Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky in Reykjavík, to become the eleventh World Chess Champion. There are serious doubts as to whether Fischer will even turn up. His resolve remains in question throughout the early part of the match, amidst a barrage of disputes and demands. He plays badly in the first game and loses. The prospects look bleak when he fails to appear for the second game and is defaulted. From the third game onwards however, he quickly settles to his best form and outplays the defending champion, scoring seven wins, one loss and eleven draws. Officiated by Lothar Schmid, the match is pronounced a victory for the challenger, by a score of 12½-8½. Headline writers across the world follow the unfolding drama with great interest, sensationally describing the confrontation as "The Match of the Century", "East against West", "The introvert versus the extrovert". At the very least, the encounter ends twenty-five years of Soviet supremacy. Predictably, Fischer has his own, more extravagant claim—"It will probably be the greatest sports event in history. Bigger even than the Frazier-Ali fight".[1] After the match, Fischer gains instant celebrity status and even appears on the Bob Hope Show. Subsequently, the popularity of chess reaches new heights in the western world and sales of chess sets rise to record levels.
The Chess Olympiad at Skopje ends in victory for the USSR, scoring 42/60, with Hungary (40½/60) taking silver and Yugoslavia (38/60), the bronze team medals. Outstanding performances on board one come from Robert Hübner (gold), Vlastimil Hort (silver) and Walter Browne (bronze). A total of 444 players take part, representing 63 countries, although Albania withdraw after 10 rounds. For the first time, the Olympiad stages both Men's and Women's events concurrently at the same venue, although there is considerable disparity between the size of the two events—the Men's comprises teams of four bolstered by two reserves while the Women's can only support teams of two, with one reserve. The outcome of the Women's event once again favours the USSR (11½/14), ahead of Romania and Hungary (both 8/14).
San Antonio hosts the Church's fried chicken tournament (named after its sponsor) at the Hotel Hilton Palacio del Rio. Newly crowned world champion Fischer and deposed champion Spassky are invited, but decline entry. Fischer confirms that the playing conditions meet with his approval, but he is less complimentary about the prize fund. The list of entrants is nevertheless world-class and proceedings result in a three-way tie between Tigran Petrosian, Lajos Portisch and Anatoly Karpov.(all 10½/15).[2]
Three players share the spoils at the Reykjavík International in Iceland. Home favourite Fridrik Olafsson is declared winner on tie-break from fellow grandmasters Florin Gheorghiu and Vlastimil Hort (all 11/15).[6]
A triple tie occurs at the U.S. Championship, held in New York City. Robert Byrne shares the honours with Lubomir Kavalek and Samuel Reshevsky (all 9/13). The tournament doubles as a zonal qualifier for the next cycle of the world championship. A play-off held nine months later confirms Byrne as the overall winner.[8]
Six teams compete for the winners' trophy at the Clare-Benedict Team Tournament in Vienna. The champions are West Germany (14½/20), ahead of Netherlands (13/20), Spain (10½/20), England (10/20), Switzerland (7/20) and Austria, the host nation (5/20). Robert Hübner posts the best score on board one (4½/5), while Wolfgang Unzicker and Jan Timman perform well on board two (both 4/5).[9]
Comins Mansfield, a renowned composer of chess problems is among the recipients of the first title awards for Grandmaster of chess composition. He thereby becomes England's first chess player with a GM title.
After a period of imprisonment by the Communist authorities in Czechoslovakia, GM Ludek Pachman is finally allowed to leave the country. However, his exit to West Germany is made very costly, when he is forced to pay £750 ($1880) for passports for his family. He continues to protest to the United Nations about the Czech government's breaches of Human Rights legislation.[11]
Births
Alexei Shirov, Soviet-Spanish GM, a world championship finalist and elite circuit player - July 4
Loek van Wely, Dutch GM, six times the national champion - October 7
Vadim Milov, Soviet-Israeli-Swiss GM, highly rated tournament player - August 1
Alexei Fedorov, Soviet-Belarusian GM, former multiple national champion - September 27
United States 2785
Soviet Union 2660
Hungary 2640
Denmark 2625
