Events in

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

in 1962:

Events

*March 8 – 5th Interzonal Tournament at Stockholm won by

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an ...

(USA) with 17.5/22.

Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (, ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style, ...

(USSR) and Efim Geller (USSR) tied for 2nd–3rd with 15 points,

Victor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. H ...

(USSR) and

Miroslav Filip Miroslav Filip (27 October 1928 – 27 April 2009) was a Czech chess grandmaster. Filip was awarded the title of International Master in 1953, and the Grandmaster title in 1955. Filip represented Czechoslovakia in 12 consecutive Chess Olympia ...

(Czechoslovakia) tied for 4th–5th with 14 points.

Pal Benko Pál C. Benkő ( hu, Benkő Pál; July 15, 1928 – August 26, 2019) was a Hungarian-American chess player, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems. Early life Benko was born on July 15, 1928 in Amiens, France, where his ...

(USA) won the sixth and final qualifying position for the

Candidates Tournament The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The w ...

in a three-way playoff with

Leonid Stein Leonid Zakharovich Stein (; November 12, 1934 – July 4, 1973) was a Soviet chess Grandmaster from Ukraine. He won three USSR Chess Championships in the 1960s (1963, 1965, and 1966), and was among the world's top ten players during that era. ...

(USSR) and

Svetozar Gligorić Svetozar Gligorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Глигорић, 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is consider ...

after all tied for 6th–8th with 13.5 points. Although Stein scored the most points in the playoff, he was barred from qualifying for the Candidates Tournament by a

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

rule that allowed no more than three players from the same federation to qualify. The Interzonal was originally scheduled to be played in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1961, but difficulties obtaining

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

s caused a delay while another site was found. * 5th Candidates Tournament in

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coas ...

won by

(USSR) with 17.5/27, a half point ahead of

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on fi ...

(USSR) and

Efim Geller Efim Petrovich Geller (russian: Ефим Петрович Геллер, uk, Юхим Петрович Геллер; 8 March 1925 – 17 November 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Champi ...

(USSR) tied for 2nd–3rd.

(USA) finishes fourth. The victory makes Petrosian the challenger in the 1963 World Championship against

Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess. Botvinn ...

(USSR). *20 April – 20 May – The inaugural

Capablanca Memorial The Capablanca Memorial is a chess tournament that has been held annually in Cuba since 1962 in honor of José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera. At the time, it was the best paid tournament in the world. Since 1974 B and C tournaments have been held ...

chess tournament is held in Havana.

Miguel Najdorf Miguel Najdorf (born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf) (15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish–Argentinian chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was a ...

is first in a field of 22 players, followed by

Lev Polugaevsky Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky ( rus, Лев Абрамович Полугаевский, p=pəlʊɡɐˈjefskʲɪj; 20 November 1934 – 30 August 1995) was a Soviet chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE i ...

and

Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky ( rus, Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский, Borís Vasíl'yevich Spásskiy; born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 196 ...

and

Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov ( rus, Васи́лий Васи́льевич Смысло́в, Vasíliy Vasíl'yevich Smyslóv; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, who was World Chess Champion from 1957 to ...

Borislav Ivkov Borislav Ivkov (12 November 1933 – 14 February 2022) was a Serbian chess Grandmaster. He was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal tournaments, in 1967, 1970, 1973, and 1979. Ivkov was a three-time Yugos ...

, etc. *15 September – 10 October 10 – Thirty-seven teams compete at the

15th Chess Olympiad The 15th Chess Olympiad ( bg, 15-ата Шахматна олимпиада, ''15-ata Shahmatna olimpiada''), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and fe ...

in Varna. The Soviet team featuring six grandmasters and led by World Champion

(Botvinnik,

, and

Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...

) wins gold. Yugoslavia and Argentina take silver and bronze, respectively. The Olympiad featured the famous game between World Champion Botvinnik and 19-year-old American

. Playing the black side of a

Grünfeld Defence The Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 g6 :3. Nc3 d5 Black offers White the possibility of 4.cxd5, which may be followed by 4...Nxd5 and 5.e4, giving White an imposing central pawn duo. If Whi ...

, Fischer obtained a small advantage but was not able to convert the endgame into a victory. The endgame has been subjected to extensive analysis, starting during the adjournment when the Soviet team analyzed through the night in a successful attempt to save the game while Fischer looked for a win. In the decades following there has been much investigation of whether Fischer's advantage was ever large enough to force a win as Fischer claimed in ''

My 60 Memorable Games ''My 60 Memorable Games'' is a chess book by Bobby Fischer, first published in 1969. It is a collection of his games dating from the 1957 New Jersey Open to the 1967 Sousse Interzonal. Unlike many players' anthologies, which are often titled ''My ...

''. * The 1962 Women's World Chess Championship is held in Moscow. Twenty-year-old

Nona Gaprindashvili Nona Gaprindashvili ( ka, ნონა გაფრინდაშვილი; born 3 May 1941) is a former Soviet and Georgian chess player, and the first woman ever to be awarded the FIDE title Grandmaster in 1978. She was the fifth women's ...

(Soviet Union) goes undefeated in the match, beating incumbent champion Elisabeth Bykova (Soviet Union) by the score 9–2 to become the fifth and youngest Women's World Champion. * The first South African Open chess tournament is held in Wilderness, Western Cape, and won by

Harry Golombek Harry Golombek OBE (1 March 1911 – 7 January 1995) was a British chess player, chess author, and wartime codebreaker. He was three times British chess champion, in 1947, 1949, and 1955 and finished second in 1948. He was born in Lambeth to ...

and

Alberic O'Kelly Alberic (french: Albéric; german: Alberich; nl, Alberik, lat, Albericus) is a name closely related to Aubrey. People with the name: People with the mononym *Alberic I, Count of Dammartin (died after 1162) * Alberic II, Count of Dammartin (die ...

. * One of the earliest junior international tournaments held at

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

under the sponsorship of tobacco firm T. Niemeyer. The event was later informally recognized as the European Junior Championship and later still, adopted by FIDE as the official contest. The boys U-20 event was won by Coenraad Zuidema (Netherlands). * Robert Abbot invents the chess variant Baroque Chess. *

Martin Gardner Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writings of L ...

invents

hexapawn Hexapawn is a deterministic two-player game invented by Martin Gardner. It is played on a rectangular board of variable size, for example on a 3×3 board or on a regular chessboard. On a board of size ''n''×''m'', each player begins with ''m'' p ...

, a small two-player game.

Births

* Martin Kreuzer, German ICCGM, FM, and mathematics professor. *February 12 –

Nana Ioseliani Nana Ioseliani ( ka, ნანა იოსელიანი; born 12 February 1962) is a Georgian chess player. She was awarded by FIDE the Woman Grandmaster title in 1980 and the International Master title in 1993. Already in 1978 she was s ...

, Georgian IM and WGM, two time challenger for the Women's World Championship. *February 19 –

Rogelio Antonio Jr. Rogelio Antonio Jr. (born February 19, 1962) is a Filipino chess grandmaster, who was awarded the title in 1993. He is affectionately known as "Joey" Antonio or GM Joey. Antonio finished tied for 3rd-8th places in the 2009 Asian Chess Championsh ...

, Filipino GM. *April 5 –

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov (russian: link=no, Кирса́н Никола́евич Илюмжи́нов, ; Kalmyk: Үлмҗин Кирсән, ''Ülmcin Kirsən'', ; born 5 April 1962) is a Russian business oligarch, administrator and po ...

, Kalmyk President of

since 1995. *April 10 – Alexander Huzman, Ukrainian born Israeli GM and trainer. *April 18 –

William Watson William, Willie, Bill or Billy Watson may refer to: Entertainment * William Watson (songwriter) (1794–1840), English concert hall singer and songwriter * William Watson (poet) (1858–1935), English poet * Billy Watson (actor) (1923–2022), A ...

, British GM and lawyer. *June 13 – Paul Motwani, Scottish GM. *July 31 –

Agnieszka Brustman Agnieszka Brustman (born 31 July 1962) is a Polish chess player holding the title of woman grandmaster. She has been the Polish women's champion four times and competed in the Candidates' tournament for the Women's World Championship twice. Biogr ...

, Polish WGM. *August 17 –

Michael Wilder Michael Wilder (born August 17, 1962) is an American chess grandmaster and a J.D graduate of the University of Michigan. FIDE awarded him the grandmaster title in 1988. He won the 1988 U.S. Chess Championship. He also tied for third in the 198 ...

, American GM and attorney. *August 25 –

Alexander Graf Alexander Graf (''né'' Nenashev; born 25 August 1962) is an Uzbekistani-German chess grandmaster. He was Uzbekistani Chess Champion in 1989 and German Chess Champion in 2004. Chess career He won the Uzbekistani Chess Championship in 1989. ...

, Uzbek-German GM. *September 17 –

Xu Jun Xu Jun (; born September 17, 1962) is a Chinese chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1994, becoming the fourth from China. Born in Suzhou, Jiangsu, Xu was champion of China in 1983 and 1985. He has been a member ...

, Chinese GM. *October –

Deen Hergott Deen Hergott (born October 23, 1962, in Kitchener, Ontario) is a Canadian International Master of Chess. By profession, he is a mathematician, computer programmer, and chess journalist. Early years Deen Hergott learned chess in his hometown o ...

, Canadian IM, mathematician, and chess writer. *October 14 –

Jaan Ehlvest Jaan Ehlvest (born 14 October 1962) is an Estonian-American chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1987. Ehlvest was Estonian champion in 1986. Since 2006, he has represented the United States. He was named Estonian Athle ...

, Estonian/American GM.

Deaths

*February 25 – Toma Popa (1908–1962), Romanian Chess Champion in 1948 *March 11 –

Viacheslav Ragozin Viacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin (russian: Вячесла́в Васи́льевич Раго́зин; 8 October 1908 – 11 March 1962) was a Soviet chess player, writer and editor. He was world champion in correspondence chess and held the title ...

(1908–1962), 53, Soviet GM, International Arbiter, chess writer, and World Correspondence Chess Champion 1956–59. *April 3 –

Ernst Grünfeld ---- Ernst Franz Grünfeld (November 21, 1893 – April 3, 1962) was an Austrian chess player and writer, mainly on opening theory. He was among the inaugural recipients of the grandmaster title in 1950. Life and career Grünfeld was bo ...

(1893–1962), 68, Austrian GM and opening theorist,

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

of the

. *April 23 –

Oskar Antze Oskar (Oscar) Hans Antze (24 October 1878 – 23 April 1962 ) was a German chess player. Antze was born in Cologne, the son of a physician. After his Abitur he had a Medical education at the University of Marburg, the University of Kiel and t ...

(1878–1962), German chess player. *April 25 –

Leo Zobel Leo Zobel (28 January 1895, Nitra - 25 April 1962) was a Slovak chess master. He won the 7th Czechoslovak Chess Championship at Prague 1931. He also took 12th at Trenčianske Teplice 1928 ( Boris Kostić won), tied for 9-10th at Brno 1929 (the 6 ...

(1895–1962), Czechoslovak Chess Champion in 1931 *May 4 –

Josef Rejfiř Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) * ''Josef'' (film), a 2011 Croatian war film *Musik Josef Musik Josef is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments. It was founded by Yukio Nakamura, and is the only company in Japan spe ...

(1909–1962), 52, Czechoslovak IM. *July 27 – Roy Turnbull Black (1888–1962), American chess player and judge who defeated Capablanca in 1911. *August 16 –

Axel Cruusberg Axel Crone Cruusberg (30 December 1901 — 16 August 1962), was a Danish chess player. Biography In the 1930s, Axel Cruusberg was one of Danish leading chess players. From 1922 to 1935, Cruusberg took part in the Danish Chess Championships, wher ...

(1901–1962), Danish Olympian *October 9 –

Milan Vidmar Milan Vidmar (22 June 1885 – 9 October 1962) was a Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player, chess theorist, and writer. He was among the top dozen chess players in the world from 1910 to 1930 and in 1950, was among the inaugural recipien ...

(1885–1962), 77, Yugoslav/Slovene GM. *October 17 –

Edward Hymes Edward Hymes Jr. (December 4, 1908 – October 17, 1962) was an American bridge and chess player. Hymes was an attorney and was from New York City. At age 26, he joined the ACBL Laws Commission, which stipulates the rules of bridge. His main ...

(1908–1962), American chess player *October 25 –

Abe Turner Abraham Turner (1924 – October 25, 1962) was an American chess master. He had a chess rating over 2400 and played several times in the U.S. Chess Championship. He was best known as a blitz chess hustler, and was one of few masters who had a ...

(1924–1962), 38, American chess expert, murdered at the offices of ''

Chess Review ''Chess Review'' was a U.S. chess magazine published from January 1933 to October 1969 (Volume 37 Number 10). Until April 1941 it was called ''The Chess Review''. Published in New York, it began on a schedule of at least ten issues a year but lat ...

''. *November 30 –

Ossip Bernstein Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein (20 September 1882 – 30 November 1962) was a Russian-French chess player and businessman. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Biography Born in Zhytomyr, ...

(1882–1962), 80, Russian born French GM and a financial lawyer. *December –

Menachem Oren Menachem Oren (born Mieczysław Chwojnik; he, מנחם אורן; 1903 – December 1962) was a Polish-born Israeli chess player and mathematician. Chwojnik was the strongest Cracovian chess player in 1920s, a thrice winner of the Cracow champio ...

(1901–1962), Polish-born Israeli chess player and mathematician. *November 18 – Abram Gurvich (1896–1962), Soviet chess problem composer *December 27 –

Pál Réthy Pál Réthy (28 January 1905, Deva – 27 December 1962, Budapest) was a Hungarian chess master. Born in Deva, Transylvania (then Austria-Hungary, now Romania), he lived in Hungary after World War I. He took 7th at Vienna 1926 (Rudolf Spielmann w ...

(1905–1962), Hungarian chess Olympian in 1935

References

{{Reflist 20th century in chess Chess by year