Geller-Fischer, Candidates Tournament, Curaçao 1962
The 1962 Candidates Tournament on the island of Curaçao in the Caribbean Sea had a round-robin format with eight players and 28 rounds. The tournament was a triumph for the Soviet players. First place went to Tigran Petrosian, who one year later became the new World Champion. Half a point behind Petrosian followed Keres and Geller on places two and three. One of the favourites, Fischer, had a disappointing performance, and after the tournament he accused the Soviets of collusion. Not without reason Fischer mentioned that such a tournament format, combined with the alleged collusion, made it impossible for a non-Soviet player to win. Following Fischer's accusations, FIDE changed the qualifying format from tournament to matches. Thus, the event in Curaçao became the last Candidates Tournament for a long period of time. It was not until 2013 that FIDE reintroduced the classical style of the Candidates Tournament.
In the presented game from the second round, Fischer, with Black, was facing an opponent who was one of the most uncomfortable for the American throughout his career. Although Efim Geller was known as a dangerous attacking player, in the present game Geller showed deep strategic understanding. Right after the opening Fischer allowed White to get a seemingly harmless passed pawn in the centre, hoping to blockade it without any problems. However, it turned out that Black's solid looking blockade on the dark squares is illusory. With an instructive manoeuvre of the rook Geller proved that in such positions White has sufficient potential to break through and make full use of his pawn majority on the queenside.
An instructive positional game!