Curaçao 1962 Candidates — 2nd-Place Play-off
When Paul Keres and Efim Geller tied for second at the Curaçao Candidates, half a point behind Tigran Petrosian, the championship rules sent them to Moscow for an eight-game play-off — second place carried an automatic seed into the next Candidates cycle. Keres won it 4½–3½.
◈The tie at Curaçao
The 1962 Candidates Tournament on Curaçao — an eight-player quadruple round-robin — decided who would challenge Mikhail Botvinnik for the world title. Petrosian won it with 17½ points; Keres and Geller finished level just behind him on 17, with Bobby Fischer fourth on 14. The event became notorious for Fischer's public accusation that Petrosian, Geller, and Keres had pre-arranged draws in all twelve of their mutual games, a controversy that led FIDE to replace the Candidates round-robin with elimination matches in the next cycle.
Petrosian's prize was the 1963 title match. But second place mattered too: under the championship rules it carried an automatic berth in the next cycle's Candidates, so the tie between Keres and Geller had to be broken over the board.
◈Eight games in Moscow
The play-off was contested in Moscow from 11 to 25 August 1962, one game every other day. After two opening draws Keres struck first, winning the third game with Black; Geller levelled the match by taking game 6, also with Black. With the score tied at 3½–3½, Keres won the eighth and final game with White to claim the match 4½–3½ — two wins, one loss, and five draws.
The victory gave Keres the runner-up's seed into the 1965 Candidates and made him first reserve for the 1963 championship match. In the end Geller lost little by the defeat: when Botvinnik declined to take part in the 1965 cycle, Geller was seeded into the Candidates as well.
◈Final Standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keres, Paul | 4½/8 | +2 -1 =5 | games → |
| 2 | Geller, Efim P | 3½/8 | +1 -2 =5 | games → |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keres, Paul | ½½1½½0½1 | |
| 2 | Geller, Efim P | ½½0½½1½0 |
Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.