The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Sunday, May 27, 1962 - Page 75
Geller Leads Close Race In Curacao 27 May 1962, Sun The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) Newspapers.com
Geller Leads Close Race In Curacao
Ewfim Geller of the Soviet Union headed the list by a slight margin after 12 rounds of play in the Candidates' Chess Tournament at the Hotel Intercontinental in Curacao. Though he won but three games outright, Geller lost none and drew nine for a score of 7½-4½.
Three Russian grandmasters, all playing steadily, were tied for second place with scores of 7-5. Tigran Petrosian was also undefeated, with two wins and 10 draws. Paul Keres and Victor Korchnoi had identical tallies of three wins, one loss and eight draws.
Starting a strong comeback was 19-year-old Bobby Fischer of Brooklyn, who picked up 3½ points of his five games during the week. An important success was his winning an adjourned game against Keres, to knock the latter out of the lead.
In the ninth round Fischer lost for the second time to Geller. This was a closely contested game which developed into a rook ending. Fischer missed a clear draw just before adjournment.
In the 10th round Fischer also dropped a half point needlessly when he erred against Miroslav Filip of Czechoslovakia, drawing what should have been a winning game. However, this was evened out in the 12th round when Korchnoi, with a decisive advantage over Fischer, blundered in time pressure to lose a vital point.
In the meantime, Fischer had defeated former world champion Mikhail Tal, who has been in a seemingly hopeless slump since the start of the tournament. With a tally of 6½-5½, Fischer is only one point behind the leader, with 16 rounds still to go.
Pal Benko of New York, the other American in the tournament, had an even score for the week, defeating Filip, losing to Tal and drawing three games. This left Benko with a score of 5½-6½.
Bringing up the rear are Filip, with 4-8, and Tal, who is alone in last place with 3½-8½. Tal has lost seven games while winning two and drawing three. This is the same player who won the previous candidates' tournament three years ago with a final score of 20-8.
Following are the detailed results, the standing after 12 rounds and games from the tournament.
