| Stockholm Interzonal (1962) |
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Held from January 27 until March 6, 1962, the Interzonal tournament in Stockholm was a 23-player round robin, with six players qualifying for the Curacao Candidates (1962) stage. The winner was Bobby Fischer with 17.5 (+13 =9 -0), two and a half points ahead of Geller and Petrosian. Filip and Korchnoi were equal fourth with 14 points. There was a three-way tie for sixth place among Gligoric, Benkö and Stein, all with 13.5 points. The three then contested a double round-robin playoff tournament to decide sixth place. Stein won with 3/4, Benkö had 2/3 and Gligoric 0/3. The final game between Gligoric and Benkö was not played. Stein qualified only as a reserve, due to a rule limiting the number of players from one country participating in the Candidates tournament to three, so the last place in the Candidates tournament went to Benkö. 1 Gideon Stahlberg was arbiter. 2 Stockholm, Sweden, 27 January - 6 March 1962 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
1 Fischer * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 17.5
2 Geller ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 15.0
3 Petrosian ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 15.0
4 Korchnoi 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 0 1 14.0
5 Filip ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 14.0
6 Gligoric ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 13.5
7 Benkö ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 13.5
8 Stein ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ * 0 1 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 13.5
9 Uhlmann ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 * 0 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 12.5
10 Portisch 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 12.5
11 Pomar ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 0 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 12.0
12 Ólafsson 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 1 1 0 ½ ½ * ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 12.0
13 Bolbochan 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 11.5
14 Barcza 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 11.0
15 Bilek 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 11.0
16 Bisguier 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 9.5
17 Yanofsky 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 7.5
18 Bertok 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 7.5
19 German 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 7.0
20 Schweber 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ * 1 ½ ½ 7.0
21 Teschner ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 1 6.5
22 Cuellar 0 1 ½ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 * ½ 5.5
23 Aaron 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ * 4.0
Playoff 9-13 March 1962 (see Stockholm Interzonal Playoff (1962) for games):1 Stein ** ½½ 11 3
2 Benkö ½½ ** 1- 2
3 Gligoric 00 0- ** 0
Fischer, Geller, Petrosian, Korchnoi, Filip and Benkö qualified for the Curacao Candidates (1962).
Notes
1 Tidskrift för Schack, no. 7, September 1958, p. 195 (https://tfsarkiv.schack.se/pdf/1958...) and The Times, 10 March 1962, p. 7.
2 Tidskrift för Schack, no. 3, 1962, p. 66 (https://tfsarkiv.schack.se/pdf/1962...).
3 Magyar Sakkelet, 1962, p. 33. In Di Felice, Chess Results 1961-1963, pp. 223-224. Original collection: Game Collection: Interzonals 1962: Stockholm by
User: capybara. Previous: Portoroz Interzonal (1958). Next: Amsterdam Interzonal (1964)
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| page 1 of 11; games 1-25 of 253 |
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| Game |
| Result | Moves |
Year | Event/Locale | Opening |
| 1. Portisch vs I Bilek |
| ½-½ | 21 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | C93 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Smyslov Defense |
| 2. Benko vs A Bisguier |
 | 1-0 | 45 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | A07 King's Indian Attack |
| 3. Bolbochan vs S Schweber |
| ½-½ | 27 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation |
| 4. R Teschner vs Fischer |
| ½-½ | 41 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | E92 King's Indian |
| 5. Geller vs M Cuellar Gacharna |
| 0-1 | 42 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | A04 Reti Opening |
| 6. Korchnoi vs E German |
| ½-½ | 41 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | A21 English |
| 7. Petrosian vs F Olafsson |
 | 1-0 | 34 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | A46 Queen's Pawn Game |
| 8. Uhlmann vs A Pomar |
| 1-0 | 38 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | D48 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, Meran |
| 9. Filip vs Yanofsky |
| 1-0 | 33 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | A16 English |
| 10. M Aaron vs Barcza |
| 0-1 | 52 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | A53 Old Indian |
| 11. M Bertok vs Gligoric |
| ½-½ | 17 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | E62 King's Indian, Fianchetto |
| 12. A Bisguier vs M Aaron |
| 1-0 | 68 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | A53 Old Indian |
| 13. Yanofsky vs Bolbochan |
| 0-1 | 59 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation |
| 14. Fischer vs Benko |
| ½-½ | 56 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | B32 Sicilian |
| 15. F Olafsson vs Geller |
| ½-½ | 24 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | A10 English |
| 16. M Cuellar Gacharna vs Korchnoi |
| 1-0 | 56 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | B70 Sicilian, Dragon Variation |
| 17. Stein vs Petrosian |
| ½-½ | 18 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | B18 Caro-Kann, Classical |
| 18. Barcza vs Portisch |
| ½-½ | 26 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | E54 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System |
| 19. Gligoric vs Uhlmann |
| ½-½ | 87 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | D86 Grunfeld, Exchange |
| 20. E German vs Filip |
| 0-1 | 48 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | B44 Sicilian |
| 21. A Pomar vs R Teschner |
| 1-0 | 41 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | D16 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav |
| 22. S Schweber vs M Bertok |
| 1-0 | 54 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | E77 King's Indian |
| 23. I Bilek vs Barcza |
| ½-½ | 16 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | D32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch |
| 24. Portisch vs A Bisguier |
| 1-0 | 41 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | D20 Queen's Gambit Accepted |
| 25. Bolbochan vs E German |
| 1-0 | 56 | 1962 | Stockholm Interzonal | D12 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav |
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| page 1 of 11; games 1-25 of 253 |
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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
| Aug-04-16 | | todicav23: No matter what people say, Petrosian had 8 free days at Curacao. That's a very big advantage because it saves a lot of energy. I have nothing against Petrosian. He was an amazing player, probably in top 10 players ever. |
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| Feb-09-17 | | Howard: Simply put, 19-year-old Fischer simply wasn't strong enough to have much of a chance to win Curacao. You have to remember he was up against five battle-hardened Soviet players, all of whom were much more experienced when it came to exceptionally touch touraments. Granted, Fischer did have a chance to take first, but it was only a small one. |
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| Feb-09-17 | | alphamaster: When you have a bad start and see the top three opponents make arranged draws between them, saving energy in such a long tournament, you loose confidence. Also because you feel that even if you come near the first place they will stop the draws and start throwing points to the leader.
But i agree that Fischer was not mature enough at the time to try to finish second or, at least, near the top and thus become the moral winner. |
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Feb-09-17
 | | plang: You don't have a shred of evidence that anyone is "throwing points" or thinking about "throwing points" - I don't understand how someone who (presumably) likes chess keeps repeating crap like that. |
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| Feb-18-17 | | zanzibar: According to the gospel of Korchnoi:
<This [izt] was perhaps the first tournament in which the young Fischer overcame all his opponents with enviable ease, and three rounds before the finish had already assured himself of first place. ...... I consider that, at that time, Fischer was still a little weaker than he was to be a few years later. ... If I had known than all that was to happen later, I would have gladly granted Stein the dubious pleasure of playing the Candidates Tournament at Curacao. There, as we all now know, everything was arranged by Petrosian. He agreed with his friend Geller to play draws in all their games together. They also persuaded Keres to join their coalition. ...> p44 |
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Feb-19-17
 | | offramp: <zanzibar: ...They also persuaded Keres to join their coalition. ...> Does Kortschnoi mention that he asked Geller if he too could join the coalition, but received a frosty and memorable rebuff from the Cossack-like Geller. <"You are here to be beaten."> |
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Feb-19-17
| | offramp: Sorry, the frosty rebuff was from the Elmer Fudd-like Petrosian: full source for the squanecdote is here: Curacao Candidates (1962) (kibitz #38). |
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| Feb-19-17 | | Howard: Despite being a long-time fan of Petrosian, I don't know what offramp meant by that above remark. Oh, yes, I know who Elmer Fudd was. Always liked that funny laugh of his ! |
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Feb-19-17
| | offramp: <Howard: Despite being a long-time fan of Petrosian, I don't know what offramp meant by that above remark.> Neither do I. Offramp's a flake. Perhaps he envisioned Petrosian saying "You are here to ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba a be a be to be a to be a to be beaten!" |
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| Feb-19-17 | | zanzibar: <offramp> followup moved to relevant tourney: Curacao Candidates (1962) (kibitz #56) Oh, but I do wonder, what exactly is a "squanecdote"? A 64-"square" anecdote? |
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Feb-20-17
| | offramp: An anecdote about a squall, a squall being a loud cry or yell. In this case the yell is either YOU!! or NO!! |
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| Feb-20-17 | | zanzibar: Ha, didn't think of that one. |
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| Jan-31-20 | | Petrosianic: One thing I don't remember is why this interzonal was so delayed (It should have been played in 1961). I remember hearing a story about one of the zonals being delayed, and/or replayed, but don't remember any details now. |
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| Jan-31-20 | | Olavi: For some reason Uhlmann wasn't granted a visa for the Berg en Dal zonal in late 1960 and consequently all Eastern bloc players withdrew. Next autumn another zonal was played in Marienbad, enabling Olafsson to perform the unique feat of winning two zonals in the same cycle. That also explains why there was an uneven number of players in the interzonal. Tescher was given an extra spot, having finished second in Berg en Dal and skipping Marianske Lazne. |
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Jan-31-20
 | | Sally Simpson: Heidenfeld writing about this event in the 1962 BCM says when East Germany met West Germany Uhlmann vs Teschner, 1962 it was the game without flags. It was also the start of Ulhmann losing 4 games on the the bounce. |
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| Jan-31-20 | | Olavi: As for Uhlmann's zonal visa problems, the 1961 women's Olympiad in Emmen, Holland, was also cancelled. What was it with the Dutch at the time? They had organized the previous Olympiad in 1957 without problems. |
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| Nov-30-21 | | Helios727: Given that Bisguier was 4th and Benko 8th in the qualifying U.S. Championship of 1960, how did these two men end up playing in this interzonal? |
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| Dec-04-22 | | Jyrki: To todicav : Like someone commented, in 1962 Petrosian,Keres and Geller had much more experience about top level chess than Bobby.If we look chessmetrics, Petrosian was best player in world in 1961-63.Petrosian was progressing from year to year,and finally he reached #1 in 1961.So it looks like Petrosian was simply stronger player than Bobby in 1962.Bobby was not yet in his prime as chessplayer. I can agree with Keres when he commented Curaco :"I don´t know if Bobby agrees with me,but in my opinion his placement (4th place) corresponds his playing strength" . |
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Oct-19-23
 | | FSR: Manuel Aaron played the role of spoiler in this tournament. He finished last and only won two games. But they were against Uhlmann and Portisch, each of whom scored 12.5 points and missed tying for a spot in the Candidates by exactly one point. Uhlmann vs M Aaron, 1962 and M Aaron vs Portisch, 1962. Aaron and Portisch met again at the Olympiad six months later. Aaron smashed Portisch off the board, as he had in their prior game. Portisch vs M Aaron, 1962. All three games were King's Indians, with Aaron winning convincingly with both colors. |
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Oct-19-23
| | FSR: <Jyrki: . . . I can agree with Keres when he commented Curaco :"I don´t know if Bobby agrees with me,but in my opinion his placement (4th place) corresponds his playing strength" .> Keres omitted mention of the inconvenient fact that he, Petrosian, and Geller had fixed the results of their games at Curacao Candidates (1962). All twelve of their games were drawn, in 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 (thrice), 21 (twice), 22 (twice), and 27 (a real marathon, that one!) moves. Twelve games, median length 18 moves, mean length 19.1 moves. This gave each of them the huge advantage of having, in effect, eight more rest days than the non-cheating players. Not surprisingly, they finished in the top three spots. Fischer was the top non-cheater. Chessmetrics considers Fischer to have been stronger than both Keres and Geller on the eve of Curacao. http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/... |
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| Oct-19-23 | | Olavi: <FSR> As for the last round game vs. Aaron, Fischer and Benko had teased Portisch at dinner or breakfast before the game about how dangerous this player is, going on and on... both Portisch and Benko have told the story many times; Benko was uneasy about it the rest of his life. |
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Oct-19-23
| | FSR: Portisch, Olafsson, and Aaron are the only players from this tournament still living. |
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Oct-19-23
 | | MissScarlett: Thanks for the update. Keep us informed if anything changes. |
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Oct-19-23
 | | perfidious: One wonders whether Fischer ragged the Hungarian grandmaster before Portisch vs E Jimenez Zerquera, 1970 as well, a defeat which would prove ruinous to his hopes. |
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Oct-21-23
| | FSR: Fischer won by a stunning 2.5 points, one of the largest margins in Interzonal history. At first blush, one might think that he had convincingly demonstrated his superiority over the other players. This is misleading. Fischer pounded the bottom half of the field, scoring 10.5 against the bottom 11. Geller and Petrosian, who tied for second, were much less successful rabbit-bashers. Geller gave up 3 points (a loss and four draws) to the bottom 11, and Petrosian 2.5 points (five draws) to them. Against the top players, OTOH, Geller had a better score (+3) than Fischer's +2. Fischer's triumph here may have made him overconfident at the Curacao Candidates (1962), which began less than two months later. He lost his first two games and finished the first cycle with just 2 points out of 7. Though he later recovered somewhat, finishing with a +1 score, he was never in contention for first. |
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