Candidates Tournament, Curacao 1962

Petrosian won, but the tournament is remembered for Fischer's explosive allegations of Soviet collusion. The controversy changed the Candidates format forever.

The Collusion Allegations

Bobby Fischer, 18 years old, competed in his first Candidates Tournament at Curacao. He finished fourth, but after the tournament, he published explosive allegations in Sports Illustrated: the Soviet players (Petrosian, Geller, and Keres) had pre-arranged quick draws against each other to conserve energy, while fighting hard against the non-Soviet players. Fischer's claims were partially validated by the tournament record: the Soviet players drew their games against each other in an average of 19 moves, while playing 40+ move games against everyone else.

Whether or not there was an explicit agreement, the effect was the same: the Soviet players finished 1-2-3, and Fischer, who had to fight for his life in every game, ran out of energy in the second half of the quadruple-round-robin.

Aftermath

Fischer's allegations led FIDE to change the Candidates from a tournament format to a series of individual matches, making collusion impossible. The match format remained in place from 1963 until 1995, producing some of the greatest chess in history. Curacao 1962 also set the pattern for Fischer's turbulent relationship with the chess establishment: brilliant, confrontational, and ultimately transformative.