Nearly half the field qualified from Goteborg 1955, so the matter of who won that was of far lesser importance than of qualification.

Much as I admire Bronstein's approach, he never seriously contended in his two subsequent candidates' appearances in the face of Smyslov and came unstuck in his infamous loss to Cardoso at Portoroz the cycle after that, his swan song in championship competition, aged 34.

Smyslov only got near another crack at the title when he was well past sixty, although he had little chance against the implacable Kasparov.

Tal's best chance at climbing back in the ring was in his loss to Spassky, but again, he was facing an opponent on top form, who kept matters level before Tal went off the rails at the close.

While Petrosian's tournament results were, in keeping with those of champions from Botvinnik to Spassky, indifferent at times during his reign, he proved a tough out heads-up, and held his own till the late stages of the 1969 bout. Petrosian remained a top GM and would play the candidates' matches four more times before his death at 55, though as was true of others named here, never looking like going all the way.

Indeed, and he was not up against a milksop in relative terms, unlike the following scenario noted by Sergeant:

<....Nevertheless, it was Bogoljuboff who was the accepted challenger. Now, while it could not be denied that Bogoljuboff's tournament record, particularly his first prizes at Moscow in 1925 and Kissingen in 1928, gave him a claim to a match against Alekhine, it cannot be said that any but one result was expected. The question was by how much Alekhine would win....>

Then we have Alekhine's own opinion expressed after the second match:

<This game - more than any other - proves how useless from the sporting point of view was the arrangement of this second match, and at the same time explains my indifferent play on a number of occasions.>

Revisit his results from 63-64, and how, without chess affirmative action, he would have been in the Candidates Matches.

The 'affirmative action' remark is repugnant, as is your peremptory tone. Save those for another page.

For a clearer picture <one may wish to revisit> Bronstein’s results from ‘63-‘64, especially early 1964. Posters who wish to be informed of the truth of the matter will hopefully do so.

After being a bit “at sea” from ‘58-‘62, Bronstein clearly was focused on reaching the very top for one last time.

USSR Zonal (1964)/David Bronstein Beating such luminaries as Stein and Korchnoi to qualify for the Amsterdam Interzonal.

Amsterdam Interzonal (1964)/David Bronstein. Ivkov and Portisch moving on to the candidates matches over Bronstein and Stein remains one of the greatest travesties ever seen in post WWII chess championship competition.

Amsterdam Interzonal (1964)

Was even worse for Stein: 1.5 points ahead of Ivkov, a full 2 points ahead of Portisch. Bronstein 1 and 1.5, respectively. Both stayed home.

And it doesn’t end there. Per the tournament page < Botvinnik later (in March 1965 (3)) withdrew from the cycle so that Efim Geller (who failed to qualify in the USSR Zonal (1964) and therefore did not play in the Interzonal) went to the Candidates matches after all (by virtue of his placement in Curacao).>

Revisiting the USSR Zonal one <may> notice the following results: Stein and Bronstein tied for second with 6.5, Geller in the basement with 5

Bronstein was locked in during these two tournaments, and his results and quality of play are evidence of it.

… at 40 years-old no less.

Geller, Ivkov, and Portisch advanced to the Candidates Matches after clearly performing worse than Stein and Bronstein in the relevant qualification events.

And Alekhine was widely considered a milksop when he faced Capablanca in 1927:

<Prior to the match, Capablanca dominated New York (1927), finishing 2½ points in front of Alekhine, who took second. Alekhine had never won a single game from Capablanca, so it was perhaps understandable that some doubted he could win six match games against him. Geza Maroczy predicted victory was bound to go to Capablanca, and Rudolf Spielmann said he would be surprised if Alekhine "were to win even a single game."> Capablanca - Alekhine World Championship Match (1927) (citations omitted).

When you're a world class player, you're going to be remembered by how well you did against other world class players. It doesn't matter how many lesser lights people like Janowski, Bogo, Marshall, Larsen, et al destroy. When you reach their level you have to succeed against the best of the best.

Larsen sometimes did. His 1970 win against Fischer and his 1979 win against Karpov are joys to behold. But against those, there are a lotta goose eggs.