The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Sunday, July 15, 1962 - Page 52
Chess By Isaac Kashdan 15 Jul 1962, Sun The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) Newspapers.com
Final Notes On Curacao
The last game to be finished in the Candidates' Tournament in Curacao was a sad one for Pal Benko of New York. He had adjourned with Ewfim Geller of the Soviet Union in a queen and pawn ending, with Benko a pawn ahead.
Benko missed the most precise play, allowing Geller drawing chances. Then, with hardly any other way to lose, Benko overstepped the time limit and was forfeited. In his last few games Benko had played his best chess of the tournament, defeating Paul Keres and Victor Korchnoi, and drawing with tournament winner Tigran Petrosian.
As a result of his unexpected victory, Geller tied for second place with Keres, each scoring 17-10. Geller lost but one game outright, to Bobby Fischer of Brooklyn. Keres had suffered two defeats, at the hands of Fischer and Benko.
Following is the final cross table of the tournament.
As a comparison, Mikhail Tal won the Candidates Tournament in 1959 with 16 wins, four losses and eight draws for a total of 20-8. Keres was second with 18½-9½. No one lost less than four games or drew more than 13.
Some of the statistics indicate that Petrosian had the easiest time in the tournament. He had the least total number of moves, 839, due in large measure to frequent short drawn games. Fischer led in this department with 1,197 moves. Petrosian also used least time on his clock, though exact figures are not available.
