What, in your opinion, were the biggest chess rivalries in the last 50 years? In my mind, there were three: that between Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer, between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi, and then of course, between Karpov and Gary Kasparov.
The Spassky-Fischer rivalry happened so long ago. In 1972, they played their celebrated world chess championship match in Reykjavik and 20 years later in 1992, they sat down to relive their past glories in another 24-game match in a little-known Montenegro town called Stefi Stefan.
The Karpov-Korchnoi rivalry took off not long thereafter. It began in 1975 and went on through three world chess championship matches and for seven years. Technically though, it was through two world championship matches as their first match was only the final of the Candidates series. However, with Fischer refusing to defend his title in 1975, that match between Karpov and Korchnoi turned out to be the actual fight for the world title instead.
After losing the Candidates match in 1975, Korchnoi returned to challenge Karpov in their first world chess championship match three years ago. That match in Baguio became one of the most bizarre in chess history. Not only was it played against a political backdrop – Korchnoi had, by then, defected from the Soviet Union and been declared persona non-grata in the country – but the off-the-board controversies swirled around the Ananda Marga yogic sect, parapsychology and even coloured yoghurt.
For the first time too, the rules of a world chess championship match dictated that the match would be won by the first player to win six games with draws not counting. It was an ironical rule because the World Chess Federation (Fide) had not accepted this proposal of Fischer in 1975 (he proposed winning 10 games) but had now adopted it in 1978.
In any case, the match in Baguio went on for 32 games before Karpov finally overcame Korchnoi by a 6-5 scoreline. In 1978, this match set a new record as the world chess championship match with the most number of games, surpassing the 30-game match between Max Euwe and Alexander Alekhin in 1935.
Through his determination, Korchnoi came through the next rounds of Candidates matches to challenge Karpov yet again in 1981. However by then, Korchnoi was 50 years old and chess at the highest levels were becoming more difficult for him.
The match in Merano almost turned out to be a non-event. Karpov came out with all his cylinders firing and after the first four games, had opened a 3-0 lead. Korchnoi never recovered. Despite him winning two games, he conceded another three and the match ended 6-2 in Karpov’s favour after only 18 games.
Korchnoi’s failure to put up a better fight plus the fact that there were no controversies or off-the-board excitement this time around meant that the match was soon relegated to the back of chess players’ minds.
But there was an interesting development after this match. You remember the 1984 musical CHESS with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, formerly of ABBA?
While the story involved a romantic triangle between two top players – an American and a Russian – in a world chess championship and a woman who managed one of the players and fell in love with the other, all in the context of a Cold War struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, there was little doubt that the story was also partly inspired by the matches between Korchnoi and Karpov, especially so when the setting for the musical was also Merano where the two Ks had played their last match.
The end of the Korchnoi era in the world chess championship series marked the start of another great rivalry and this time, it was between Karpov and Kasparov. In 1984, Kasparov – the new chess wunderkind – had worked his way through the Candidates qualifying rounds to challenge Karpov for the title.
Even at that time, Kasparov was not one of the favourite sons of the Soviet Union. But he was a recognised chess prodigy and despite many obstacles in his path, he was the strongest player to emerge as Karpov’s challenger in 1984. Reluctantly, the Soviet authorities had to accept that at least, the world chess title would remain behind their borders.
Perhaps the ease with which Karpov had defeated Korchnoi three years earlier had lent much persuasion to Fide continuing with the “first player to win six games” policy but the disadvantage of this rule was laid bare for everyone to see in this match which began in September 1984 and ended in February 1985 with no conclusion reached.
Yes, even after 48 games – a new world record for games in a world chess championship match – there was no conclusion to the match because it was aborted controversially by Fide. Even till today, people are still divided about Fide’s decision.
All I will say about this match is that Karpov was unable to land the killer blow. After the first nine games, he was leading 4-0. He only needed to win two more games but he couldn’t do that. He allowed Kasparov to dig in with 17 consecutive drawn games before he could lengthen his lead to 5-0. After four more draws, Kasparov managed to win his first game. A series of 14 drawn games followed and then Kasparov won two games in a row. At that point, Fide decided that the match would be aborted and a new one be played from scratch later in the year. The “first player to win six games” rule would be scrapped and the match would revert to the old 24-game format.
The rest, of course, is history. In September 1985, the match began and two months later, Kasparov swept in as the new world champion by defeating Karpov 13-11. In 1986, he beat Karpov 12½-11½ to keep the title. In 1987, they drew 12-12 and in 1990, Kasparov again won 12½-11½. So in seven long years, the two players had met one another 144 times.
This September marks the 25th anniversary of the first match and I hear that the two great rivals have agreed to relive their epic 1984 duel by contesting a new match in Valencia, Spain.
However, this match is not expected to reflect the suspense of all their encounters and will be more of a ceremonial or publicity tournament. The match will be played over four days and the format will consist of four rapid play games and eight blitz games. But though the tension of 25 years ago will be gone, I’m pretty sure that this match will still continue to generate some interest among the chess community. If not for anything else, it’ll simply be for old times’ sake.