The cycle began with the zonal tournaments of 1960. The top finishers in the zonals met at the Interzonal, with the top six players from the Interzonal qualifying for the Candidates' Tournament. They were then joined by Mikhail Tal (loser of the last World Championship match in 1961) and Paul Keres (runner-up at the 1959 Candidates) in the eight player Candidates Tournament in 1962. The winner of the Candidates would qualify to play a World Championship match against Mikhail Botvinnik, the incumbent champion, in 1963.