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TOURNAMENT STANDINGS
Stockholm Interzonal Tournament

Robert James Fischer17.5/22(+13 -0 =9)[games]
Efim Geller15/22(+10 -2 =10)[games]
Tigran V Petrosian15/22(+8 -0 =14)[games]
Viktor Korchnoi14/22(+9 -3 =10)[games]
Miroslav Filip14/22(+8 -2 =12)[games]
Svetozar Gligoric13.5/22(+7 -2 =13)[games]
Pal Benko13.5/22(+8 -3 =11)[games]
Leonid Stein13.5/22(+9 -4 =9)[games]
Wolfgang Uhlmann12.5/22(+10 -7 =5)[games]
Lajos Portisch12.5/22(+8 -5 =9)[games]
Arturo Pomar Salamanca12/22(+7 -5 =10)[games]
Fridrik Olafsson12/22(+8 -6 =8)[games]
Julio Bolbochan11.5/22(+5 -4 =13)[games]
Gedeon Barcza11/22(+5 -5 =12)[games]
Istvan Bilek11/22(+7 -7 =8)[games]
Arthur Bisguier9.5/22(+4 -7 =11)[games]
Daniel Abraham Yanofsky7.5/22(+3 -10 =9)[games]
Mario Bertok7.5/22(+1 -8 =13)[games]
Eugenio Maciel German7/22(+3 -11 =8)[games]
Samuel Schweber7/22(+2 -10 =10)[games]
Rudolf Teschner6.5/22(+3 -12 =7)[games]
Miguel Cuellar Gacharna5.5/22(+4 -15 =3)[games]
Manuel Aaron4/22(+2 -16 =4)[games]
*

Chessgames.com Chess Event Description
Stockholm Interzonal (1962)

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), joint-second with 15 were Geller and Petrosian, and joint-fourth with 14 were Filip and Korchnoi. But there was a three-way tie for sixth place among Gligoric, Benkö and Stein, all with 13.5 points. These three players 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 ruling limiting the number of players from one country participating in the Candidates tournament to three, so the last place 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)

 page 1 of 11; games 1-25 of 253  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Portisch vs I Bilek  ½-½211962Stockholm InterzonalC93 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Smyslov Defense
2. Benko vs A Bisguier 1-0451962Stockholm InterzonalA07 King's Indian Attack
3. Bolbochan vs S Schweber  ½-½271962Stockholm InterzonalB92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation
4. R Teschner vs Fischer ½-½411962Stockholm InterzonalE92 King's Indian
5. Geller vs M Cuellar Gacharna 0-1421962Stockholm InterzonalA04 Reti Opening
6. Korchnoi vs E German ½-½411962Stockholm InterzonalA21 English
7. Petrosian vs F Olafsson 1-0341962Stockholm InterzonalA46 Queen's Pawn Game
8. Uhlmann vs A Pomar Salamanca  1-0381962Stockholm InterzonalD48 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, Meran
9. Filip vs Yanofsky  1-0331962Stockholm InterzonalA16 English
10. M Aaron vs Barcza  0-1521962Stockholm InterzonalA53 Old Indian
11. M Bertok vs Gligoric  ½-½171962Stockholm InterzonalE62 King's Indian, Fianchetto
12. A Bisguier vs M Aaron 1-0681962Stockholm InterzonalA53 Old Indian
13. Yanofsky vs Bolbochan 0-1591962Stockholm InterzonalB92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation
14. Fischer vs Benko ½-½561962Stockholm InterzonalB32 Sicilian
15. F Olafsson vs Geller  ½-½241962Stockholm InterzonalA10 English
16. M Cuellar Gacharna vs Korchnoi 1-0561962Stockholm InterzonalB70 Sicilian, Dragon Variation
17. Stein vs Petrosian  ½-½181962Stockholm InterzonalB18 Caro-Kann, Classical
18. Barcza vs Portisch  ½-½261962Stockholm InterzonalE54 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System
19. Gligoric vs Uhlmann ½-½871962Stockholm InterzonalD86 Grunfeld, Exchange
20. E German vs Filip  0-1481962Stockholm InterzonalB44 Sicilian
21. A Pomar Salamanca vs R Teschner  1-0411962Stockholm InterzonalD16 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
22. S Schweber vs M Bertok  1-0541962Stockholm InterzonalE77 King's Indian
23. I Bilek vs Barcza  ½-½161962Stockholm InterzonalD32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
24. Portisch vs A Bisguier  1-0411962Stockholm InterzonalD20 Queen's Gambit Accepted
25. Bolbochan vs E German  1-0561962Stockholm InterzonalD12 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
 page 1 of 11; games 1-25 of 253  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
May-08-15  Karne: Fischer was 18 when he won this tournament.
May-08-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  AylerKupp: <<Petrosianic> According to Chessmetrics, Fischer's opposition at Stockholm averaged 2615, while his Curacao opposition averaged 2727. That's the difference in a nutshell.> I don’t agree. After all, 6 of the 8 players at Curacao 1962 were also at Stockholm 1962 and were playing the same opposition. If a lower average rating in Stockholm vs. Curacao was the difference in Fischer winning the tournament, then the other 5 players that were both in Stockholm and Curacao would have also scored higher in Stockholm than they actually did. Of course, these are just 2 tournaments consisting of 22 games per player (Stockholm) and 28 games per player (Curacao, except for those who did not play Tal in the 4th round because of Tal's withdrawal) so the difference in player results are probably not statistically significant.

I think that overconfidence (which the bad luck of losing his first 2 games should have cured) was more of a factor. Because of his relative inexperience he just didn't figure out the difference in effort that the other players would put out in Curacao given that at Stockholm it was sufficient to finish only in the top 6 to advance and in Curacao you had to come in 1st. But maybe the loss of those first 2 games had more of an impact on his confidence that he cared to admit or even realize.

Oct-09-15  Marmot PFL: Fischer plays his best but should have drawn a few more games and saved his best lines for the candidates.
Oct-09-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  diceman: <offramp: It's noticeable that Geller did better against the top 10 than Fischer did. +4, -1 for Geller, +2 for Fischer.>

What's noticeable is he was the only one.

Jul-28-16  todicav23: While most of the people do not agree with me, I think Fischer was strong enough around 1962-1963 to become world champion. And this tournament shows that.

A few things happened in Curacao. It is clear that the soviet players prearranged their games among themselves. Fischer was probably over-confident that he will win, based on the victory in this tournament. Unfortunately for him he had a bad start and he realized what the soviet players are doing.

That was too much for him and he was not able to fight for the first place. People can say "well, if he was strong enough, he should have won all or most of his games and there was nothing the soviets could do". I don't think people realize that it was a big disadvantage for Fischer. Fischer had to fight in every game while Petrosian had 8 draws in 22 moves or less against Keres and Geller!

I'm not saying that Fischer was the best player in the world at that time. He was part of the elite, along with Botvinnik, Petrosian, Tal, Keres or Geller. At that time there was no player clearly superior. Fischer also had the chess knowledge, the skills, the energy and even the experience to become world champion.

Jul-28-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <todicav>

This again? Sorry, but Fischer lost the first two games and was never in contention. Not the Soviets' fault.

And he didn't have to win all or most of his games, or anything like that. He had to do better than +8 out of 27 games. He managed +1.

Incidentally, Petrosian didn't just play short draws against Keres and Geller. He also played 25- and 23-move draws with...Bobby Fischer.

Petrosian vs Fischer, 1962

Petrosian vs Fischer, 1962

Way to fight in every game, Bobby!

Petrosian also played a couple of 14-move draws with Filip and a number of short games against other opponents. Fischer played (by his standards) a number of short games.

Bottom line, which I cannot stress strongly enough: it was a terrible tournament, and we're wasting our time arguing about it.

Jul-28-16  TheFocus: Just sour grapes on Bobby's part. Curacao just wasn't Bobby's time.
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.

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.

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.
Feb-09-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  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.
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

Feb-19-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  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.">

Feb-19-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Sorry, the frosty rebuff was from the Elmer Fudd-like Petrosian: full source for the squanecdote is here: Curacao Candidates (1962) (kibitz #38).
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 !

Feb-19-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  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!"

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?

Feb-20-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: An anecdote about a squall, a squall being a loud cry or yell. In this case the yell is either YOU!! or NO!!
Feb-20-17  zanzibar: Ha, didn't think of that one.
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.
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.
Jan-31-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  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.

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.
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?
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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