World Chess Championship 1975

The 1975 World Chess Championship was never played due to a dispute over the match format. Champion Bobby Fischer (United States) was to play Anatoly Karpov (Soviet Union) in Manila, commencing June 1, 1975.

Fischer refused to play the standard "Best of 24 games" match, instead asking for a "First to win 10 games" format. He also requested that the champion retain the title in the event of a 9–9 score. As a compromise, FIDE offered a "Best of 36 games and must win 10 of them" format. Fischer refused and telegrammed his resignation as FIDE World Champion. FIDE then agreed to a "First to win 10 games" match, but did not concede the 9–9 score request. Deadlines were extended for Fischer's reconsideration, but he did not respond, so Karpov was named World Champion by default on April 3, 1975.

1973 Interzonal tournaments

Two 18 player, single round robin Interzonals were played with the top three from each qualifying for the Candidates Tournament. Leningrad and Petropolis, Brazil were the venues.

June 1973 Interzonal, Leningrad
Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total Tie break
1  Viktor Korchnoi (Soviet Union) 2635 - ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 1 13½ 108.25
2  Anatoly Karpov (Soviet Union) 2545 ½ - ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 13½ 104.25
3  Robert Byrne (United States) 2570 0 ½ - ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 12½
4  Jan Smejkal (Czechoslovakia) 2570 ½ 0 ½ - 0 0 ½ ½ 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11
5  Robert Hübner (West Germany) 2600 0 ½ ½ 1 - 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 10 79.50
6  Bent Larsen (Denmark) 2620 0 ½ 0 1 1 - 1 0 0 ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 10 75.00
7  Gennady Kuzmin (Soviet Union) 2565 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 - 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 9½
8  Mikhail Tal (Soviet Union) 2655 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 - 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 0 0 1 0 1 8½ 67.25
9  Svetozar Gligorić (Yugoslavia) 2595 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 1 0 - ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 1 8½ 64.00
10  Mark Taimanov (Soviet Union) 2595 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ - ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 8½ 63.00
11  Miguel Quinteros (Argentina) 2480 0 0 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ - 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 7½ 55.75
12  Ivan Radulov (Bulgaria) 2510 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 - 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 7½ 49.50
13  Wolfgang Uhlmann (East Germany) 2550 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 - ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 7 51.75
14  Eugenio Torre (Philippines) 2430 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ - ½ 1 1 1 7 45.00
15  Josip Rukavina (Yugoslavia) 2460 1 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ - 0 1 ½ 6½
16  Vladimir Tukmakov (Soviet Union) 2560 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1 - ½ 1 6
17  Guillermo Estévez Morales (Cuba) 2385 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ - 1 4½
18  Miguel Cuéllar (Colombia) 2400 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 - 1½

Korchnoi, Karpov, and Byrne qualified for the Candidates Tournament.

July–August 1973 Interzonal, Petropolis
Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total Tie break
1  Henrique Mecking (Brazil) 2575 - ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 12
2  Efim Geller (Soviet Union) 2585 ½ - ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 0 1 1 1 11½ 89.50
3  Lev Polugaevsky (Soviet Union) 2640 ½ ½ - 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 11½ 88.00
4  Lajos Portisch (Hungary) 2645 ½ ½ 0 - ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 11½ 85.50
5  Vasily Smyslov (Soviet Union) 2600 0 ½ ½ ½ - 0 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 11
6  David Bronstein (Soviet Union) 2585 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 - 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 0 10½
7  Vlastimil Hort (Czechoslovakia) 2610 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 - 1 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 10
8  Vladimir Savon (Soviet Union) 2570 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 - ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 9½
9  Borislav Ivkov (Yugoslavia) 2535 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ - ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 9 72.75
10  Ljubomir Ljubojević (Yugoslavia) 2570 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ - 0 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 9 67.50
11  Samuel Reshevsky (United States) 2575 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 - 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 8½
12  Oscar Panno (Argentina) 2580 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 - ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 8 62.50
13  Paul Keres (Soviet Union) 2605 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ - ½ ½ 1 1 1 8 54.25
14  Florin Gheorghiu (Romania) 2530 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ - 1 ½ ½ 1 7½
15  Peter Biyiasas (Canada) 2395 ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 - ½ 1 1 6½
16  Tan Lian Ann (Singapore) 2365 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ - ½ 0 3 22.00
17  Werner Hug (Switzerland) 2445 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ - ½ 3 20.25
18  Shimon Kagan (Israel) 2405 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ - 3 19.50

Mecking qualified outright for the Candidates Tournament, while the three players tied for second place contested a playoff in Portoroz for the remaining two spots.

September 1973 playoff, Portoroz
Rating 1 2 3 Total
1  Lajos Portisch (Hungary) 2650 - 11== =1== 5½
2  Lev Polugaevsky (Soviet Union) 2625 00== - 110= 3½
3  Efim Geller (Soviet Union) 2605 =0== 001= - 3

Portisch and Polugaevsky qualified.

1974 Candidates tournament

The 1974 Candidates Tournament was played as knockout matches. Spassky as the loser of the last championship match and Petrosian as loser of the previous candidates final were seeded directly into the tournament and joined by the top three from each of the two interzonals.

The first round matches were first to win three games, draws not counting. Semifinals were first to four wins, while the final was first to five wins but with a maximum of 24 games. Karpov beat Korchnoi 3-2 with 19 draws, earning the right to challenge Fischer.

  Quarterfinals
 Semifinals
 Final
                           
  Moscow, Jan-Feb 1974
   Soviet Union Anatoly Karpov 5½  
   Soviet Union Lev Polugaevsky 2½     Leningrad, Apr-May 1974
     Soviet Union Anatoly Karpov 7  
San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jan 1974    Soviet Union Boris Spassky 4  
   Soviet Union Boris Spassky 4½
   United States Robert Byrne 1½     Moscow, Sep-Nov 1974
     Soviet Union Anatoly Karpov 12½
  Augusta, Georgia, USA 1974      Soviet Union Viktor Korchnoi 11½
   Soviet Union Viktor Korchnoi 7½  
   Brazil Henrique Mecking 5½     Odessa, Apr 1974
     Soviet Union Viktor Korchnoi 3½
Palma de Mallorca 1974    Soviet Union Tigran Petrosian (forfeit) 1½  
   Soviet Union Tigran Petrosian 7
   Hungary Lajos Portisch 6  

The semifinal stage was marked by the presence of two ex-champions, Petrosian and Spassky, playing in different matches. The two had faced each other in the 1966 and 1969 title matches. Both were eliminated in this stage of the current cycle. Although the match rules called for four wins in the semifinals, Petrosian resigned the match after losing three games. He then attempted, through political means, to have the result of the match reversed.

Further reading

External links

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