ANew York Times, New York, New York, Sunday, June 24, 1962 - Page 88
Chess Games In Curacao
Games, long games, short games, won games, drawn games—that is the fare today, a la Curaçao.
The game between Tigran Petrosian of the Soviet Union and Pal Benko of the United States from the twelfth round of the Candidates' Chess Tournament reveals an unexpected slant on the Armenian grand master's genius. Here the master of attrition comes up with an amazing (if speculative) sacrifice which, seemingly, should have been irrefutable. But he plays it safe at the crucial moment.
Instead of exchanging queens with 18 QxQ, White could have ventured 18 Q-KR4, PxKt 19 QxP ch, K-B1 20 QxP (threatening 21 Kt-R7 ch), with a bind which Black will find hard to break.
The four other games here with are positional ones par excellence. Even after serious scrutiny of the openings, the results of these games are unpredictable. All are characterized by grim middle-game maneuvering, and though two of these contests end in draws, they are exciting from first to last.
A strongly placed knight opposed to an awkwardly stationed bishop in the end game enables Ewfim Geller to defeat his countryman Victor Korchnoi.
In the following game, Petrosian, enduring the worst of it throughout and with a pawn behind, manages to split the point with former world champion, Mikhail Tal, by whittling down the material.
The two Americans, Pal Benko and Bobby Fischer, in a hyper-modern opening, a pulse-quickening middle game and a keenly contested ending: result—a fighting draw.
Benko has the steadier nerves against Dr. Miroslav Filip. The quite middle game gives no inkling of what is to come. Then in a free-for-all, under time pressure, Filip loses a rook.
