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Exactly one year later the rematch between the new World Champion, Vasily Smyslov, and former World Champion, Mikhail Botvinnik, was played.
1958 World Championship: Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov vs. Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik  Players Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov the reigning champion. Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik the challenger. Match conditions:
The Match  Download games This time Botvinnik came better prepared to win the title back. Smyslov later said his health suffered during the return match, as he came down with pneumonia, but he also acknowledged that Botvinnik had prepared very thoroughly. There was a curiosity in game 15 where Botvinnik had a good position after 55 moves, and only had to make two moves in three minutes before the adjournment. He stared at the board and became so absorbed in trying to figure out the win of a piece and which pawn to push that he was quite surprised when arbiter informed him that he had lost on time. Impact on the future At that time Smyslov had the distinction of being the World champion with the shortest reign (377 days), a distinction that was soon passed on to Mihail Tal. Although over the course of the three World Championship matches (1954, 1957, 1958), Smyslov had won 18 games to Botvinnik's 17 (with 34 draws), he was champion only for a year. Smyslov never managed to qualify for another World championship again but continued to play in World Championship qualifying events. In 1983 (aged 62) he came as far as into the Candidates final, where he lost to an opponent who was 1/3 of his age - Garry Kasparov. In 1991 he won the inaugural Senior World Chess Championship. He is the oldest living former World Champion. This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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Chessmaster Moderator |
Allow me to interrupt this fascinating history lesson for a moment...
In case some have wondered why many of these players don't have titles (or ELO ratings): The official title of Grandmaster was created by FIDE in 1950. Twenty-seven players were awarded the title, based on their participation in the 1950 Candidates Tournament (See here for details). Before that time, 'Grandmaster' was a term informally used when referring to world-class players. The Elo rating sytem (created by Arpad Elo) wasn't adopted by FIDE until 1970, although the USCF had been using since 1960. Here's some more information on Arpad Elo here... Back to the lesson!  This message has been edited. Last edited by: KHollister,  |
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There were minor changes compared to the previous cycle:
Interzonal tournament After qualifying through the zonal tournament Pal Benko (from Hungary) defected during the World Student Team Championship in Reykjavik, Iceland. Hungarian and Soviet officials (Hungary was a satellite state of USSR) demanded that "the traitor" is not allowed to play in the interzonal since he qualified through "their" zone. FIDE didn't budge and allowed Benko to cash in the qualifying ticket he has earned. Since Benko didn't yet receive the US citizenship, he was legally stateless (hence no flag). Tournament was played from August 5th to September 12th, 1958 in Portoroz, Yugoslavia (Slovenia).  Download games First six players qualified for the Candidates tournament (among them was a certain 15 year old boy called Bobby) Candidates tournament Six Interzonal qualifiers (Tal, Gligoric, Petrosian, Benko, Olafsson and Fischer) were joined by Smyslov and Keres from the previous cycle. Tournament was played from September 6th to October 31st, 1959 in Yugoslavia. First two cycles were played in Bled (Slovenia), the third in Zagreb (Croatia) and the fourth in Belgrade (Serbia).  Download games In his first attempt Mihail Tal qualified for the World Championship match against Botvinnik. 1960 World Championship: Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik vs. Mihail Nekhemievich Tal  Players Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik the reigning champion. During his reign Botvinnik played in very few tournaments. His only individual tournaments were basicaly the Soviet championships (which he won 6 times). He mainly played in team tournaments like Chess Olympiads and European Team championships and of course World Championship matches. And like all Soviet players, he played in internal "training camps". At the time of the match, Botvinnik was almost 49 years old. Mihail Nekhemievich Tal the challenger. Tal's first major succes came in 1957 when he became the youngest player to win the Soviet championship. He had not played enough international tournaments to qualify for the GM title, but FIDE awarded him the title anyway (because he won the Soviet championship). Next year he repeated his feat and won the Soviet championship again. In 1958 he was selected for the Chess Olympiad team. Tal's first major international tournament win was the above mentioned Interzonal tournament in Portoroz. Match conditions:
The Match  Download games Botvinnik was no match for Tal's youthful lively energetic play. At the age of 23 Mikhail Tal became the 8th World Champion - the youngest person to do so (this record was broken 25 years later). Impact on the future Again Botvinnik excercised his right to a rematch. This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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Almost exactly one year later the rematch was played.
1961 World Championship: Mihail Nekhemievich Tal vs. Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik  Players Mihail Nekhemievich Tal the reigning champion. Before the match Tal fell ill (he suffered chronic kidney problems throughout his whole life) and was advised to postpone the match by his doctors in Riga (Latvia). Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik the challenger. When Tal requested to postpone the match, Botvinnik didn't want to do it. He was only willing to postpone the match if Tal would be certified as unfit by the doctors in Moscow. Instead of letting himself checked by doctors in Moscow, Tal decided to play. Match conditions:
The Match  Download games This time Tal was no match for Botvinnik. Commentators agreed that Tal's play was weaker in the rematch, probably due to his health, but also that Botvinnik's play was better than in the 1960 match, largely due to thorough preparation (which was unmatched in those times). Botvinnik completely changed his style in the rematch, avoiding the tactical complications in which Tal excelled and aiming for closed positions and endgames, where Tal's technique was not outstanding. Tal was a World Champion for only 370 days (7 days less than Smyslov). At the time of the match Botvinnik was almost 50 years old making him the second oldest player to win a World Championship match (Steinitz was 56 when he won his last World Championship match in 1892). Impact on the future Tal's chronic kidney problems and his unhealthy lifestyle prevented him to fully live up to his potential. Although he never qualified for another World championship match again he remained an elite player for decades. He won the Soviet championship 6 times (shares the record with Botvinnik) and many other tournaments. One of his later major wins is his shared (with Karpov) 1st place in 1979 Montreal tournament (nick-named "Tournament of Stars") which featured basically all the best players of that time. Tal was also a terrific blitz player and was able to hold his own against players like Karpov and Kasparov right until his death. Mihail Tal died of a kidney failure in Moscow hospital on June 28th, 1992. This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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There was some dissatisfaction with the World Championship cycle.
Many argued that the reigning champion has too many privileges. Besides overcoming the 12-12 tie clause, the challenger basically has to win in two consecutive matches before he really dethrones the old Champion. The other complaint was that there are too many players from the same country - Soviet Union - that are taking part in Candidates tournament (1953 Candidates featured an all time record of 9 players from the USSR). As a response FIDE made the following changes for the next cycle:
Interzonal tournament The Interzonal tournament was planned to be held in The Netherlands in 1961, but the entry visas could not be obtained for all the participants. Subsequently efforts were made to play in Moscow, and then Madrid, but these arrangements also fell through. Finally the Interzonal was played in Stockholm under the direct sponsorship of FIDE in the second year of the cycle (normally the interzonals are played in the first year of the cycle). Tournament was played from January 26th to March 8th, 1962 in Stockholm, Sweden.  Download games This time players who tied for the last 6th qualifying spot had to play tie-breaks (in previous cycles all tied players advanced to the next stage).  Download games (the last game between Benko and Gligoric wasn't played as everything was already decided) Leonid Stein won the tie-breaks, however the new rule (maximum 3 players from the same country) prevented him to qualify for the Candidates. The question that immediatelly pop's up is: Why did Stein even play the tie-breaks if he couldn't qualify? Stein could play in the Candidates but only if one of the other qualifiers from the USSR (Geller, Petrosian or Korchnoi) was unable to participate. Since nobody withdrew the final qualifying spot went to Pal Benko. Candidates tournament Six interzonal qualifiers (Fischer, Geller, Petrosian, Korchnoi, Filip, Benko) were joined by Tal and Keres from the previous cycle. Tournament was played from May 2nd to June 26th, 1962 in Curacao, The Netherlands Antilles.  Download games During the tournament Mihail Tal became ill and had to withdrew from the tournament before the last 4th cycle of games. Tigran Petrosian won half a point ahead of Keres and Geller, to earn a right to play with Botvinnik. What makes this tournament so famous is that soon after the end Fischer accused the Soviet players of collusion to prevent any non-Soviet (specially him) from winning. Fischer claimed that: While his first allegation turned out to be correct (Petrosian, Geller and Keres did spontaneously form a drawing pact) the other one was just Fischers imagination. Korchnoi never (even after he defected in 1976) alleged that he was ordered to throw any games. Also what speaks against this is that there was never any real threat that Fischer or any other non-Soviet could win this tournament, so it was unnecessary for anybody to throw games in order for a Soviet to win. Besides Fischer's allegation there is also an interesting story concearning the game between Benko and Keres in the second last round. Going into that round Petrosian and Keres were tied on 16.5 points. Petrosian has drawn against Fischer before the adjournement, but the game between Benko and Keres was adjourned and scheduled to resume in the next playing session. Petrosian and Geller (who were good friends) went to Benko's hotel room and offered him help to analyse the adjourned position to beat their own countryman Keres. Benko refused the offer and added that with correct play the game will probably end in a draw. When the game resumed Keres made a mistake and ended up losing the game. In last round Petrosian made a quick draw against Filip, and Keres was unable to defeat Fischer. So Petrosian ended up winning by half a point. To prevent such things in the future, FIDE changed the system in the next cycle. By the end of 1962 a 'best of 8' match for the 2nd place between Paul Keres and Efim Geller was played in Moscow, Soviet Union (Russia).  Download games This was 4th consecutive time that Paul Keres ended up (shared) second in Candidates tournament. He is generally considered as the greatest player who never got a chance to play a World championship match. In case you are wondering why this match was played - the winner got automatically seeded into the next Candidates. Also there were rumors that Botvinnik might retire as a World champion rather than defend his title again in 1963. Had this happened, Petrosian would have played a championship match against the 2nd place finisher. 1963 World Championship: Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik vs. Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian  Players Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik the reigning champion. After winning the title back in 1961 Botvinnik made some hints that he could retire from championship play. At the time of match Botvinnik was almost 52 years old. Only Steinitz (60) and Lasker (53) played a World championship match at an older age. Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian the challenger. While being Armenian, Petrosian was born in Tbilisi (Georgia) and spent most of his childhood there. His first sucess was a shared 1st place in 1945 Soviet Junior championship and a clear win (with 14/15) in 1946 Soviet Junior championship. He then moved to Moscow where he began to show steady progress. By 1952 he became a GM and qualified for his first Candidates in 1953. His results in Candidates tournament gradually improved - in 1953 Candidates he finished 5th, in 1956 he finished shared 3rd, in 1959 clear 3rd, and in 1962 he won. In 1959 he won his first Soviet championship, a feat he repeated in 1961, 1969 and 1975. Petrosian was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else. In his prime he was almost impossible to defeat. Petrosian is the only player in history to go through the Interzonal and the Candidates process undefeated on the way to the world championship match. Match conditions:
The Match  Download games Petrosian lost the first game of the match, but recovered and won fairly comfortably to become the 9th World Champion. Petrosians patient, defensive style frustrated Botvinnik, who only needed to make one risky move for Petrosian to punish him. Impact on the future As there was no re-match clause anymore, Botvinnik didn't have a chance to regain the title immediately (like in previous two cycles). He was seeded directly into the next Candidates, but he didn't excercise this right and retired from championship play. He continued to play competitive chess for 7 more years before finaly retireing in 1970. After his playing career Botvinnik devoted himself to computer chess and founded his own chess school within the Soviet coaching system. Most famous graduates of Botvinnik's chess school are Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik, who all went to become the World Champions. Botvinnik's trademark (which he also thought in his school) was very thoroughly analysing of a relatively narrow repertoire of openings; annotating one's own games, those of past great players and those of competitors; publishing one's annotatations so that others can point out any errors; studying strong opponents to discover their strengths and weaknesses; ruthless objectivity about one's own strengths and weaknesses. He considered himself as a "universal player" (all-rounder), in contrast to all-out tactical calculators like Mihail Tal or purely positional players like Tigran Petrosian. Although Botvinnik peaked during the World War 2 and became champion quite late (at 37) he held the title for (accumulated) 13 years, more than any of his succesors (Kasparov's reign is debatable as he was undisputed champion only until 1993). Botvinnik was the first champion who had to play all his challengers. Mikhail Botvinnik died of cancer on May 5th, 1995 in Moscow, Russia. This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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Following the debates (sparked by Fischer's accusations) that the current system of chosing the challenger allows players from one nation to play as a team, FIDE decided to radically change the system. Candidates Tournament was abolished and replaced with a series of elimination matches - known as Candidates matches. All Candidates matches were 'best of 10 games', except for the final which was 'best of 12 games'.
Despite getting what he wanted, Fischer refused to participate in this cycle. Interzonal tournament Tournament was played from May 19th to June 24th, 1964 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.  Download games As in previous cycle, first 6 finishers were to qualify for the Candidates stage, but because of the "maximum 3 players from the same country" rule Stein (again!) and Bronstein were ineligible. With Stein and Bronstein out of the way, Ivkov qualified for the Candidates, while Portisch and Reshevsky tied for the final spot.  Download games Portisch won the 'best of 4' playoff match to clinch the last qualifying spot. Candidates matches Six interzonal qualifiers (Smyslov, La.rsen, Spassky, Tal, Ivkov, Portisch) were supposed to be joined by Paul Keres (2nd in last candidates) and Botvinnik (former World champion). Since Botvinnik retired from championship play his spot went to 3rd placed from the last Candidates - Efim Geller. [I couldn't find anywhere if/how the players were seeded before the draw. So if anybody knows...]  Download games Boris Spassky became the first winner under the new system. 3rd place match was a 'best of 8 games'. When it was tied the play should continue until first decisive game. Bent Lar.sen won the first "overtime game" to clich the 3rd place and to be directly seeded into the next Interzonal. 1966 World Championship: Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian vs. Boris Vasilievich Spassky [PICTURE NEEDED!!!] Players Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian the reigning Champion. After winning the title Petrosian went on to share 1st place (with Keres) in 1963 Piatigorsky Cup - one of the strongest international tournaments at that time (besides Interzonals and Candidates). Petrosian participated in 10 chess Olympiads between 1958 and 1978, winning 16 medals (team+individual). His overall score in Chess Olympiads is 79.8% (third highest ever). From 139 games he lost only 1. Boris Vasilievich Spassky the challenger. Spassky was the most impressive Soviet chess prodigy since Mikhail Botvinnik. In 1947 (aged 10) he defeated the reigning Soviet and future World champion Mikhail Botvinnik in a simultaneous exhibition. Spassky went on to set many records within the Soviet Union (and worldwide) in the category 'youngest ever'. In his first Soviet championship (aged 18) he finished shared 3rd, thus qualifying for the 1955 Interzonal tournament. He finished shared 7th, just enough to qualify for the 1956 Candidates where he finished shared 3rd. At 1956 Soviet championship Spassky tied for first, but ended up losing the playoff's. After that he had some mediocre results and failed to qualify for the next two World Championship cycles. In 1960 Spassky won (together with Fischer) the tournament in Mar del Plata. After failing to qualify for the Interzonal second time in a row, Spassky decided upon a switch in trainers, from the volatile attacker Alexander Tolush to the calmer strategist Igor Bondarevsky. This proved the key to his resurgence. Soon after the trainer switch he won his first Soviet championship in 1961. He also finished tied for first in 1963 Soviet championship, but like in 1956 ended up losing on tie-breaks. Then, in the 1964 Soviet Zonal at Moscow Spassky won to qualify for the Interzonal tournament. There he finished equal 1st. With new trainer, Spassky's style broadened and deepened, with poor results mostly banished, yet his fighting spirit was even enhanced. He added psychology and surprise to his quiver, and this proved enough to send him to the top. He had the unique ability to change and adapt his style, depending on who his opponent is. In 1965 Candidates he beat Paul Keres with careful strategy, he defeated Efim Geller with mating attacks, then against Tal he often managed to steer play into quieter positions, either avoiding Tal's tactical strength, or enticing him to sacrifice too much. Match conditions:
The Match  Download games After a tough battle Petrosian's defensive skills proved to be too much for Spassky. This was the first time since 1934 that a reigning Champion won a World championship match (Botvinnik's first two title defences ended in a tie). Impact on the future First two from the Candidates matches (Spassky, Tal) were seeded into the next Candidates, while the third placed (L@rsen) was seeded into the next Interzonal. This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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There were no changes for this cycle.
Interzonal tournament Two Argentinians, Oscar Panno and Julio Bolbochan, were eligible but did not play. While Panno cancelled, Balbochan fell ill en route. Tournament was played from October 15th to November 15th, 1967 in Sousse, Tunisia.  Download games Fischer started with 8.5 out of 10 games. Having been a member of the Worldwide Church of God the organizers honored the sabbath, but on expense of Fischer's rest days, which led to a scheduling dispute. Organizers (in my opinion) logically counted the sabbath as a rest day (every player had a certain number of rest days), while Fischer demanded that it should not be counted as such - he wanted sabbath and rest days. Organizers (together with FIDE) didn't comply to Fischer's demands so he first forfeited two games in protest and then withdrew from the tournament. Since he did not complete half his schedule, his games were annuled and are not counted. Reshevsky, Hort and Stein tied for the final 6th qualifying spot and had to play tie-breaks.  Download games When the playoff was drawn, Reshevsky advanced due to having a better Sonnenborn-Berger tiebreak score (in the main tournament). It's interesting to see how things changed over the years. At the beginning all tied players advanced into the next stage. Later, tied players had to play tie-breaks until the decision. Now a somewhat artifical tie-break method was used (when tie-break games ended tied). But this is not the end. We will see a spin of roulette decide who progresses and who not  Candidates matches Interzonal qualifiers (Lar.sen, Korchnoi, Geller, Gligoric, Portisch, Reshevsky) were joined by Spassky and Tal from the previous cycle. Apart from the final, all candidates matches (including 3rd place match) were 'best of 10 games'. The final was 'best of 12 games'.  Download games It was Spassky again who emerged victorious meaning that we saw a reprise of the 1966 match. 3rd place match was won by Lar.sen again. 1969 World Championship: Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian vs. Boris Vasilievich Spassky  Players Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian the reigning Champion. Besides playing in 10 Chess Olympiads (losing only 1 game from 139, and winning 16 medals) Petrosian also participated in all (8) European team championships that were held in his life-time. He won 8 team and 4 individual gold medals, and lost none of the 52 games he played. Petrosian is generally considered as the hardest player to beat in the history of chess. Boris Vasilievich Spassky the challenger. After narrowly losing the 1966 World Championship match, Spassky won the 2nd Piatigorsky Cup. In 1967 he won Corus chess tournament in Beverwijk (before it was moved to Wijk aan Zee) and tournament in Sochi. Match conditions:
The Match  Download games This time Spassky won to became 10th World champion. Spassky's flexibility of style was the key to his victory over Petrosian. Impact on the future Petrosian continued to play in Candidates matches basically until his death. He participated in a record 10 straight World Championship cycles (from 1952-54 cycle to 1979-81 cycle) either as a candidate or as a World champion. He is the only person to go through the Interzonal and Candidates stages undefeated (1961-1963 cycle). Petrosian died at relativly early age (55) of stomach cancer on August 13th, 1984 in Moscow. Something interesting: First three World champions (Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca) died in New York, all three deceased Soviet World champions (Botvinnik, Tal, Petrosian) died in Moscow. From remaining three deceased World champions Alekhine died in Estoril, Euwe died in Amsterdam, and Fischer in Reykjavik. Petrosian and Korchnoi (2nd in the Candidates matches) were seeded into the next Candidates. Bent Lar.sen (3rd in the Candidates) was seeded into the next Interzonal. This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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There were no changes of rules for this cycle.
Fischer controversies Bobby Fischer refused to participate in 1969 US championship (which also served as a zonal tournament) because he felt that 11 rounds were not enough to produce a 'true' winner. He wanted to have at least 22 rounds. This was against the wishes of all other players (very few of them were professionals and could afford to play such a long tournament). The officials did try to get some kind of compromise, and Fischer might have suceeded had he not been as stuborn as always by demanding all or nothing. GM Isaac Kashdan wrote this about the matter:
If enlarging the tournament would assure Fischer's participation I might say go ahead with it... But what if the schedule were rearranged, quite a task at short notice, and Fischer then went to New York just in time to play, and then objected to the lights, or the size of the playing area, or the hum of the spectators, or the director's manner or some other point, major or minor. As it happens, Fischer is now in California. He was asked to come to New York, at the expense of USCF, to check out the playing conditions. This alone would indicate that USCF officials are very anxious to have Fischer in the tournament. Fischer refused to discuss any other matters until his request for 22 rounds was accepted. I have had some personal experience with Fischer. I supervised him as Captain of the U.S.A. team at the Chess Olympics in Leipzig, East Germany, in 1960, and as Director of The Piatagorsky Cup Tournament in Santa Monica, 1966. On both occasions there were no problems that came to public attention, but there were some incidents that may have added to the gray hair I have. Not that I have given up on Fischer. I would gladly assume a similar task if I thought it would help. I am only pointing out that making a concession to Fischer does not guarantee success of a venture. I am well aware of the tremendous advantage to American chess if the world championship could be brought here. It would be worth a great deal of effort and money on the part of the chess community, and it would be worth some sacrifices on the part of other grandmasters. But the goal is also worth a great deal to Fischer, and he must also show some accommodation. 1969 US championship went bye without Fischer, thus eliminating him from another World Championship cycle. First three (1.Reshevsky, 2.Addison, 3.Benko) qualified for the Interzonal tournament. Benko makes way for Fischer This is what you probably read elsewhere - Benko gave up his Interzonal spot to Fischer. That's not untrue, but things are much more complicated than that. When one of the qualified players passes, his spot automatically goes to the next player in line - in this case the 4th placed from the 1969 US championship. If he also refuses, his spot goes to 5th placed etc. So Benko couldn't just 'give' his spot to Fischer. USCF, together with the new FIDE president Max Euwe, bent quite some rules to allow Fischer's entry into the Interzonal. Fischer had to promise to Benko that he won't withdraw from the Interzonal and from the Candidates. Interzonal tournament Tournament was played from November 9th to December 13th, 1970 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.  Download games The biggest surprise of the tournament was an unknown 22 year old Robert Huebner who shared 2nd place. Huebner was not a GM and became IM only a year prior to the tournament. The last round Fischer-Panno was unplayed due to a scheduling dispute. Panno had originally intended to forfeit the game, but eventually showed up and resigned it without making a move. First six qualified for the Candidates matches. Candidates matches Interzonal qualifiers (Fischer, Lar.sen, Geller, Huebner, Taimanov, Uhlmann) were joined by Petrosian (previous Champion) and Korchnoi (runner-up in the last Candidates). I'm just speculating, but it looks like the participants were divided into two groups based on their ratings (FIDE introduced ELO rating system in 1970). A player from the 1st pot (high rated players) was then paired against a player from the 2nd pot (lower rated players). Or so it seems.  Download games Fischer went berzerk (this time in a positive way), dominating his opponents like noone else before or since. He annihilated his first two opponents (Taimanov and Lar.sen) by 6-0 scores, before winning 5 out of 9 games against Petrosian, generaly considered as the best defensive player of all time (Petrosian normally needed 2 whole cycles to lose that many games). Fischer had a winning streak that lasted 20 consecutive games (last 7 round from the Interzonal, 6 games against Taimanov, 6 against Lar.sen, and 1st game against Petrosian). But this is not the record. The record of 25 consecutive wins is held (and will probably stay that way) by first World champion Wilhelm (William) Steinitz. Constituting part of Steintz's streak is his 7-0 win in 1876 match against Blackburne, so he beats Fischer in that department too. Huebner withdrew from his quarter-final match against Petrosian after his complaint about the playing conditions (excessive noise in the playing area) was dismissed by the Appeals Committee. They claimed that conditions were the same throughout the whole match but Huebner only complained after he had lost the game. 1972 World Championship: Boris Vasilievich Spassky vs. Robert James Fischer  Players Boris Vasilievich Spassky the reigning Champion. After winning the title, Spassky won several tournaments: 1969 San Juan, 1970 Leiden, 1970 Amsterdam, 1971 Vancouver. Before the match, Spassky had a positive score against Fischer: 3 wins, 2 draws, 0 loses. Spassky and Fischer first met in 1960 Mar del Plata tournament (where they shared 1st place) and were friends ever since. Robert James Fischer the challenger. Like Spassky in USSR, Fischer set many "youngest ever" records in USA. In 1956 (aged only 13) he won the US Junior championship, a feat he repeated a year later. In 1957 he also won the US Open championship. Based on those results he was invited to 1958 US champioship, which he won. This win earned him a spot for the 1958 Interzonal tournament. There he surprised the chess world by finishing shared 5th. This made Fischer the youngest person ever to qualify for the Candidates, a record which stood until 2005 when it was broken by Magnus Carlsen (although the cycles are not comparable). It also earned him the title of Grandmaster, at 15 years and 6 months (a record that stood for 32 years until it was broken by Judit Polgar). In 1959 he sucessfuly defended his US title, but then had some mediocre results in international tournaments. In 1960 Fischer tied first with Spassky in Mar del Plata tournament. In the subsequent Buenos Aires tournament Fischer had the worst result of his career, finishing only 13th. In 1961 he was scheduled to play a 16 game match against Reshevsky. After 11 games and a tie score, the match ended prematurely due to a scheduling dispute between Fischer and match organizer. Aftter that he finished 2nd (behind Tal) in 1961 Bled tournament. By winning the US championship again (Fischer won all 8 US championships he entered) Fischer qualified for the 1962 Interzonal which he won. After finishing 4th in 1962 Candidates, he accused Soviets of cheating. After being unable to agree on amount of playing fee, Fischer turned down invitation to 1963 Piatigorsky Cup and played a series of minor tournaments instead. At the beginning of 1964 he won the US championship with a perfect score. Although FIDE changed the Candidates format, Fischer refused to participate, thus eliminating himslef from the cycle. He also turned down the invitation to play in the Chess Olympiad. In 1965 Fischer wanted to play in Capablanca memorial tournament in Havana, Cuba. Since Americans were not allowed (by the State Department) to travel to Cuba at that time, Fischer played by telegraph. He ended up finishing 2nd, behind Smyslov. In 1966 Piatigorsky Cup he also finished 2nd, behind Spassky. He participated in the 1967 Interzonal, but withdrew over scheduling dispute. After that he semi-retired. He reamerged for the USSR vs. Rest of the World match in 1970. After that in Herceg Novi blitz tournament he won by a huge margin over a world-class field. He added two more tournament wins in 1970 Rovinj/Zagreb tournament and Buenos Aires. He won the 1970 Interzonal convincingly, and added a superb performance in Candidates matches. Will there be a match? The opening ceremony in Reykjavik was scheduled for July 1st 1972, but on that day Bobby Fischer was not in Iceland. Fischer, who had not signed any document confirming his participation, was demanding an increase in the 125.000 USD prize fund. He demanded 30% of the gate receipts for both himself and Spassky. The organizers could not agree to this, since they had earmarked that anticipated income for expenses connected with the staging of the match. Suddenly, a British chess promoter and financier, James Slater, came forward with a 125,000 USD donation to the prize fund, making a total prize fund of 250.000 USD. But even this record purse did not bring Fischer to Reykjavik. For whatever reason, it took hours of persuasion by William Lombardy (Fischer's second), his attorney Paul Marshall, and a phone call from Henry Kissinger, to get him to go through with the match. Fischer arrived in Reykjavik on July 4th. He apologized to Spassky, to Max Euwe (FIDE president), and to the organizers for having missed the opening ceremonies. Match conditions:
The Match  Download games Fischer lost the first game, after making a big blunder in a drawn position. After the game Fischer demanded that the television cameras should be removed and that first 7 rows of spectators should be emptyed. Chester Fox, an American businessman who had procured filming rights, responded that the cameras were necessary to finance the match. When his demands were not fully met he refused to show up for game 2 (it was always all or nothing for Fischer). His clock was started by Chief Arbiter at the sheduled time. Seeing that the whole match (and subsequently his investment) is in danger, Fox quickly accepted that the cameras be removed for at least that game. Fischer then agreed to play provided that his clock was reset to zero. As this is against the rules Chief Arbiter refused, so Fischer left the clock to run down. After an hour passed the game was awarded to Spassky. Many thought that the match was over and that Fischer will forfeit and leave Iceland. This would have probably happened, had Spassky (against orders from Soviet officials) not agreed to play the 3rd game in the back-room, away from cameras and spectators. Pal Benko later called this a psychological blunder by Spassky. To make things even worse, Spassky ended up losing the game. The players then returned to the playing hall for the fourth game, where there were no television cameras. The game ended in a draw. In following games Fischer not only equalised, but quickly took the lead. There were no doubts that he was now in command of the match. However the off-board activities continued. For the eighth game Fischer accepted the presence of television cameras on the condition that they be kept at least 45 meters from the chess board. He also demanded that Fox's camera team is replaced. Not wanting to jeopardize his investment, Fox sold the rights to the American television company ABC for 100.000 USD. For the 9th game Spassky took a time out, trying to recover. The players' behavior in 9th game, provided for much entertainment, with Fischer rocking back and forth in his chair and Spassky imitating him, which one spectator described as "two dead men dancing". The game itself was less interesting ending in a short draw. William Lombardy (Fischer's second) later remarked that he could not understand how Spassky could endure Fischer's behavior for even a single game. Realizing that their genial star was being beaten, the Soviet authorities ordered Spassky to get back to Moscow and claim the match by default. Spassky refused to comply. One of the most interesting games was the 13th game which swung one way, then another, and was finally adjourned with Fischer having an edge in a sharp position but no clear win. The Soviet team's analysis convinced them that the position was clearly drawn. Fischer supposingly stayed up until 8 am the following morning (clearly an exageration) analyzing it. He hadn't found a win either. However, he managed to set traps for Spassky, who fell into them and lost. Spassky's seconds were stunned, and Spassky himself refused to leave the board for a long time after the game was over, unable to believe the result. Next 7 games were all drawn. Fischer, with a three point lead, was content to inch towards the title, and Spassky seemed resigned to his fate. The off-the-board antics continued to be as interesting as they ever were. Before 15th game Fox filed a lawsuit for 1.750.000 USD in a New York court for damages from Fischer. Fischer's lawyers responded that the challenger had no contractual obligation with Fox. After 16th game Fischer complained again about noise from the spectators. The first three rows of seats were cleared for the next game. After 17th game the Soviets claimed that Fischer was using some sort of electronic and chemical devices to 'control' Spassky. During the night Icelandic police swept the playing hall for electronic devices (they found two dead flies in the lighting system  ).The final 21st game was adjourned with a big advantage for Fischer. Next day Spassky resigned the game by telephone. At first Fischer refused to accept the legality of this, but he ultimately accepted, and became the 11th World Champion. Impact on the future The win propelled Bobby Fischer to stardom, and made chess popular as never before. After losing to Fischer, Spassky showed some reluctance to totally devote himself to chess. He relied on his natural talent for the game, and sometimes would rather play a game of tennis than work hard at the board. Nevertheless, he remained a top player until mid 1980's. In 1974 Candidates he lost to a future World Champion Anatoly Karpov, and in 1977 he came all the way to the Candidates final, where he lost to Viktor Korchnoi. He won many elite tournaments like 1978 Bugojno (shared with Karpov), 1980 Baden/Vienna (shared with Beliavsky), 1982 Hamburg and 1983 Linares. Spassky became a French citizen in 1978, and later competed for France in the Chess Olympiads. In 1992, Bobby Fischer re-emerged to arrange a rematch of the 1972 World Championship. Fischer claimed it to be a World Championship match, but noone took it seriously. Spassky lost the match with a score of +5 -10 =15. This match was essentially Spassky's last major challenge. Spassky continues to play in occasional events. This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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Even before he became World champion, Fischer advocated the idea that the matches should be played until one of the opponents reaches a certain number of wins, rather than to have a fixed length matches. He also considered a Champions advantage as unfair and promised that he will abolish the Champion's advantage, if he becomes a World champion.
Fischer argued that in fixed length matches, with a draw counting as ½ of a point, there's no guarantee of seeing any number of wins in the match. It's even theoretically possible to score the full 12 points (and retain the World Title) without winning a single game, by registering 24 straight draws. He claimed that only a 'wins requirement' prevents players to play for a draw, since it is impossible to win a match that way. Unfortunately, it was that same fear of draws that led others to shy away from unlimited matches, for fear that a match might drag on interminably before producing a result (1984/85 World Championship match confirmed those fears). Using his influence as a World champion, Fischer convinced FIDE to change the conditions for the next cycle. There were following changes to the cycle:
Interzonal tournaments Tournament was played from June 3rd to June 28th, 1973 in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Soviet Union (Russia).  Download games Bent Lar.sen protested strongly against being placed in this Interzonal, believing that it was far stronger than the Petropolis Interzonal. The average rating of both tournaments was virtually equal, but in Lar.sen's opinion, the Leningrad Interzonal contained more "stars", making it a tougher tournament. According to FIDE President, Max Euwe, Lar.sen waited too long to make his protest, until after it was too late to change the schedules, so nothing could be done. Lar.sen started excellently, with 5.5 out of the first 6 games but collapsed at the end, losing 4 of the last 6 games and failed to qualify. Korchnoi, Karpov and Byrne advanced to the Candidates matches. Tournament was played from July 23rd to August 17th, 1973 in Petropolis, Brazil.  Download games Geller, Polugaevsky and Portisch had to play-off for two qualifying tickets. Play-off was held from September 5th to September 22nd, 1973 in Portoroz, Yugoslavia (Slovenia).  Download games Mecking, Portisch and Polugaevsky qualified for the Candidates. Candidates matches Six Interzonal qualifiers were joined by previous Champion Spassky, and the last Candidates finalist Petrosian. Quarter-finals were 'first to 3 wins', with maximum 16 games. Semi-finals were 'first to 4 wins' with maximum 20 games.  Download games Korchnoi and Petrosian were not on friendly terms, and it was even rumored that the two resorted to kicking each other under the table during this match, however Korchnoi denies this. According to him, Petrosian just kicked his legs nervously and shook the table. Although the match was supposed to go to the first player to win four games, Petrosian resigned the match after just five games, with Korchnoi enjoying a lead of 3-1, with one draw. He then attempted, through political means, to have the result of the match reversed. Candidates final was played from September 16th to November 23rd, 1974 in Moscow, Soviet Union (Russia). The final was a 'first to 5 wins' with maximum 24 games.  Download games Since none of the players managed to score 5 wins they played all 24 scheduled games, which was a length of the previous World Championship matches. Ironically, as it later turned out, this was de facto a World Championship match. In 21st game an amusing incident occurred. During this game, Korchnoi got up from the board, walked over to the arbiter and asked whether he could legally castle king-side in the current position, in which a bishop was attacking his rook on h1. The arbiter, Salo Flohr, informed him that he could. Korchnoi did so, and Karpov soon resigned. The new kid on the block, Anatoly Karpov, qualified to face Fischer in 1975. The Big match that never was Upon becoming World Champion, Fischer refused to play again under the 'Best of 24 games' format that had been in place since 1951. He demanded a return to the unlimited duration match format last used in 1937, in which a certain number of wins must be scored in order to win the match, no matter how long it took. Specifically, he demanded to play under the format used in the 1886 Steinitz-Zukertort match in which 10 wins were required to win the match, draws not counting, no limit to the possible number of games, and with the match being abandoned as drawn if the score reached 9-9. To win the match, therefore, required a minimum margin of victory of 2 points (10-8 or better). The main difference between Fischer's rules and the 1886 rules were that in 1886 neither player was regarded as defending champion, therefore a drawn match result would have meant that neither player was World Champion. Under Fischer's rules, the challenger would be required to win by 2 points to win the title, while the champion needed only to break even to retain it. At first FIDE decided that the 1975 World Championship match will be to 6 wins, draws not counting, with no limit on the possible number of games, and no provision for a drawn match. Fischer didn't want to hear anything about it, and demanded a 'first to 10 wins' with a 9-9 draw clause. On June 26th, 1974 FIDE agreed for a 'first to 10 wins' match, but due to fears that a match might drag on forever, imposed a maximum of 36 games, with Fischer keeping the title in case of 18-18 tie. Stuborn as always, Fischer didn't want to negotiate about anything (he wanted that all his conditions are met) and resigned his title on June 27th, 1974. Despite the writen resignation, activities surrounding the World Championship match continued. On September 11th, 1974 several FIDE delegates express a willingness to compromise on the unlimited 10 wins match, but not the flat 9-9 tie clause. FIDE president Max Euwe proposed a compromise solution that in event of 9-9 tie, a 10 game overtime should be played, with Fischer retaining the title in event of 5-5 tie. This way Fischer could have both, the unlimited match, and the Champion's advantage. However, Fischer refused to hear anything about it, because though FIDE had indicated to agree to the 10 wins format, they did not agree to the tie clause. Although Fischer had denounced tie clauses while still the challenger, and promised to abolish them once becoming champion, he refused to play the 1975 match unless FIDE agreed to a clause that allowed the match to be abandoned as drawn, with the Champion retaining the title, if the score reached 9-9. There was much debate over the tie clause. The Champion's advantage was semi-traditional (although the same could have been said of the Best of 24 format at that point). Most of the previous 26 World Championship matches had had some form of Champion's advantage, though as many as 6 of them may not have. The problem though, was that Fischer's tie clause required the Challenger to win by 2 points (10-8 minimum) to win the title, rather than one point, as in the old system. Rather than abolishing the champion's advantage, as he promised, Fischer had tried to increase it. The tie clause was widely perceived as unfair and the majority of Grandmasters were against it. Robert Byrne described it as "absolutely stark naked cheating", Bent Lar.sen called it "the first unethical thing Fischer has done." 2-point tie clauses had only been used in the Imperial Championship days, when the champion could name any conditions he wished, fair or otherwise, against a challenger. And even in those days it was never used in the form that Fischer demanded. Fischer made contradicting statements about the tie clause. He had called the tie clause unimportant and unlikely to be invoked, yet refused to play without it, despite having gotten the pure Wins format, which was supposed to be the important thing. In a phone conversation with Ed Edmondson Fischer expressed agreement with all of Edmondson's points (about unfairness of the tie clause), but nevertheless refused to back down. However he told Edmondson that if he is allowed the 2-point tie clause this once, that he would seek to abolish all Champion's advantage in future matches. Fischer never made any attempt to explain why the unlimited format and a 9-9 tie clause is a good idea. His attitude was essentially "Give me, or I'm not playing", refusing to compromise about anything. On January 1st, 1975 FIDE opened the bids for the match. There were three: Mexico City, Milan and Manila. Fischer preferred Manila, and Karpov preferred Milan. On February 17th, 1975 FIDE President Euwe selects Manila as the site of the match. On March 3rd, 1975 Paul Klein of Ecuador (Fischer's choice) is named Chief Arbiter of the match. The Assistant Arbiter's are to be Dr. Wilfried Dorazil of Austria, and Dr. Enrico Paoli of Italy (the only man who appeared on both player's lists of candidates for Assistant Arbiter). Soviet Federation protested that Fischer's choice for Chief Arbiter was accepted rather than Dorazil, Lothar Schmid, or Alberic O'Kelly (Karpov's three choices), and also objects to Manila being chosen as the match site, on the technicality that Ed Edmondson (a FIDE Bureau Member), had notified Euwe of the choice rather than Fischer directly. From March 18th to March 20th, 1975 an extraordinary FIDE General Assembly was held to try to save the match. By a vote of 37-33 FIDE accepts all Fischer's demands except the 9-9 clause (the tie clause was rejected by votes of 35-32). April 1st, 1975 the deadline for both players to confirm their availability passes, with no word from Fischer. On April 3rd, 1975 FIDE named Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov as the new World Champion. Impact on the future Despite Fischer's abrogation of principle, the pure wins unlimited match format was used without him in the next three World Championship matches (though with a requirement of 6 wins, rather than 10). The 1978 match seemed to confirm the fears about the system, lasting 32 games and becoming (at that time) the second longest World Championship match ever. The 1981 match was a blowout, and was concluded in a very reasonable amount of time. But in the 1984/5 event, all the nightmare scenarios came true. The match lasted almost 1.5 times longer than ANY previous match, and was abandoned without result after 48 games. The unlimited match format had actually encouraged more passive play, rather than discouraged it. A certain number of of wins were required, yes, but with no time limit in which to achieve them, there was nothing to prevent the person trailing in the match from biding his time and waiting for the opponent to make the first mistake. At least in the old system, time was always running out for one player or the other, giving at least some incentive to try to score wins quickly. After the 1984/5 debacle, win requirements were put on the back shelf and have never been used again. Though the percentage of draws in post World War II World Championship matches was a very reasonable 55% up through Fischer's 1972 victory, it has risen to 70% in matches played since that time. In the 2000 and 2004 matches, a mere two victories were scored by the person who walked out of the match with the title (at the rate of draws seen in the 2004 match, it would have taken 70 games for both players to get 10 wins, under Fischer's conditions). After becoming World Champion in 1972 Fischer didn't play a single competitive game. It's hard to make comments about someone as unpredictable as Fischer, but many claim that Fischer demanded an unlimited first to 10 wins match, to use the first games to get into the playing rythym again (after 3 years of inactivity). With fixed length match (or first to 6 wins) he wouldn't have time to catch up on Karpov, should he build a comfortable lead in first games. It's even harder to comment the 9-9 clause, since Fischer gave contradicting statements about it and never explained why it should be good for. Since at the end FIDE accepted all Fischers demands (lets not forget that they chose his preffered venue and arbiter too) except the one thing that just couldn't be accepted, many see it as the way to bail out of the match. Karpov later visited Fischer and tried to arrange a match with him, but it never materialised. Fischer disapeared from the chess world for 20 years, only from time to time coming to spotlight with his controversial statements. Then, in 1992, he reemerged and challenged Boris Spassky to a re-match. He insisted that it is a World Championship match, since in 1974 he only resigned the "FIDE title", but remained the "true" champion. Since both Fischer and Spassky were only shadows of their former selfs, nobody took the championship seriously, but nevertheless the match gathered much attention. The match was played under 'Fischer conditions', with Fischer winning by 10-5 wins (with 15 draws). After that he again disapeared from the chess world. Since the match took place in Yugoslavia (Serbia) that was then under the United Nations embargo, Fischer became wanted by the US State Department. He also "forgot" to pay taxes, so he was wanted by IRS too. Making anti-American and anti-Jewish statements didn't help him much either. He spent his next 13 years as a refugee in different countries all over the world until 2004 when he was arrested in Japan for using an invalid passport (his passport was revoked in 2003). Seeking ways to evade deportation to the United States, Fischer wrote a letter to the government of Iceland in early January 2005 and asked for Icelandic citizenship. Sympathetic to Fischer's plight, but reluctant to grant him the full benefits of citizenship, Icelandic authorities granted him an alien's passport. When this proved insufficient for the Japanese authorities, the Icelandic parliament agreed unanimously to grant Fischer full citizenship in late March 2005 for humanitarian reasons, as they felt he was being unjustly treated by the US and Japanese governments. Fischer arrived to Iceland on March 23rd, 2005 and spent his last years there. Fischer died of kidney failure on January 17th, 2008 in his apartment in Reykjavik. Fischer is definatelly the most famous and known chess player of all time. His 1972 "Match of the century" win against "the great red enemy" first proppeled him to stardom and the subsequent controversies transformed him into somekind of a half-god with mythical abilities (just the other day I've seen some of the Rybka forum users claiming that the 1972 Fischer could easely win a match against Rybka 3  ). His early retirement on the peak of his career sprung many rumors and myths about him (like that he didn't have any coaches and seconds, that he never read any books, his invincibility was greatly exaggerated, etc.). Many consider him as the greatest chess player of all time, but in my opinion this is exaggerated. Fact is that his performances until 1970 were by no means legendary. He was without a doubt a top class player, but only one of many. From 1970 to 1972 his performance was really impressive, even legendary, and then he simply stopped playing. In my opinion this is too short of a period to proclaim somebody as 'the greatest ever'. There is also a way he quited. It's one thing to say "OK, I have had enough. I quit." but instead he made ridicolous demands, and after all reasonable (and many unreasonable) demands were met, he still refused to play. Not exactly a characteristic of the greatest player ever, at least in my opinion. After thoroughly defeating the old guard of players, Fischer failed to accept the next new challenge in front of him - Anatoly Karpov. We can debate endlessly whether Karpov could defeat Fischer or not, but the fact is that Karpov was a whole new brand of professional chess players (thus somewhat a mystery to Fischer) and he certainly wouldn't be willing to endure and accept Fischer's caprices like Spassky did in 1972.Later in his autobiography, Karpov expressed profound regret that the match did not take place, and claimed that he would be a better player if he had a chance to play with Fischer. 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After the last "Fischer's whim" cycle, FIDE reverted back to what was originally planed for the 1973-75 cycle.
With Fischer out of the picture one would expect a more calm cycle, however Korchnoi's defection from the Soviet Union caused for turmoils. After Viktor Korchnoi defected during the 1976 Amsterdam tournament, the Soviet officials demanded that he is considered as a persona non grata and is excluded from the World Championship cycle. Like in Pal Benko's case (see 1958-60 cycle) FIDE stood firm and allowed Korchnoi to participate in the Candidates matches. But this was just a beginning of the "Korchnoi vs Soviets" saga. Interzonal tournaments Tournament was played from June 12th to July 12, 1976 in Manila, The Philippines.  Download games Mecking, Polugaevsky and Hort qualified for the Candidates matches. Spassky's below par performance eliminated him from the Candidates matches. However he "qualified" for the Candidates by a different route (see Candidates matches below) where he performed much better. Tournament was played from July 11th to August 7th, 1976 in Biel, Switzerland.  Download games Petrosian, Portisch and Tal had to play-off for the remaining two tickets. Playoff was played in October 1976 in Varese, Italy.  Download games As a result La.rsen, Petrosian and Portisch qualified for the Candidates matches. Candidates matches Six Interzonal qualifiers were supposed to be joined by Korchnoi (2nd in the last Candidates) and Fischer (previous Champion), but the latter refused to participate. In his absence, the last seed fell to the losers of the previous semi-final matches, Petrosian and Spassky. As Petrosian had already qualified for the Candidates independently (though the 1976 Biel Interzonal) it went to Spassky by default. Had Spassky declined also, the next ones in line would have been the losers of the 1974 quarterfinals. Since three of these (Polugaevsky, Mecking and Portisch) had already qualified from the Interzonal, Fischer's spot would have gone to Robert Byrne. Quarterfinals were 'best of 12 games', semi-finals were 'best of 16 games', and the Candidates final was 'best of 20 games'.  Download games When the Hort-Spassky quarterfinal match was tied at 6-6, 2-game mini-matches were played until someone won. After defecting from the Soviet Union, Korchnoi was stateless (hence no flag). During the 1977 candidates semifinal match against Polugaevsky, he asked to play under the Dutch flag (he was at that time living in The Netherlands and had recently won the Dutch championship). Polugaevsky's delegation, objected on the grounds that Korchnoi had not been living in The Netherlands for a full year. Korchnoi's delegation then suggested that Korchnoi is to play under the Jolly Roger flag The "request" was of course turned down.In September 1977 Korchnoi was granted permission to live in Switzerland. Spassky's delegation during the Candidates final match, insisted that Korchnoi not be allowed to play under the Swiss flag (since he was not yet a citizen). Spassky played under the Soviet flag, while Korchnoi had no flag. Second half of the Candidates final was a prelude to psychological warfare that followed in the 1978 World Championship match. Until the tenth game of the final, the match had been uneventful 'off the board'. Then, starting with game 10, Spassky began playing from his relaxation box, using a large demonstration board to analyze his moves. He appeared at the board only to make his move, then returned to his box for further analysis. Korchnoi protested Spassky's unusual playing method, but was obviously unnerved, as he lost games 11 through 13. In game 14, Korchnoi used the same tactic, but he lost that game as well. In game 14, Spassky started to wear a silver sun visor. He increased the psychological pressure by appearing for the 17th game with visor, sunglasses, and aquatic goggles  He lost the game (because he probably didn't see the board )Although Korchnoi ended up winning his tendency to come unglued over small disputes did not go unnoticed. "Soviet enemy number 1" ended up knocking out all three Soviet players to earn a World Championship match against another Soviet. 1978 World Championship: Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov vs. Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi  Players Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov the reigning Champion. When Karpov first went to Botvinnik's chess school, the former champion was not impressed by the 12 year old boy, remarking: "The boy does not have a clue about chess, and there's no future at all for him in this profession." Karpov acknowledged that his understanding of chess theory was very confused at that time, and wrote later that the homework which Botvinnik assigned really helped him, since it required that he consult chess books and work diligently. Under Botvinnik's guidance Karpov improved so quickly that he became the youngest Soviet National Master in history at 15 in 1966 (tieing Spassky's record from 1955). Few months later Karpov won his first international tournament. Karpov then went to study in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) to be closer to his coach Semyon Furman. In his writings, Karpov credits Furman as a major influence on his development as a world-class player. As Korchnoi was (at that time) also resident in Leningrad, he and Karpov played many sparing games. In 1969 Karpov won the World Junior Championship. The early 1970s showed a big improvement in his game. He won the 1971 Alekhine Memorial tournament ahead of a star-filled field, for his first significant adult victory. His Elo rating improved from 2540 in 1971 to 2660 in 1973, when he came in 2nd in the Soviet championship, and placed first in the Leningrad Interzonal tournament. The latter qualified him for the 1974 Candidates matches, where he convincingly won against Polugaevsky and Spassky in the quarter and semi-final. In the 1974 Candidates final Karpov was reunited with his former sparring partner - Korchnoi. Intense games were fought, and Karpov went up 3-0, but tired towards the end and allowed Korchnoi two wins, making for a nervy finish. However, Karpov prevailed after maximum 24 games have been played. Since Fischer forfeited the title, this was de facto a World Championship match. After winning the World Champion title without a fight Karpov set up one of the the most phenomenal streak of tournament wins against the strongest players in the world, proving beyond the doubt that he was the best player on the world. He had been more active in tournament play than any other World Champion before. Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi the challenger. Korchnoi won the 1947 Soviet Junior championship and defended it a year later. In 1952 he qualified for his first Soviet championship, finishing on 6th place. Korchnoi showed that he was ready to join the Soviet elite level with his shared 2nd place in 1954 Soviet championship. This results earned him the opportunity to play in the international tournaments. He won the first international tournament he participated (1954 Bucharest). He was awarded the IM title in 1954, and GM title in 1956. Korchnoi's playing style initially was an aggressive counter-attack. He excelled in difficult defensive positions. His results during the 1950s were often inconsistent, as dominance alternated with disaster. One horrific result was his 19th place (only one from bottom) at the 1955 Soviet championship. Later his style has become more and more versatile, mastering all the required techniques to become a World Championship contender. In late 1950's and early 1960's he racked up some fine tournament wins, including Soviet championship titles in 1960 and 1962. With that Korchnoi (at 31 years) qualified for his first Interzonal tournament. He qualified from the 1962 Interzonal (4th place) for the 1962 Candidates tournament where he finished 5th. After that he had some unsteady results and failed to qualify for the 1964-66 World Championship cycle. He came back to form to win his 3rd Soviet championship in 1965, followed by some international tournament wins. He qualified for the 1967 Interzonal (finishing 2nd) and advanced to Candidates matches. There he defeated Reshevsky and Tal (Korchnoi was Tal's most difficult opponent), before being stopped by soon-to-be-champion, Boris Spassky, in the Candidates final. To prepare for the 1971 Candidates matches Korchnoi played a short training match against Anatoly Karpov, with whom he was close at the time (the match was drawn 3-3). In 1971 Candidates, Korchnoi won his first round match against Geller (5.5–2.5), but then lost to Tigran Petrosian (5.5–4.5). Anatoly Karpov, in his book Karpov on Karpov, writes that, because of Bobby Fischer's overwhelming form at that time, Korchnoi and Petrosian were asked by Soviet chess authorities to choose among themselves, before the match, who they thought would have the better chance of stopping Fischer in the finals. Petrosian apparently believed strongly in himself, and so Korchnoi was asked to throw the match, receiving as compensation invitations to the three most prestigious tournaments in western Europe. Korchnoi never confirmed this. After Fischer thoroughly defeated the old generations of players in 1970-1972 cycle the Soviet officials reasoned that this generation (of which Korchnoi was part) could not hope to battle with Fischer successfully, and thus favoured the younger generation of players (with Karpov in front). As a result older players like Korchnoi had dificulties to play in international tournaments. Korchnoi went on to win the 1973 Leningrad Interzonal, together with his former sparring partner and future foe - Anatoly Karpov. A year later they met in the 1974 Candidates final, where Korchnoi narowly lost. Karpov was heavely favoured by the Soviet officials and Korchnoi was constantly subjected to harassment, and was virtually unable to find any Grandmasters to assist him. Seeing that his career is basically over within the Soviet Union, Korchnoi decided to defect. When Karpov became a World champion without defeating the previous title holder, it was speculated if Karpov was a worthy champion. To prove that he is, Karpov went on to participate in almost every tournament, and additionally Korchnoi was given a green light too. The logic was, if Korchnoi is able to win international tournaments, then imagine what Karpov, who is better than Korchnoi, would do. In the last round of 1976 Amsterdam tournament Korchnoi asked his opponent GM Anthony Miles how to spell 'political asylum' (Korchnoi knew only Russian at that time). Korchnoi was the first elite Soviet player to leave the USSR. Korchnoi imediately became the Soviet enemy number 1 and Soviet officials tried to make his life as difficult as possible. Ironicaly Korchnoi went on to eliminate all three Soviet players in the 1977 Candidates to meet his old friend, but now a bitter enemy, again. Match conditions:
The Match  Download games It was the second longest World Championship match played to that date (only 1927 Capablanca-Alekhine lasted longer) and certantly the most bizarre match ever played. Karpov built a comfortable 4-1 and 5-2 lead, but Korchnoi fought back to even the score to 5-5 in game 31. However Karpov won the very next game to retain the title. See here for more details about the games. Off the board action was as interesting as the action on the board. There is nothing that wasn't protested about from one side or the other: from flags, chairs, yogurt, glasses, handshakes to para-psychologist and suspected murderers. See here for off the board action. Impact on the future Because of all off the board antics, FIDE issued improvements on the World Championship match regulations few months after the match. These included expanded arbiter powers to act on disturbances, conduct of players, mandatory attendance of the players at opening and closing ceremonies, a deposit of 500 Swiss Franks for any protest to be returned if considered well founded, an appeal jury of only three neutral members, and a new rule about starting clocks in the absence of a signed scoresheet. This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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There were only minor changes (Candidates matches were shortened) compared to the last cycle.
Interzonal tournaments Tournament was played in September-October 1979 in Riga, Soviet Union (Latvia)  Download games Adorjan and Ribli played tie-breaks for last qualifying spot.  Download games When the playoff ended in a tie, Adorjan advanced to the Candidates, by virtue of having better Sonnenborn-Berger score in the main tournament. Tal, Polugaevsky and Adorjan qualified for the Candidates matches. Tournament was played in Septeber-October 1979 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  Download games Due to illness, Mecking had to withdraw from the tournament after first round. His 1st round result (draw against Ivkov) was annulled. Portisch, Petrosian and Huebner advanced to the Candidates matches. Candidates matches Interzonal qualifiers were joined by Korchnoi and Spassky from the last cycle. Length of the matches was shortened, compared to the last cycle. Quarterfinals were 'best of 10 games', semi-finals were 'best of 12 games', final was 'best of 16 games'.  Download games After Portisch-Spassky quarterfinal was tied at 5-5, two additional mini matches were played. When those were drawn too, Portisch advanced due to scoring more wins with the black pieces (Portisch won game 1 with black, while Spassky won game 9 with white). Korchnoi-Polugaevsky semi-final was also tied after regular 12 games. Korchnoi won the first mini match to advance into the final. Huebner resigned the final match prematurely, with games 9 and 10 adjourned. Huebner's reasons for withdrawal are very unclear. With that Korchnoi qualified to play with Karpov again. After Fischer defeated Spassky in 1972, the Soviet dominance in chess started to decline. With Korchnoi's defection (1976) and Spassky moving to France (1978) the crisis only deepened. Before 1972 World Championship matches were inner Soviet matters, but since then the Soviets had to work hard to retain the title. The crisis probably reached it's low point at 1978 Chess Olympiad when something believed to be imposible happened - the Soviet team (without Karpov) finished "only" on 2nd place, behind Hungary (the first and only time in history that Soviet Union didn't win gold!). Another low point were the 1980 Candidates matches when only one Soviet player qualified for the semi-final stage, and when the Candidates final went bye without Soviet participation (again for the first and only time in history). At that time Karpov was the only bright spot within the Soviet team. With his dominant performances he has hidden many Soviet weaknesses. Soviet chess quickly recovered and things were "back to normal" for the next Olympiad and World Championship cycle. 1981 World Championship: Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov vs. Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi  Players Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov the reigning champion. From 1977 to 1980 Karpov played in practically every major tournament, winning them all. He set up a new record of 9 consecutive tournament wins (a record that was later topped only by Kasparov). With his dominant performances in tournaments, Karpov was the big favourite for the match. Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi the challenger. While Korchnoi defected in 1976, his wife and son were still in the Soviet Union. His son had been promised to be released to join his father in exile if he gave up his passport. When he did so, he was promptly drafted into the Soviet army. In spite of protests, Korchnoi's son was arrested for evading army service and sentenced to two and a half years in labour camp. Korchnoi took the opportunity of the match to publicize the situation of his wife and son, drafting an open letter to the Soviet government to release them both. After serving the full sentence, Korchnoi's son was again refused permission to leave the USSR. In 1982 (six years after Korchnoi's defection) his son finally succeeded in leaving the country. Match conditions:
The Match  Download games This time Karpov won convincingly. See here for details. The situation surrounding his wife and son, must have definatelly affected Korchnoi. Impact on the future Korchnoi continued to play in Candidates matches for another decade, but didn't manage to qualify for another World Championship match again. Together with Paul Keres, Korchnoi is condidered as the greatest player who never managed to become a World Champion. Korchnoi is known for his unusual longevity, being a world class player for half a century. On January 2007 rating list he was ranked number 85 in the world at almost 76 years, by far the oldest player ever to be ranked in the top 100. Korchnoi continues to play regulary (sometimes against opponents that are 1/5 of his age) and is the oldest active grandmaster in the world. This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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More and more countries joined FIDE, meaning that there were more and more FIDE zones, which means that there were more participants qualifying from their zones. Because of that the number of Interzonal tournaments had to be incresed from two to three. First two from each Interzonal qualified for the Candidates matches.
Interzonal tournaments Tournament was played in July 1982 in Las Palmas, Spain.  Download games Ribli and Smyslov qualified for Candidates matches. Tournament was played in August 1982 in Toluca, Mexico.  Download games Portisch and Torre advanced to the Candidates stage. Tournament was played in September 1982 in Moscow, Soviet Union (Russia).  Download games Kasparov and Beliavsky qualified for the Candidates matches. Candidates matches Six Interzonal qualifiers were joined by Korchnoi and Huebner from the previous cycle. Quarterfinals were 'best of 10 games', semi-finals were 'best of 12 games', and the final was 'best of 16 games'.  Download games When the Smyslov-Huebner quarterfinal match was tied at 5-5, two 2-game mini matches were played. When neither of these produced a winner, the match was decided by the spin of a roulette wheel (!!!) at the onsite casino. Smyslov won the lottery to progress into the semi-final. Kasparov-Korchnoi was scheduled to take place in Pasadena, USA but the Soviet authorities didn't allow Kasparov to go there (it was a prelude for Soviet boycott of 1984 Los Angeles summer Olympics which they announced soon after). As a result Kasparov was forfeited. However, after a remarkable series of events, spearheaded by the British Grandmaster Raymond Keene, Korchnoi agreed to play the match in London, along with the previously scheduled match between Vasily Smyslov and Zoltan Ribli. This was a gracious gesture by Korchnoi, since technically he had already won by default (Korchnoi seems to have great fondness for Garry Kasparov – possibly, because he recognized the situation Kasparov was in – a prominent talent blocked by the Soviet bureaucracy). Kasparov lost the first game, but ended up winning convincingly. Equally convincingly he defeated rejuvenated ex-Champion Vasily Smyslov in the final, and so the stage was set for the beginning of the greatest and longest rivalry the chess world has ever seen. 1984 World Championship: Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov vs. Garry Kimovich Kasparov  Players Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov the reigning Champion. Since getting the World Champion title by default in 1975, Karpov has been eager to show that he is the best player on the world, which he clearly demonstrated again and again. He was the most active World Champion in the history, participating in almost every tournament, and winning practically all of them. He was clearly the dominant force in chess, until Kasparov arrived on the scene. To this date Karpov has won 161 tournaments, more than any other player in history (including Kasparov). Garry Kimovich Kasparov the challenger. Like Karpov, he also went to Botvinnik's chess school. If Botvinnik's first impression about Karpov was wrong (see two posts above), he was on the mark about Kasparov, stating: "The future of chess lies in the hands of this young man" when Kasparov was only 11 years old. By age 13 Kasparov won the Soviet Junior championship and defended it a year later. In 1978 (aged 15) he won the Sokolsky memorial and qualified for his first Soviet championship (the youngest ever). Kasparov repeatedly stated that the Sokolsky memorial was the turning point in his life, and that it convinced him to choose chess as his career. While still unrated he was send to the 1979 Banja Luka tournament by mistake. The Soviet Chess federation thought it was a junior tournament, but in reality it was a GM tournament. Kasparov ended up winning convincingly, emerging with a provisional rating of 2595 (at that time #13 in the world). Next year he won the World Junior championship, made debut for the Soviet Olympiad team, and became grandmaster. In 1981 Kasparov won the Soviet Championship. His first top-class international tournament win is the 1982 Bugojno tournament. While still in the teens, Kasparov qualified for the interzonal tournament, and then for the Candidates matches. Eventhough he was paired against experienced match players like Korchnoi and Smyslov, he went through the Candidates seemingly effortlessly. Match conditions:
The Match  Download games It was the longest match EVER played, and was abandoned without a result after 48 games, with Karpov leading 5-3 in wins. Despite higher rating Kasparov was not considered as a favourite. He was considered too young and unexperienced to be succesfull against the experienced World champion, Karpov. Start of the match seemed to confirm those predictions when Karpov was leading 4-0 after just 9 games. Everybody predicted that the match won't last longer than 18 games. But Kasparov dug in and used a tactic that not many considered before (specially not those who advocated the idea that the 'first to x wins' format discourages players from playing for a draw). Kasparov did the opposite, he was bidding his time by playing for a draw and waiting for Karpov to make the mistake. A series of draws (many short ones) followed until Karpov managed to win the 27th game to make it 5-0, needing only a win. After some more draws Kasparov managed to score his first win in game 32. Then another series of draws followed. By now the match has lasted for almost 5 months. Kasparov won the 47th and 48th game to close the score to 5-3 in favour of Karpov. Despite trailing 3-5 many now considered Kasparov as the favourite. See here for more details. But then the match was abandoned without a result, and a new match (under the old pre-Fischer format) was scheduled to take place later in the same year. This decision was very controversial and the circumstances of termination are still not clear. Kasparov and Keene blamed it all on FIDE president, Florenco Campomanes, and on the Soviet federation which supposingly favoured Karpov. Their story is that the Soviet federation asked that the match should be abandonend and that Campomanes complyed. However things are not so black and white, and Keene and Kasparov gave contradicting statement. Also it is not true that the Soviet officials begged that the match is stopped to protect Karpov (like Keene and Kasparov stated). The letter that was send is completely different from what Kasparov and Keene have been saying. Also nobody appears to have suggested outright termination of the match until Kasparov himself did so at the very beginning of February 1985. See here for more details. Interestingly, Campomanes and Karpov never gave their own views on this matter (all you can read is from Kasparov's point of view), so we will never know what and how it really happened. No matter how it happened, the 1984 World Championship match was abandoned without a result (the only one in history) and a new match between the same players under the old 'best of 24 games' format was scheduled. This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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FIDE reverted back to the old system: World Championship match could last maximum 24 games, the Champion had draw odds, and the Champion had a rigth for a rematch (however the rematch rule only applied for this cycle).
1985 World Championship: Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov vs. Garry Kimovich Kasparov  Players Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov the reigning champion. Garry Kimovich Kasparov the challenger. Match conditions:
The Match  Download games Kasparov prevailed to become the 13th World Champion at 22 years and 7 months - the youngest ever. See here for more details about the games. Impact on the future The one-time rematch rule meant that Kasparov and Karpov will have to play again in 1986 - their third World Championship match in less than 2 years!!! This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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Campomanes decided that the return match would be held three months after the end of 1985 match, instead of waiting the customary twelve months. Kasparov refused the return match on Campomanes's terms. Kasparov stated that the return match was too great a privilege for the incumbent world champion - retaining the title in case of a drawn match was sufficient. In addition, the return match had not been part of the agreement reached between the first and second matches - it had only been presented as a condition shortly before the second match began. Campomanes gave Kasparov an ultimatum until midnight of January 7th, 1986 to accept a return match starting 10th of February 1986, or he will be striped of his title and Karpov would be declared world champion. He later removed this ultimatum. After meeting with Campomanes, Kasparov announced that he would not participate in the return match so soon after the first match had ended. To break the deadlock, the Soviet chess federation met on January 21st, 1986 and decided that the match would take place in July or August. Kasparov and Karpov signed an agreement on the following day without consulting FIDE, that:
1986 World Championship: Garry Kimovich Kasparov vs. Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov  Players Garry Kimovich Kasparov the reigning champion. Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov the challenger. Match conditions:
The Match  Download games It was a close match again, with Kasparov prevailing at the end. See here for more details. Impact on the future Because Kasparov and Karpov needed 2 years to determine the World champion, the new World Championship cycle (which was long underway) had to be heavely modified. Karpov, as the loser of last World Championship match, was seeded directly into the Candidates final. This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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1985-1987 World Championship cycle had to be heavily modified because of the complications that arose in the last cycle. The changes were made along the way, depending to the situation of Karpov-Kasparov matches.
After termination of the first Karpov-Kasparov match in February 1985, a new match under the old format was scheduled to take place by end of 1985. In case of defeat, Karpov would have a right for a rematch which would take place in 1986, when normally the Candidates matches should take place. Because of this possibility (which eventually happened) FIDE found itself in dilemma - how to schedule the Candidates matches for 1986, if you don't know if the loser of Karpov-Kasparov match will be able to participate in them or not? Also they couldn't just wait for Kasparov and Karpov to straighten things out and only then start to play the Candidates matches. After deliberation FIDE decided to merge two systems used in the past: Candidates tournament and Candidates matches. In last part of 1985 a Candidates tournament was played, and then the best players progressed to the Candidates matches played in 1986. The number of players that advance from the Candidates tournament depended on the outcome of the 1985 Karpov-Kasparov match. If Karpov would have won, Kasparov would join the first 7 players from the Candidates tournament to play the Candidates matches in 1986. As this didn't happen, only the best 4 from the Candidates tournament advanced to the Candidates matches and the losser of the 1986 World Championship re-match (Karpov) was seeded directly into Candidates final. Interzonal tournaments Tournament was played from April 27th to May 20th, 1985 in Tunis, Tunisia.  Download games Slim Bouaziz (not listed on the crosstable) withdrew after six rounds. Since he did not complete half his schedule, his results were not counted. In June-July 1985 Gavrikov and Chernin played off in Moscow, Soviet Union (Russia).  Download games Jussupow, Beliavsky, Portisch and Chernin qualified for the Candidates tournament. Tournament was played from June 10th to July 2nd, 1985 in Taxco de Alarcon, Mexico.  Download games Yuri Balashov withdrew after 10 rounds. Since he did complete more than half his schedule, his unplayed games were forfeited. Timman, Nogueiras, Tal and Spraggett qualified for the Candidates tournament. Tournament was played from July 1st to July 25th, 1985 in Biel, Switzerland.  Download games Short, Van der Wiel and Torre tied for the last qualifying spot.  Download games When Short and Van der Wiel tied in the playoff, the final spot went to Short because he had a better score against the upper half of the Interzonal field. The fact that he lost to Van der Wiel 2.5-0.5 in the playoff didn't matter. Vaganian, Seirawan, Sokolov and Short qualified for the Candidates tournament. Candidates tournament 12 Interzonal qualifiers were joined by Smyslov, Korchnoi and Ribli (finalist and semi-finalists in the last Candidates), and Spassky who was selected by the host (French) federation. Tournament was played in October-November 1985 in Motpellier, France.  Download games As Kasparov won the 1985 World Championship match (which ended November 9th) it was obvious that plan B will be used - only first 4 will qualify for the Candidates matches. Timman and Tal tied for the last spot and played off in December, 1985  Download games When this playoff match was tied, Timman advanced to the Candidates matches, because he had more wins during the Candidates tournament. Jussupow, Vaganian, Sokolov and Timman advanced to the Candidates matches. Candidates matches Because of the above mentioned complication (1986 World Championship rematch ended on October 8th), Karpov was seeded straigth to the Candidates final. Quarterfinals were 'best of 10 games', while semi-final and the final were 'best of 14 games'.  Download games As most experts predicted, Karpov qualified to meet Kasparov again. It was their 4th World Championship match in last 3 years! 1987 World Championship: Garry Kimovich Kasparov vs. Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov  Players Garry Kimovich Kasparov the reigning Champion. Anantoly Yevgenyevich Karpov the challenger. Match conditions:
The Match  Download games Karpov came very close to win the title back from Kasparov. Kasparov needed to win the last game to tie the match. It was a very nervous last game with both players failing to find the best continuation in crucial moments of the game. At the end Kasparov prevailed to tie the match and retaining the title. See here for more details. Impact on the future After this match was over things went back to normal. After almost exclusivly playing against each other for the last 3 years, Kasparov and Karpov could afford time to participate in tournaments again and play against the rest of the world. This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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After last improvised cycle things got back to normal. The Candidates matches were expanded by one round, meaning that there were now 15 players who participated in them. The winner from the last Candidates (Karpov) was exempt from the first round.
One of the important historical events (and subsequent controversy) happened even before the actual World Championship cycle begun. 17 year old Zsuzsa Polgar finished shared 2nd in the Hungarian championship thus qualifying for the Zonal tournament (1st stage in the World Championship cycle). This made her the first woman in history to qualify for the "Men" World Championship cycle. However she was subsequently not allowed to participate in the Zonal tournament on technicality that....well....that she is not a man! For the next cycle FIDE decided to drop the word "men" and made World Championship open for both genders, but the damage for this cycle has already been done. Interzonal tournaments Tournament was played in June-July 1987 in Subotica, Yugoslavia (Serbia).  Download games Robert Huebner was scheduled to play also, but withdrew before the tournament began. Lubomir Kavalek withdrew after 7 rounds due to chronic bronchitis. Since he did not complete half his schedule, his results were annuled. Sax, Short and Speelman qualified for the Candidates. Tournament was played in from July 17th to August 10th, 1987 in Szirak, Hungary.  Download games Portisch and Nunn played off in Budapest, Hungary.  Download games Salov, Hjartarson and Portisch qualified for Candidates matches. Tournament was played from August 1st to August 23rd, 1987 in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (Croatia).  Download games Spassky was scheduled to play, but withdrew before the tournament began. Korchnoi, Ehlvest and Seirawan advanced to the Candidates stage. Candidates matches 9 Interzonal qualifiers were joined by Karpov (seeded into the 2nd round), Sokolov, Timman, Vaganian and Jussupov from the last Candidates. Spraggett was chosen by the Canadian chess federation which hosted the first round of Candidates. 1st and 2nd round matches were 'best of 6 games', semi-finals were 'best of 8 games', the final was 'best of 12 games'. In case of a tie, a short 2-game mini match was played (at regular time controls). If still tied two 60 min/game games were played (whoever scored the first win would win the match). If still tied, short 2-game mini matches with 15 min/game were played until the decision.  Download games It came to no surprise that there would be another World Championship match between Kasparov and Karpov. They were just that dominant, standing head and shoulders above everyone else. 1990 World Championship: Garry Kimovich Kasparov vs. Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov  Players Garry Kimovich Kasparov the reigning Champion. After 1987 World Championship match Kasparov had time to play in tournaments again (between 1983 and 1987 he played in only 2 tournaments - winning both of them). Between 1987 and 1990 World Championship matches he played in 9 tournaments and won them all. When we add 4 consecutive tournaments that Kasparov won even before his 1st World Championship match, we get an all-time record of 15 consecutive tournament wins (shatering the previous record of 9 consecutive wins set by Karpov). Kasparov's run was finally stoped by Vasily Ivanchuk in 1991 Linares when he finished half a point ahead of Kasparov. This means that Kasparov didn't lose a single competition (either tournament or match) for a whole decade, between 1981 and 1991 !!! In January 1990 Kasparov became the first player to surpass the 2800 rating mark. For the first time, Kasparov was seen as the clear favourite in the World championship match. Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov the challenger. In 1988 Karpov tied first (with Kasparov) in the Soviet championship, won the tournaments in Wijk aan Zee, Tilburg and Brussels, finished 2nd (behind Short) in Euwe memorial, 2nd (behind Kasparov) in Belfort and Optibeurs. In 1989 he tied for first (again with Kasparov) in World Cup (Skelleftea), finished 2nd in World Cup (Rotterdam), 2nd in Linares and 3rd in Reggio Emilia. In 1990 he won the Biel tournament. Karpov was clearly the second best player in this period. Match condidtions:
The Match  Download games As in all previous matches between them, it was a close match with Kasparov prevailing at the end. See here for more details about the games. Impact on the future Back then almost nobody imagined that this would be the last championship match between Kasparov and Karpov. In 5 close World Championship matches they played 144 games from which Kasparov won 21 games, Karpov won 19 games, and 104 games were drawn. Despite never playing in a World Championship again, the rivalry between them remained for the rest of their careers. Games between Karpov and Kasparov were always something special and gathered much attentions, no matter if they were in serious tournaments or just in promotional blitz events (even after Kasparov retired). This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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At the start of the cycle noone had the slightest idea how things are about to change. By end of the cycle the chess world will be split in two - with two organizations and two claimants to the title.
The always present red flag with hammer and a sicle is bound to dissapear, and many new countries will appear. Also many ex-Soviet players will move to the West, which will make the chess world much more colourfull and diverse. Even before the break up of Soviet Union and Yugoslavia FIDE had so many new members and so many zones that it would take 4 Interzonal tournaments. Instead of increasing the number of Interzonals FIDE decided to change the system. Instead of 4 round-robin (all-play-all) tournaments there will be only one Interzonal tournement using the Swiss system (Swiss system allows many more participants than round-robin). Interzonal tournament Tournament was played in June-July 1990 in Manila, The Philippines.  Download games There were 64 players in total. Only players with 7.5 points or more are listed. See here for the whole table. First 11 qualified for the Candidates. Candidates matches Interzonal qualifiers were joined by Karpov (seeded into the 2nd round), Timman, Speelman and Jussupow from the last Candidates. 1st and 2nd round matches were 'best of 8 games', semi-finals were 'best of 10 games', the final was 'best of 14 games'. If 1st round match was tied, 2-game mini matches (at 45 min/game) were played until the decision. From 2nd round onwards ties were broken by 2-game mini matches (at 60 min/game) which were played until the decision.  Download games It came somewhat as a shock when Short defeated Karpov in the semi-finals. It meant that for the first time since 1975 the World Championship match will go bye without Karpov. It turned out that Karpov played a championship match in 1993 afterall, it's just that almost nobody recognized it as such. Short defeated Timman in the final to become the challenger. Preparations for the match started as usual with FIDE receiving bids from the possible organizers. By FIDE regulation, the bids for the World Championship match should have been decided by three parties - FIDE, the World Champion (Kasparov) and the challenger (Short). According to Kasparov and Short, FIDE president Florencio Campomanes broke these rules by simply announcing the venue. Also they critisized FIDE for taking too big of a share from the prize fund, that FIDE is unprofessional, corrupt and its leadership incompetent. They refused to play under the jurisdiction of FIDE and played their match under the newly created PCA. When you read about this you always see "Kasparov said this, Kasparov did that" but in reality there are other people who are more responsible for the subsequent events. Keene, Short and others convinced Kasparov that this way the right way to go. As Kasparov was at odds with Campomanes and we all know that FIDE has always been FIDE (nothing much has changed), they eventually convinced Kasparov to go along. They knew that without Kasparov they would have never succeded in forming Professional Chess Association (PCA), unfortunatelly they didn't succed in the long run with him either. In the end, it was all about the money. They promised more professionalism and better marketing (thus higher prize funds), but it just didn't work in the long terms. Kasparov later admited that splitting away from FIDE was the biggest mistake in his career. Since both the reigning Champion and the official challenger broke away, FIDE expelled Kasparov and Short and decided that Timman (loser of Candidates final) and Karpov (semi-finalist) will play for the world championship. From that day on there were two organizations and two world champions. Things were getting worse and more chaotic through the years until 2006 when the title was unified again (with the final and definitive unification occuring today, when Anand defeated Kramnik in a match). This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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THE SPLIT
Here is the log of events that took place before the 1993 World Championships:
1993 PCA World Championship: Garry Kimovich Kasparov vs. Nigel David Short  Players Garry Kimovich Kasparov the reigning Champion. After defeating Karpov in 1990, he saw the end of his 15 straight tournament winning streak in 1991 Linares (Kasparov came 2nd). After that he finished 3rd in Euwe memorial (behing Salov and Short), 1st in Tilburg and 3rd in Reggio Emilia. In 1992 Kasparov came 1st in Linares, 1st in Dortmund, and won the rapid KO tournament in Paris (defeating Anand in the final). In 1993 he won the Linares tournament again. Kasparov also played many simultaneous exhibitions and promotional matches. In 1992 he also competed in the Chess Olympiad, playing on first board for Russia (winning team and individual gold). Before going to the Olympiad Kasparov insisted that an unknown 16 year old boy is called into the Russian team too. Critics were silenced when "Kasparov's pupil" went on to win eight games with one draw and no losses for the Russian team. Nigel David Short the challenger. Short was a child prodigy and first came into spotlight when defeated Viktor Korchnoi in simultaneous exhibition at the age of 10. Two years later he became the youngest ever participant in the British Chess Championship. Another 2 years later (aged 14) he tied for first in British Chess Championship. Shortly after, he became the second youngest IM to that date. Short participated in four World Junior Championships (1980–1983), and achieved his best result during his first attempt in which he placed 2nd (behind Kasparov) in 1980. He was awarded the grandmaster title in 1984, aged 19. In 1985 Short participated in the World Championship cycle for the first time. He narrowly qualified (through tie-breaks) from the Interzonal to became the First British player in the Candidates (where he finished shared 10th). In the next cycle he won the Interzonal tournament, defeated Sax in the first round of the Candidates, but lost to his countryman Speelman in the second round. His third attempt proved to be his most successful. He finished the interzonal on 3rd place, and went on to defeating Speelman, Gelfand, Karpov and Timman in the Candidates. Short won many international tournaments, among them 1991 Euwe memorial where he finished ahead of both Kasparov and Karpov. From January 1988 to July 1989 Short was ranked number 3 on the world (behind Kasparov and Karpov). Match conditions:
The Match  Download games Although the result says otherwise, the match was not so one-sided as it looks when looking at the games (at least not in the beginning). In fact Short was winning the first game when his flag fell. See here for more details. Kasparov retained his title and was widely considered as the "true" champion. 1993 FIDE World Championship: Jan Hendrik Timman vs. Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov When Kasparov walked out with title, FIDE found itself in the same situation as in 1975 when Fischer refused to play, only that this time the official challenger left too. FIDE took the title away from Kasparov and decided to held a World Championship match between the loser of the Candidates final (Timman) and semi-finalist (Karpov). Why they left out the other semi-finalist (Jussupow) who had just as much right for the Championship match as Karpov is unclear. Since not many were interested in the FIDE championship, they needed a name who would atract sponsors and public. And Karpov is just a much bigger and more famous name than Jussupow. They could justify their decision on technicality that Karpov was beaten by Short who walked out, thus Karpov gets his spot. Players Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov Karpov had bad years (for him) in 1991 and 1992. In that period he was overtaken by Ivanchuk on the rating list, but soon regained the number 2 spot again. He came back to form in late 1992 by winning the tournament in Baden-Baden. In 1993 he finished 1st in Wijk ann Zee, 2nd (behind Kasparov) in Linares, 1st in Dos Hermanas, 1st in Dortmund, and 3rd in Leon. Jan Hendrik Timman Timman's talent was spoted early on. At only 15 years he finished 3rd in the World Junior Championship. In 1972 he finished 2nd in the Dutch championship, which won two years later. Same year (1974) he became a GM. His first notable international success was at Hastings 1973/74, where he shared victory with Tal, Kuzmin and Szabo. A string of victories quickly followed at 1974 Sombor, 1975 Netanya, 1976 Reykjavik, 1978 Amsterdam, 1978 Niksic and 1979 Bled/Portoroz. By 1982 Timman was ranked 2nd in the world, behind only World Champion Karpov. Throughout 1980's he was considered as the best non-Soviet player in the world. In the 1980's he won a number of very strong tournaments, including 1981 Amsterdam, 1981 Wijk aan Zee, 1985 Wijk aan Zee, 1988 Linares, 1989 Euwe Memorial and 1989 World Cup tournament in Rotterdam. One of his notable later successes was the 2nd Timman Rapid Tournament in 1991. In this knock-out format tournament he defeated Gata Kamsky 1.5-0.5, Karpov 2-0, Viswanathan Anand 1.5-0.5 and finally the World Champion Garry Kasparov 1.5-0.5 to win the first prize of approximately 75,000 USD. His performance was equivalent to an Elo rating of 2950. Timman's first appearance in Interzonal was in 1979, where he failed to progress. He also failed to proced from the 1982 interzonal, but he won the Taxco Interzonal in 1985. He lost in the first round of Candidates to Jussupow. In the next cycle, after winning the 1987 Tilburg Interzonal he defeated Salov, Portisch and Speelman, but lost in the final to Karpov in 1990. He reached the final round once again in 1993, but lost to Short. However, after Short and Kasparov left FIDE, Timman was invited to compete against Karpov for the FIDE version of the world title. Match conditions:
The Match  Download games The match was plagued with problems. During the match it emerged that the Dutch organizers do not have the funds (2 Milion Swiss Franks) agreed for the 1st half of the match. In fact, there were only funds to cover the match expenses, and nothing to pay the players. To add to the problems, the Oman organizers refused to continue with the 2nd half of the match, and droped their commitment for an additional 2 Milion Swiss Franks. So on September 25th, the match was stopped after 12 games. On October 17th the match continued in Jakarta with a purse of 1 Milion Swiss Franks (1/4 of what was originally announced) which was paid by FIDE. Karpov won the match quite convincingly (see here for more details) and became the new FIDE World Champion. The majority of chess public didn't recognize Karpov as the World Champion. Karpov was mocked as a 'paper Champion' and Kasparov was quick to remind Karpov that he was "given" the title for the second time in his career. Impact on the future Both PCA and FIDE organized it's own World Championship cycle (which had about the same format as previous cycles) with many players participating in both cycles. This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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Soon after Kasparov vs. Short match, the PCA started it's own World Championship cycle. The cycle was very similar to FIDE's cycle and many players participated in both cycles. On january 1st 1994, Intel announced sponsorship of the PCA, and the Intel Grand Prix (a series of rapid KO tournaments) is founded. Also the PCA publishes it's own rating list (on April 30th, 1994).
PCA Interzonal tournament Tournament was played in December 1993 in Groningen, The Netherlands.  Download games Only players with 6 points or more are listed (there were 54 players in total). See here for the whole table. First 7 qualified for the Candidates. PCA Candidates matches Interzonal qualifiers were joined by Short (previous challenger). Quarterfinals were 'best of 8 games', semi-finals were 'best from 10 games', and the final was 'best from 12 games'. In case of a tie, 2-game mini matches (at regular time controls) were played until the decision.  Download games Kamsky-Short semi-final match is one of those matches that will always be remembered because of the off-the-board antics. Kamsky catched a cold and was coughing heavelly at the board. At one point this annoyed Short so much that he told Kamsky, during the game (!), to drink some water to clear his throath. Of course speaking during the games is strictly forbiden, and the Kamsky camp (with Kamsky's father Rustam) filled a complaint after the game (which Kamsky has lost). There were also alegations of cheating and all sorts of different things (like counting the bathroom visits). At one point Rustam Kamsky even threatened Short with death . 12 years after this match when Short and Kamsky were following the Topalov-Kramnik World Championship match on Playchess.com, Short started to talk about their 1994 match. At first Kamsky didn't want to talk about it, but in the end he challenged Short to a fist fight!!! Read here.Anand qualified for the PCA World Championship match against Kasparov. 1995 PCA World Championship: Garry Kimovich Kasparov vs. Viswanathan Anand  Players Garry Kimovich Kasparov the reigning Champion. Kasparov continued his dominance in tournament play. Having been the most recognisable chess player (even to non chess followers) the whole marketing was based on him. He played many promotional games on TV and internet. Because of the main sponsor (Intel) he also played many games against the computers. As everything was so heavelly based on him, Kasparov soon got fed up with everything. Viswanathan Anand the challenger. Anand career started in 1983 when he won the Indian sub-Junior championship with a perfect score. In 1986 (aged 16) he won his first Indian championship and repeated the feat in the following two years. Since he didn't have any serious opposition, he never competed in another Indian championship again! In 1987 he won the World Junior Championship and became GM a year later (first GM from India). Anand was known for his unusual speed of play (he always played at blitz speed no matter what the time controls were) and was nick-named "the Ligthning Kid". He continued to play at blitz speed even when he reached the top level (beginning of 1990's) and played with players like Kasparov, Karpov, Short, Ivanchuk, etc. Only in recent years he has slowed down. In 1990 he took part in the World Championship cycle for the first time. He qualified for the Candidates where he convincingly won against Dreev in the first round, but narrowly lost to Karpov in the 2nd round. Anand's first major international tournament win came in late 1991 Reggio Emilia tournament where he finished first (ahead of Kasparov and Karpov). In 1992 he won Euwe memorial (together with Short), won a match against Ivanchuk (5-3), and won Alekhine memorial (together with Gelfand). In 1993 he tied with Karpov for 2nd place in Linares tournament (behind Kasparov), tied for first (with Kramnik and Short) in Amsterdam, tied for first (with Kramnik and Topalov) in Madrid. In 1994 he became the first person to win the blindfold and rapid section of the Melody Amber tournament. After the split, Anand participated in both PCA and FIDE cycle. He qualified for the Candidates in both of them. In FIDE Candidates he was eventually knocked out by Gata Kamsky, but he took revenge in the PCA Candidates by defeating Kamsky in the final. Match conditions:
The Match  Download games The match started evenly with neither player being able to break through. After 8 draws Anand scored the first win. Kasparov imediately countered by winning the next game with a model example of home-cooked preparation win (Kasparov blitzed his first 21 moves in 5 minutes). When Kasparov also won the next game, Anand somehow just fell apart and the match was virtually over. Kasparov declared after the match that Anand had been well prepared for chess, but not sufficiently prepared psychologically. Impact on the future Being fed up with doing all the work, in January 1996 Kasparov announced that the contract with Intel is finished, saying "I've had enough of being a slave to Intel for the benefit of the other players." PCA lost its main sponsor and soon colapsed, leaving Kasparov and his title without the governing organization. As he was still widely considered as the only "true" World Champion, the chess world made a step 60 years backwards when the title was a personal property of the champion, and when he could freely decide when, where, how and against whom he is going to defend it. This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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FIDE's new cycle was similar to previous cycles only that for the first time in history the reigning Champion (Karpov) had to qualify for the Championship. As it was agreed before the Timman-Karpov match, the Champion was seeded directly into the Candidates finals. Also if Karpov would qualify for the Championship match, he would have no Champions's advantage.
Many players participated in both FIDE and PCA cycles. Kasparov and Short were excluded from FIDE and their rating list, and were thus unable to participate (even if they wanted to). FIDE Interzonal tournament Tournament was played in July 1993 in Biel, Switzerland.  Download games Only players with 7.5 and more points are listed (there were 73 players in total - see here for the whole table). First 10 qualified for the Candidates (Anand qualified on the superior tie-break - sum of opponents rating). FIDE Candidates Interzonal qualifiers were joined by Jussupow and Timman (from the last cycle). Karpov (reigning Champion) was seeded directly into the finals. Quarterfinals and semi-finals were 'best of 8 games', the finals were 'best of 10 games'. In case of ties, 2-game mini matches (at rapid time controls) were played until the decision.  Download games At the finals in Hyderabad, Rustam Kamsky (Gata's father) was again in charge for the off-the-board entertainment. He accused the organizers of conspiring with Campomanes and Kasparov(?!) to make his son's life as difficult as possible during the match. It went so far that the organizer responded that they will never ever organize another event in which Kamsky participates. Rustam Kamsky was eventually fined by FIDE for his behaviour. Kamsky and Karpov qualified for the FIDE World Championship. 1996 FIDE World Championship: Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov vs. Gata Kamsky  Uncertainty The match was supposed to be held at about the same time as the PCA World Championship between Kasparov and Anand. However by July 1st 1995 (deadline for submiting the bids for the match) no bids were received. FIDE then extended the deadline to September 15th 1995, on condition that the match is organized and completed by end of 1995. No bids were received on that date either. In November 1995 at the FIDE Congress in Paris, Campomanes announces that he will resign if he is succeded by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. The delegates vote 95-3 that Ilyumzhinov is elected FIDE President for one year and that Campomanes is appointed Honorary Chairman for one year. Montreal (Canada) makes a bid to hold the FIDE title match, but it soon collapses. On march 7th FIDE announces that the title match will take place in Baghdad, Iraq!!! US Department immediatelly announces that Kamsky will not be allowed to travel to Iraq with an US passport. In April 1996, Ilyumzhinov decides that the match will take place in his home town, Elista in Russia. Players Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov the reigning Champion. In mid 1990's Karpov was still going strong and was the 2nd ranked player for most of this period. His finest hour came in 1994 Linares tournament with a world-class field (8 of the top 10 players on the world participated). It was the first Category 18 tournament ever held. Impressed by the strength of the tournament, Kasparov had said several days before the tournament that the winner could rightfully be called the world champion of tournaments. Perhaps spurred on by this comment, Karpov played the best tournament of his life. He was undefeated and scored 11 points out of 13 possible (the best world-class tournament winning percentage since Alekhine won San Remo in 1930), dominating second-place Kasparov and Shirov by 2.5 points. His tournament performance was a record breaking 2976 (this record stood until 2008 MTel Masters where it was "improved" for 1 ELO point by Ivanchuk). Gata Kamsky the challenger. Kamsky was a child prodigy. At the age of 12 he defeated GM Mark Taimanov (former World Championship candidate) in a tournament play, and was at that time the youngest person to defeat a GM in a serious game. By age of 15 he already won the Soviet U-20 championship twice. After that he and his family left the Soviet Union and moved to the United States. His first major international win came in 1990 Tilburg tournament where he shared for 1st place with Ivanchuk, ahead of Gelfand, Short and Timman. He went into a slump at the beginning of 1991 (finishing last in Reggio Emilia and Linares) but quickly improved his form by winning the US Championship and finishind 2nd (behind Gelfand) in Belgrade before the end of the year, and adding a 3rd place (behind Gelfand and Anand) in 1992 Alekhine memorial. In 1993 he finished 1st (with Shirov) in Buenos Aires. In 1994 he won the Las Palmas tournament (ahead of Karpov), shared a win (with Karpov and Adams) in 1995 Dos Hermanas, and finished 2nd (behind Karpov) in 1995 Groningen. Kamsky first participated in World Championship cycle in 1990 Manila Interzonal, when he was 16 years old and still untitled. He failed to qualify for the Candidates. 3 years later Kamsky participated in FIDE and PCA cycle and qualified for the Candidates on both occasions, where he battled two close matches against Anand in both cycles (all other matches he won fairly comfortably). While he was able to defeat Anand in FIDE Candidates, Anand took revenge in the PCA Candidates final. Remarkably for his youth, Kamsky reached both Candidates final (FIDE and PCA)! Match conditions:
When the disagreement had not been resolved by the eve of the first game, Ilyumzhinov decreed that the match agreement would be respected and that the games will be adjourned after 6 hours of play. If Kamsky decided not to play, his prize would be given to charity. The Match  Download games After hard fought games (with only one short draw) Karpov successfuly defended his FIDE title. Rustam Kamsky again caused for turmoils. While the games were in progress, GM Evgeny Vasiukov and IM Vladimir Gagarin used a backstage computer to analyze the games for the daily bulletin. Rustam Kamsky, fearing that the analysis was being transmitted to Karpov, tried to have it stopped. He gave a press conference after game 8 accusing Russians of cheating. The Appeals Committee decided that no wrong had been done, but banned chess playing programs from the computer room. After returning to USA, Rustam accused Russians, FIDE, KGB, even USCF and American media who were reporting about the match (and God knows who else) for conspiracy against his son. During the games Karpov was supposed to receive outside help from the whole gang of GM's equiped with computers. Also KGB supposed to threaten whole Kasmky's team with death (thats why they were afraid to speak out during the match) and so on. By end of 1996 Gata Kamsky played in two more tournaments, before retireing from chess (at 22 years!!!) to pursue a career in medicine (which he later swapped for law). He would later return to chess. Impact on the future This was the last cycle under the system (Zonals, Interzonals, Candidates, World Championship match) that was in use since 1948. After it was clear that PCA is about to collapse, there were various negotiations about the Kasparov-Karpov unification match. At one point Kasparov and Karpov even came to a general agreement to held reunification match outside of both FIDE and the PCA, but nothing came of it. With PCA collapsing and FIDE scraping the traditional world championship cycle, things were getting from bad to worse. This message has been edited. Last edited by: ebutaljib, |
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