Tal won the strong 1958 Interzonal tournament, and the Candidates' tournament in Yugoslavia, 1959. In the Candidates he finished first, with 20/28 points, ahead of Paul Keres with 18.5, followed by Tigran Petrosian, Vasily Smyslov, Bobby Fischer, Svetozar Gligorić, Friðrik Ólafsson, and Pal Benko. Tal he won all four individual games against Fischer, and took 3½ points out of 4 from each of Gligorić, Olafsson, and Benko. This shows his complete dominance over the less strong players.