World Chess Championship 1960

An interzonal chess tournament was held in Portorož, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia in August and September 1958. The top six finishers qualified for the Candidates tournament.[1][2]

1958 Interzonal Tournament

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Total	Tie break
1	Mikhail Tal (Soviet Union)	x	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	0	1	½	1	1	½	½	1	½	1	½	1	1	13½
2	Svetozar Gligorić (Yugoslavia)	½	x	½	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	½	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	13
3	Tigran Petrosian (Soviet Union)	½	½	x	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	½	½	½	½	0	1	1	1	½	1	12½	117.25
4	Pal Benko (stateless)	0	½	½	x	½	1	½	1	1	½	½	0	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	12½	115.25
5	Friðrik Ólafsson (Iceland)	½	1	½	½	x	1	0	1	½	1	½	½	½	½	0	1	0	0	1	1	1	12	115.75
6	Bobby Fischer (United States)	½	½	½	0	0	x	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	½	1	1	1	12	106.00
7	David Bronstein (Soviet Union)	½	½	½	½	1	½	x	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	0	½	1	11½	112.75
8	Yuri Averbakh (Soviet Union)	½	½	½	0	0	½	½	x	1	0	½	½	½	1	1	1	½	1	½	½	1	11½	105.50
9	Aleksandar Matanović (Yugoslavia)	1	½	0	0	½	½	½	0	x	1	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	1	½	1	11½	105.50
10	László Szabó (Hungary)	0	½	½	½	0	½	½	1	0	x	½	½	1	½	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	11½	100.75
11	Ludek Pachman (Czechoslovakia)	½	0	0	½	½	½	0	½	½	½	x	½	½	½	1	1	1	½	1	1	1	11½	99.75
12	Oscar Panno (Argentina)	0	0	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	x	½	1	½	½	1	½	1	½	½	11	104.25
13	Miroslav Filip (Czechoslovakia)	0	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	½	½	x	½	1	½	½	½	1	1	1	11	98.00
14	Raúl Sanguineti (Argentina)	½	½	½	0	½	0	½	0	½	½	½	0	½	x	1	½	1	1	½	1	½	10
15	Oleg Neikirch (Bulgaria)	½	0	½	½	1	½	½	0	½	1	0	½	0	0	x	0	½	1	1	½	1	9½
16	Bent Larsen (Denmark)	0	0	1	½	0	0	½	0	0	½	0	½	½	½	1	x	1	1	½	0	1	8½
17	James Sherwin (United States)	½	1	0	½	1	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	½	0	½	0	x	1	0	1	1	7½
18	Héctor Rossetto (Argentina)	0	0	0	½	1	½	½	0	½	0	½	½	½	0	0	0	0	x	1	½	1	7
19	Rodolfo Cardoso (Philippines)	½	0	0	0	0	0	1	½	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	½	1	0	x	1	1	6
20	Boris de Greiff (Colombia)	0	0	½	0	0	0	½	½	½	0	0	½	0	0	½	1	0	½	0	x	0	4½
21	Géza Füster (Canada)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	1	x	2

The 1959 Candidates Tournament was held in Yugoslavia in Bled, Zagreb, and Belgrade. The top two players from the previous tournament, Smyslov and Keres, were seeded directly into the tournament and joined by the top six from the interzonal. Mikhail Tal won, becoming the challenger in the 1960 championship match.

The tournament was notable in that the two top finishers, Tal and Keres, scored heavily against the bottom of the field. If only scores between the top 4 are taken into account, the results of the top 4 are quite similar (Tal 5½/12, Keres 6½/12, Petrosian and Smyslov both 6/12). But Tal and Keres scored heavily against the bottom 4, with Tal scoring an incredible 14½/16, including winning all 4 of his games against Fischer.

Future World Champion Bobby Fischer was 16 years old at the time. He was the youngest Candidate in history until Magnus Carlsen qualified for the 2007 Candidates under a different system.

1959 Candidates Tournament

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Score	Tie break
1	Mikhail Tal (Soviet Union)	xxxx	0 0 1 0	= = = =	0 1 = 1	1 = 1 1	1 1 1 1	1 1 1 =	1 1 1 =	20
2	Paul Keres (Soviet Union)	1 1 0 1	xxxx	0 = = =	1 = = 0	= = 1 1	0 1 0 1	1 1 1 0	1 1 1 1	18½
3	Tigran Petrosian (Soviet Union)	= = = =	1 = = =	xxxx	= = 0 =	0 = = 1	1 1 = =	1 0 0 =	= 1 1 =	15½
4	Vasily Smyslov (Soviet Union)	1 0 = 0	0 = = 1	= = 1 =	xxxx	0 = 1 0	= = 1 0	= 1 = 1	= 0 1 1	15
5	Svetozar Gligorić (Yugoslavia)	0 = 0 0	= = 0 0	1 = = 0	1 = 0 1	xxxx	0 1 = =	= = 1 0	= 1 = =	12½	162.00
6	Bobby Fischer (United States)	0 0 0 0	1 0 1 0	0 0 = =	= = 0 1	1 0 = =	xxxx	0 1 = 1	= 1 = 1	12½	156.50
7	Friðrik Ólafsson (Iceland)	0 0 0 =	0 0 0 1	0 1 1 =	= 0 = 0	= = 0 1	1 0 = 0	xxxx	0 0 = 1	10
8	Pal Benko (stateless)	0 0 0 =	0 0 0 0	= 0 0 =	= 1 0 0	= 0 = =	= 0 = 0	1 1 = 0	xxxx	8

The best of 24 game match was held in Moscow. In the event of a 12–12 tie, Botvinnik, the title holder, would retain the Championship.

Due to Tal's less impressive results against the very top players, including his 3 losses to Keres in the Candidates, Botvinnik was the favourite.[3] However Tal won the match decisively, by a margin of 4 points.

World Chess Championship Match 1960

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Points
Mikhail Tal (Soviet Union)	1	½	½	½	½	1	1	0	0	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	½	½	12½
Mikhail Botvinnik (Soviet Union)	0	½	½	½	½	0	0	1	1	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	0	½	0	½	½	8½

Highlights

Game 6 is particularly famous, thanks to a speculative knight sacrifice by Tal on move 21. The audience became so excited that the game was moved to a back room due to the noise.[3]

Botvinnik-Tal, Game 6

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Position after white's 21st move. Tal (black) now sacrificed a knight with the speculative 21...Nf4!?, and won in the ensuing complications.

• World Chess Championship 1961

• Tal-Botvinnik 1960, by Mikhail Tal, Russell Enterprises, ISBN 978-1-888690-08-8

• 1960 World Chess Championship at the Internet Archive record of Graeme Cree's Chess Pages