AThe Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Sunday, May 13, 1962 - Page 80
Fischer, Tal Lose In Curacao Upsets 13 May 1962, Sun The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) Newspapers.com
Fischer, Tal Lose In Curacao Upsets
The first reports from the Candidates' Chess Tournament in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, verged on the incredible. Bobby Fischer, 19-year-old Brooklynite who is our best hope for the world championship, lost his first two games. His chief rival, former world champion Mikhail Tal of Latvia, dropped his first three games in succession.
Fischer had gone through two major events in the last few months, at Bled, Yugoslavia, and Stockholm, without a defeat in 41 games. Tal, who won the Bled tournament, lost but once, to Fischer. Though the results are not available, our readers are assured that the stars scored one point in the fourth round, since they were scheduled to meet at that time.
The man responsible for part of the upsets is Pal Benko of New York, who downed Fischer in the first round and Tal in the third. Each time Benko had the white pieces and his opponents used the King's Indian Defense. After quiet opening play Benko's greater steadiness gained a decisive advantage in both games.
A later UPI dispatch showed that Paul Keres of the Soviet Union was in the lead after six rounds with a score of 4-2. Ewfim Geller of Russia was in second place with 3½-2½. Two other Soviet grandmasters, Victor Korchnoi and Tigran Petrosian, were tied with 3-2.
Other scores at the end of six rounds, with several games adjourned, were: Benko, 2½-2½; Miroslav Filip of Czechoslovakia, 2-3, and Fischer and Tal tied with 2-4.
