Chessplayers lost that year were Vyacheslav Ragozin, Ernst Gruenfeld, Czech IM Josef Rejfir, Milan Vidmar, Ossip Bernstein and Frank Graves, a former USCF president.
On October 25, 1962, the strong US Senior Master 38-year old Abe Turner was stabbed to death in the offices of Chess Review by Theodore Smith, an ex-mental patient. Turner was stabbed in the back 9 times and then his 280 pound body stuffed in a large safe.
The Stockholm Interzonal was won by 18-year-old Bobby Fischer who was undefeated. Tigran Petrosian won the Candidates tournament at Curacao. US representatives Bobby Fischer and Pal Benko finished 4th and 6th (out of 8 places) respectively. After the tournament Fischer accused the Russians of cheating by rigging the outcome of their games; later Korchnoi confirmed the accusations.
The following game was played in the 1962 Soviet Championship. The tournament, which had been preceded by six semifinals events, was held from November 21 to December 20 in Yerevan, the capital and largest city of Armenia.
Korchnoi scored +10 -1 =8, losing only to Vladas Mikenas. Curiously, Mikenas defeated both Korchnoi and Tal.
The following game has been widely published and was included by Korchnoi in his own best games collection.
While referring to notes by GM John Emms, GM Andy Soltis and USCF Life Master A.J. Goldsby, and with the help of Stockfish 15, Komodo 14, I have tried to weed out a lot of variations, including some erroneous analysis, and just capture the essence of this struggle between these two leviathans of the chess world. Enjoy the game!
Viktor Korchnoi–Mikhail Tal1–0A62USSR Championship, YerevanYerevan URS 1962Stockfish 15
Modern Benoni: Fianchetto Variation 1.d4 f6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.c3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.f3 g6 At the time Tal was almost the only titled player that
played the sharp Benoni and he was responsible for its surge in popularity.
Black plays for a Q-side attack while white tries to use his center Ps. 7.g3 A Korchnoi favorite. g7 8.g2 0-0 9.0-0 a6 At the time this move was
all the rage; today either 9...a6 or 9...Re8, or sometimes 9...Nbd7 are the
standard moves. In the book of his best games Korchnoi slapped a ? on the move,
but it's quite playable. 10.h3 An important part of white's strategy. He
wants to advance his center Ps, but first prevents black from playing ....Bg5
and ...Bxf3 thereby getting rid of his bad B. An alternative is 10.Nd2 c7
GM John Emms disapproved of this move blaming it for black's opening problems,
claiming that 10...Re8 in order to hinder white's center advance makes more
sense. Komodo doesn't see much difference between the two moves. 10...e8 11.d2 c7 12.a4 b6 13.e4 a6 14.e1 d7 15.f3 e7 16.f4 f8 with
equal chances. Kamsky,G (2735)-Topalov,V (2700) Dos Hermanas 1996 11.e4 d7 Emms was critical of time Tal spends fiddling with his Ns and makes the handy
observation that it is usually a sign that something has gone wrong if black
has to capture on e5 with his d-Pawn. 11...e8 is the main alternative,
but it hardly seems better. 12.e1 h6 White stands slightly better, but
with the R on e8 the advance e5 is rendered ineffective. 13.e5 Despite
Emms' observation this leads nowhere after dxe5 14.xe5 fxd5 15.xd5 xe5 16.f4 xf4 17.xe8+ xe8 18.xf4 xd1+ 19.xd1 with a likely draw,
black's extra P notwithstanding. 12.e1 12.Bf4 is equally good. It was
played in two GM games in my database. The same applies to 12.Bg5 e8
The position was critical and Tal is still fiddling with his Ns. 12...b5
This is premature. 13.e5 b4 14.exd6 bxc3 15.dxc7 xc7 16.bxc3 xc3 17.h6 xe1 18.xe1 b7 18...d8 19.e7 followed by Ng5 wins 19.xf8 xf8 20.d1 White is slightly better. 12...f6 Hindering e5 was a reasonable try
even though it further weakens the K's position. 13.a4 e5 is equal. 12...e5 13.xe5 xe5 14.e3 e8 and white is slightly better. 13.g5 f6 14.e3 b8 14...b5 was suggested by Korchnoi as being black's best
practical chance. 15.xb5 a6 16.a4 xb5 17.axb5 xb2 18.a6 b6 with an
unclear position, but in the long run white should have the better chances. 15.a4 a6 16.f1 Prevents b5. e7 17.d2 c7 18.f4 b5 This move has been
condemned by many critics, but oddly, in The World's Greatest Chess Games, GM
John Emms passed over it without comment. Stockfish drops its evaluation to 2.
5 Ps in white's favor, but Komodo 14 is much less harsh, favoring white by
only one P. In any case, Tal's temperament would not permit a passive defense. 19.e5 Korchnoi breaks through in the center in classic fashion and quickly
develops a K-side attack. dxe5 20.de4 Threatening 21.d6 so... d8 20...exf4 21.d6 e6 22.dxc7 xc3 23.cxb8 xb8 24.bxc3 fxe3 25.f3 costs
black a R. 21.xf6+ xf6 Now in addition to the move he played, white has
a couple of other reasonable moves: 22.axb5 and 22. Bxc5. 22.d6 22.xc5
is OK, but not as forceful. b4 22...e8 23.fxe5 fxd5 24.xd5 xd5 25.axb5 axb5 26.d4 Black can hope to play on. 23.e4 xe4 24.xe4 e8 25.xe5 xe5 26.fxe5 xd5 and black is still fighting. 22...e6 23.fxe5 b4 24.d5 White's pieces are swarming in preparation of an attack. 24.exf6
allows black to equalize with bxc3 25.bxc3 xf6 26.d7 b7 24...xd5 25.xd5 b7 26.d2 d7 27.h2 White has the advantage: more space, the B pair
and a strong, protected passed P. In addition, black's dark squares around his
K are weak. b3 Trying to distract his opponent with a Q-side demonstration. 27...c6 Threatening mate on h1 is adequately met by 28.c4 f3 29.b3
with a clear superiority. 28.ac1 xa4 29.c4 c8 30.f1 b4 31.xe6 This was universally slapped with a ? because is should have allowed
black to seize the initiative and get back in the game, but engine analysis
shows that white is still superior. That said, 31.Bxe6 was not the best move. 31.d5 d7 32.h6 d4 33.g2 g7 34.c6 e6 35.xc5 There were other
reasonable moves for both sides, but in any case, black is unlikely to survive
much longer. 31...xe6 32.h6 Korchnoi is rightly unconcerned about
grabbing the c-Pawn. e8 33.g5 e4 34.f2 Prevents Re2. 34.f6
allows black to equalize after e2+ 35.f2 xf2+ 36.xf2 d4 37.xd4 cxd4 38.c7 a8 The position is completely even. 34...f5 35.f6 Attacking on
the dark squares. 35.exf6 is less effective than keeping possession of the
pair of passed Ps. f7 36.xc5 d4 White is clearly better, but black can
still put up stiff resistance. 35...d7 Prevents Qg7+. 36.xc5 c4 37.xc4 xc4 38.d2 e6 Now comes a repetition in order to reach adjournment
and allow Korchnoi time to figure things out at his leisure. 39.d1 a7
aiming for ... Qf2+. 40.d2 Care must be taken even to the very end. 40.d7 f2+ 41.h1 f3+ 42.h2 e2+ 43.h1 xd1+ 44.g2 e2+ 45.g1 e1+ 46.g2 d5+ mates next move. 40...d7 41.d1 The game was adjourned here. a7 42.d4 Korchnoi found this keen move during adjournment...it prevents
the Q from reaching f2 (obviously black can't take it because his Q is
preventing mate on g7). It should be mentioned that white's advantage here (2
Ps according to Komodo) is sufficient to win, but even so, white must continue
to find good moves and he has to remain alert so that he does not offer his
very dangerous opponent counterplay. d7 43.g4 a5 44.g3 The
beginning of a K march on the dark squares in preparation of the final attack.
As Steinitz said, the K is a fighting piece. b8 Not a move without purpose!
It prepares ...Qf7 44...f7 immediately is met by the winning move 45.d7 xd7 46.xf7+ xf7 47.xd7+ e6 48.xh7 etc. 45.h4 45.gxf5 would
also win. xf5 46.c4 a7 47.c5 e8 This leaves white to figure out how
he is going to grind out the win. 45...f7 46.g5 fxg4 47.hxg4 d7 48.c4 As far as I know this brilliant move has not been commented on. 48.f4 allows black to equalize after xf6+ 49.xf6 e8 50.e4 e6+ 51.g5 e8 and the Bs of opposite color allow black to set up a blockade, 48...a4 48...xf6+ 49.xf6 e8 50.c7 e6+ 51.g5 e8 52.f4 b5 53.c8+ e8 54.xe8+ xe8 55.e6 wins 49.c7 a3 Korchnoi is not about to be
distracted by this Q-side demonstration. 50.xd7 Well played!
This is the only move that wins! 50.xf7+ xf7 51.xd7+ e6 52.e7+ d5 53.d7 axb2 54.e8 b1 55.c8 xe5 56.d8 xc8 57.xc8 This position
should be drawn with careful play by both sides. 50.bxa3 would lose to xf6+ 51.xf6 b2 50.e7 This attempt at being clever also loses. xe7+ 51.dxe7 e8 50...xd7 51.e6 White's strategy as noted on move 6
is successful. After the best move, 51...Qb5+, Komodo shows a mate in 25 moves.
a7 This shortens the misery...it's mate in 10 moves. 52.e5 White mates.
axb2 53.e7 f7 54.d7 A great game with an unbelievable finish and one in
which Korchnoi deserves credit for his very precise play. 54.d7 e3+ 54...xd7 55.f6+ mate next move. 54...b1 55.f6+ g8 56.g7# 55.xe3 b5+ 56.h4 g5+ 57.xg5 b8 58.e8+ xe8 59.dxe8+ g7 60.3e5# 1–0
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