Stockholm 1962

    
     Depending on your interest, if you lived in Stockholm in 1962 there was a lot going on. Louis Armstrong was in town for a concert. Or, if jazz wasn't your thing, there was a big chess tournament. 
     The Interzonal had its roots in 1961. The completion of the world championship cycle from 1958 to 1960 put Botvinnik back on "his" throne thanks to a return match clause the wily Botvinnik had insisted on when FIDE took over the championship in 1948. 
     Bobby Fischer won his 4th straight US title in 1960-61 ahead of new GM William Lombardy. A surprising third was Raymond Weinstein, then a 19-year old Brooklyn College student. As this was a zonal year, all three qualified to play in the Interzonal tournament to be held in Stockholm in 1962. Neither Lombardy nor Weinstein played and their places were taken by Benko and Arthur Bisguier. 

     In Bled, Yugoslavia in the fall of 1961, the International Jubilee Grand Master Tournament held in commemoration of Alekhine's victory there in 1931. Mikhail Tal, who had just lost his title decisively to Botvinnik 12.5-8.5 earlier in the spring, won. But it was the 18-year old Fischer who was the only player to go undefeated and he defeated Tal in their individual game who was the moral victor. How did he fail to capture first? Too many draws against the middle of the pack players and draws with the two tailenders! 
     Then came the Stockholm tournament held from January 27 until March 6, 1962. Fischer had skipped the 1961-62 US Championship and it was won by Larry Evans. 
     The Stockholm tournament was a 23-player event with six players qualifying for the Curacao Candidates (1962) stage. Fischer won with a +13 -0 =9 and trailing him by two-and-a-half points were Geller and Petrosian. Tied for 4th and 5th with 14 points were Korchnoi and, surprise, Dr. Miroslav Filip of Czechoslovakia. 
     There was a three-way tie for sixth place: Gligoric, Benko and Stein. They played a double round playoff tournament to decide sixth place. Stein won with 3.0 ahead of Benko with 2.0 and had Gligoric with zero points. As a result of the scores final game between Gligoric and Benko was not played. Thus, Stein qualified, but there was a rule in effect that limited the number of players from one country participating in the Candidates tournament to three, so Stein was relegated to being a reserve in case somebody dropped out and Benko was the 6th qualifier for the Candidates to be held in Curacao. 

     Fischer's decisive victory made him one of the favorites for the Candidates Tournament in Curacao, which began soon afterwards, but there he bombed, finishing fourth with a 14-13 score. 

Final standings 
1) Fischer 17.5 
 2-3) Geller and Petrosian 15.0 
4-5) Korchnoi and Filip 14.0 
6-8) Gligoric, Benko and Stein 13.5 
9-10) Uhlmann and Portisch 12.5 
11-12) Pomar and Olafsson 12.0 
13) Julio Bolbochan 11.5 
14-15) Barcza and Bilek 11.0 
16) Bisguier 9.5 
17-18) Yanofsky and Bertok 7.5 
19-20) German and Schweber 7.0 
21) Teschner 6.5 
22) Cuellar 5.5 
23) Aaron 4.0 

     One of the most discussed games was Fischer's game against Korchnoi that featured a fight between white's attacking chances in the center and on the K-side verses black's Q-side chances. What made it interesting was the differing opinions of the players: Korchnoi believed he had the worst of it while Fischer asserted that white had no advantage at all. Eventually Fischer overreached and gave Korchnoi the chance to seize the initiative, but he later faltered and lost.