World Chess Championship 1963
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At the World Chess Championship 1963 Tigran Petrosian narrowly qualified to challenge Mikhail Botvinnik for the World Chess Championship, and then won the match to become the 9th World Chess Champion. The cycle is particularly remembered for the controversy surronding the Candidates' Tournament at Curacao in 1962.
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[edit] Structure
The top 6 players in the Interzonal qualified for the Candidates' Tournament. They were then joined by Mikhail Tal (loser of the last World Championship match in 1961) and Paul Keres (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 in 1963.
[edit] Interzonal
The Interzonal was played in Stockholm in early 1962.[1] It was convincingly won by 18 year old American Bobby Fischer with 17.5 points out of 22 (13 wins, 9 draws, no losses) by a margin of 2.5 points. The next four places were taken by the Soviets Tigran Petrosian and Efim Geller on 15 points, and the Soviet Victor Korchnoi and Miroslav Filip of Czechoslovakia on 14 points.
For the last qualifying spot, there was a three-way tie between Leonid Stein (USSR), Pal Benko (USA) and Svetozar Gligorić (Yugoslavia) on 13.5 points. Stein was excluded from the Candidates on a rule which limited the number of people who could qualify from a single country. The 3 played a double round robin playoff tournament, which was dominated by Stein and Benko. With Stein excluded, Benko took the final place in the Candidates.
[edit] Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament was played as an eight player, quadruple round-robin in Curacao in 1962.[2] The favourites were Tal (the recently dethroned World Champion), and Fischer, based on his powerful Interzonal showing.
[edit] Results
However both Tal and Fischer lost their first two games, indicating an unpredictable tournament could be unfolding. Tal was in bad health, and would actually withdraw after the third of the four cycles.
Korchnoi took the early lead, scoring 5/7 in the first cycle, ahead of Petrosian, Geller and Keres on 4.[3] But in the twelfth round, Korchnoi blundered against Fischer in a winning position and lost, and soon after lost 4 games in a row. The tournament became a three way race between Petrosian, Keres and Geller.[4]. With two rounds to go Petrosian and Keres shared the lead, but Keres unexpectedly lost in the penultimate round to Benko. Petrosian, who drew his last 5 games of the tournament, emerged as the winner on 17.5 points out of 27, half a point ahead of Keres and Geller. Fischer finished fourth on 14 points, followed by Korchnoi (13.5), Benko (12), Filip (7) and Tal (7 from 21 games played).
[edit] Allegations of Collusion
What makes this tournament famous and often-discussed is the allegations of Soviet collusion. The three first place-getters, Petrosian, Geller and Keres, drew all their games between each other.
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 instructed to lose to them.
The first allegation, of the drawing pact, is often assumed to be correct. All of the three players involved have since died, but Yuri Averbakh, who was head of the Soviet team, virtually confirmed it in a 2002 interview.[5] On the other hand, chess author Tim Krabbé claims that the theory makes little sense. Given the standings after half of the tournament had been played, Krabbé wrote, "Fischer only had a chance of still winning the tournament, if the three Soviet leaders kept playing draws against each other. And they did!"[6]
The second allegation, of Korchnoi throwing games, is more doubtful. Korchnoi defected from the USSR in 1976, and has never alleged he was forced to throw games. Korchnoi has also written on his surprise at the short draws. So apparently there was a drawing pact between Petrosian, Keres and Geller, which was unknown even to the fellow Soviet Korchnoi. The other point against the second allegation, is that Fischer was so far behind that it was unnecessary for Korchnoi to throw games in order for a Soviet player to win.
There are also allegations that, in the ultimately decisive Benko-Keres game, Petrosian and Geller (who were good friends) conspired against Keres by helping Benko. Benko has written that Petrosian and Geller offered to help analyse the adjourned position, but that he refused the offer.[7]
[edit] 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.
[edit] Botvinnik-Petrosian match
Petrosian lost the first game of the match, but recovered and won fairly comfortably, 12.5-9.5. Petrosian won 5 games, Botvinnik 2, and there were 14 draws.[8]
The championship rules were changed so that, unlike in 1957 and 1960, Botvinnik was not entitled to a rematch. Petrosian thus remained champion until the 1966 World Championship match.
[edit] References
- ^ 1962 Stockholm Interzonal Tournament, Mark Weeks' Chess Pages
- ^ 1962 Curacao Candidates Tournament, Mark Weeks' Chess Pages
- ^ The World Chess Championship, Israel Horowitz, p.208
- ^ Horowitz, p.211
- ^ Yuri Averbakh, An Interview with History, Part 2, by Taylor Kingston, chesscafe.com, 2002
- ^ Open Chess Diary 299, by Tim Krabbé, October 22, 2005.
- ^ Pal Benko My Life, Games, and Compositions, Reviewed by Nagesh Havanur
- ^ 1963 Petrosian - Botvinnik Title Match, Mark Weeks' Chess Pages
