won the 1962 Moscow playoff match 4½–3½ to earn a seed into the
1965 Candidates. (However Geller ended up also being seeded into the 1965 Candidates anyway, after Botvinnik declined to participate.)
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Allegations of collusion
What makes this tournament famous and often-discussed is the allegations of Soviet collusion. The three top finishers (Petrosian, Geller and Keres) drew all twelve of their games against each other, in an average of only 19 moves.
Soon after the tournament, Fischer publicly alleged that the Soviets had colluded to prevent any non-Soviet – specifically him – from winning. His allegations were twofold: first, that Petrosian, Geller and Keres had pre-arranged to draw all their games; and second, that Korchnoi had been part of the drawing pact in the first half of the tournament, and been instructed to lose some games to them in the second half.
[Collusion in Curaçao](_blank)
Dominic Lawson
Dominic Ralph Campden Lawson (born 17 December 1956) is a British journalist.
Background
Lawson was born to a Jewish family, the elder son of Conservative politician Nigel Lawson and his first wife socialite Vanessa Salmon. Lawson was educated ...
, Standpoint (magazine)
''Standpoint'' was a British cultural and political magazine, originally published monthly, that debuted in June 2008. It ceased to be published regularly in 2020, with a final issue coming out in mid 2021.
''Standpoint'' was based in London and ...
, July/August 2012 (In the first two cycles Korchnoi drew all his games with Petrosian, Geller and Keres; in the third cycle he lost to all of them; and in the final cycle he lost to Petrosian but drew with Keres and Geller).
The first allegation, of the drawing pact, is generally assumed to be correct.
All of the three players involved have since died, but
Yuri Averbakh
Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. He was the first centenari ...
, who was head of the Soviet team, confirmed it in a 2002 interview.
He offered the rationale that Keres was the oldest competitor and wanted to conserve energy, and that Petrosian and Geller were good friends with a history of drawing with each other.
The second allegation, of Korchnoi throwing games, is more doubtful.
Korchnoi defected from the USSR in 1976, and never alleged he was forced to throw games. Dominic Lawson calls the allegation "preposterous", noting that the main beneficiary of Korchnoi's losses was Petrosian, whom Korchnoi detested.
Korchnoi also confirmed the drawing pact allegation:
"''This was perhaps the only time when the Soviet authorities did not intervene to determine any competition among the Soviets. On this occasion it was Petrosian personally who set up this controversy and he was helped by his friend, Geller. Keres was a wise man, but he was not cunning, he took the bait, while he could have refrained. The three players had privately agreed that they would draw all their games with each other. Tal and I were not included in this scheme. But in the end they colluded against Keres.''"
There are also allegations that, in the ultimately decisive Benko-Keres game in the penultimate round (which Benko won), Petrosian and Geller conspired against Keres by offering to help Benko. Benko wrote that Petrosian and Geller offered to help analyze the
adjourned position, but that he refused the offer.
Response to allegations
FIDE, the world chess federation, responded to the allegations by changing the format of future Candidates' Tournaments. Beginning in the next (1966) cycle, the
round-robin format was replaced by a series of
elimination matches (initially best of 10 quarter-finals, best of 10 semi-finals, then a best of 12 final), to eliminate the possibility of collusion which exists in a round-robin tournament. The single elimination format was used in all the subsequent Candidate Tournaments until the
Candidates Tournament 2013
The 2013 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess double round-robin tournament that took place in the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Savoy Place, London, from 15 March to 1 April 2013.
This was the first time in 51 years tha ...
, where it returned to the double round robin format.
Championship match
As the winner of the Candidates, Petrosian challenged Botvinnik for the world championship. The match was best of 24, with Botvinnik to retain the title in the event of a 12–12 tie.
Petrosian lost the first game of the match, played on March 23, 1963, but recovered and won fairly comfortably, 12½–9½. Petrosian won five games, Botvinnik won two games, and there were fifteen draws. The final game, played on May 20, 1963, ended as a draw, giving Petrosian the required 12½ points needed to win the match.
"History of the World Chess Championship: Botvinnik vs Petrosian 1963" chessgames.com
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Aftermath
The championship rules had been changed so that, unlike in 1957 and 1960, the defending champion was not entitled to a rematch. As the loser of championship match, Botvinnik was still an automatic seed in the next Candidates Tournament. However, Botvinnik chose not to exercise this right and retired from championship play, although not from competitive chess altogether.
Petrosian went on to successfully defend his title in 1966, before losing the title to Boris Spassky in 1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
.
References
Cited sources
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Further reading
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{{World Chess Championships, state=expanded
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...
1963 in chess
Chess in Sweden
Chess in Russia
Chess in the Soviet Union
International sports competitions in Stockholm
Sports competitions in Moscow
1962 in Swedish sport
1960s in Stockholm
1963 in Russia
1963 in Soviet sport