Defending champion | Challenger | |||||
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 Tigran Petrosian | Boris Spassky | |||||
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| Born 17 June 1929 36 years old | Born 30 January 1937 29 years old | |||||
| Winner of the 1963 World Chess Championship | Winner of the 1965 Candidates Tournament | |||||
A World Chess Championship was played between Tigran Petrosian and Boris Spassky in Moscow from April 9 to June 9, 1966. Petrosian won.
An interzonal tournament was held in Amsterdam in the Netherlands in May and June 1964. Six spots in the Candidates tournament were on the line.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vasily Smyslov (Soviet Union) | – | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
| 2 |  Bent Larsen (Denmark) | ½ | – | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
| 3 | Boris Spassky (Soviet Union) | ½ | 0 | – | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
| 4 | Mikhail Tal (Soviet Union) | ½ | ½ | ½ | – | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
| 5 | Leonid Stein (Soviet Union) | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | – | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16½ |
| 6 | David Bronstein (Soviet Union) | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | – | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 |
| 7 |  Borislav Ivkov (Yugoslavia) | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | – | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| 8 |  Samuel Reshevsky (United States) | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | – | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14½ |
| 9 |  Lajos Portisch (Hungary) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | – | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14½ |
| 10 | Svetozar Gligorić (Yugoslavia) | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | – | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| 11 |  Klaus Darga (West Germany) | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | – | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 13½ |
| 12 | Levente Lengyel (Hungary) | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | – | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| 13 |  Luděk Pachman (Czechoslovakia) | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | – | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 12½ |
| 14 | Larry Evans (United States) | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | – | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 10 |
| 15 |  Georgi Tringov (Bulgaria) | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 9½ |
| 16 | Pal Benko (United States) | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | – | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 9 |
| 17 |  Héctor Rossetto (Argentina) | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | – | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 18 | Alberto Foguelman (Argentina) | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | – | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 19 | István Bilek (Hungary) | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | – | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 8 |
| 20 |  Oscar Quiñones (Peru) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | – | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 7 |
| 21 |  Yosef Porat (Israel) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | – | 0 | ½ | ½ | 5½ |
| 22 |  Francisco José Pérez (Cuba) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 23 |  Béla Berger (Australia) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | – | 0 | 4½ |
| 24 |  Zvonko Vranesic (Canada) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | – | 4 |
Since FIDE rules only allowed a maximum of three players from the same nation to qualify from the interzonal, Stein and Bronstein were ineligible. Instead Ivkov qualified. The sixth and final place in the Candidates Tournament was decided in a 4-game playoff in which Portisch beat Reshevsky 2½–½.
Bobby Fischer, the winner of the previous Interzonal in 1962, declined his invitation, despite qualifying by winning the 1963–64 US Championship. [1]
After the controversy surrounding the previous Candidates tournament, the 1965 tournament was the first to be played as a knock-out series of matches.
Two players were seeded directly into the tournament: Mikhail Botvinnik (loser of the last championship match) and Paul Keres (2nd place in the 1962 Candidates). Botvinnik declined, and his place was taken by Efim Geller, who finished 3rd in the 1962 Candidates.
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | |||||||||||
| Riga, Apr 1965 | |||||||||||||
| Boris Spassky | 6 | ||||||||||||
| Riga, May–June 1965 | |||||||||||||
| Paul Keres | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Boris Spassky | 5½ | ||||||||||||
| Moscow, Apr 1965 | |||||||||||||
| Efim Geller | 2½ | ||||||||||||
| Vasily Smyslov | 2½ | ||||||||||||
| Tbilisi, Nov 1965 | |||||||||||||
| Efim Geller | 5½ | ||||||||||||
| Boris Spassky | 7 | ||||||||||||
| Bled, June–July 1965 | |||||||||||||
| Mikhail Tal | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Bent Larsen | 5½ | ||||||||||||
| Bled, July–Aug 1965 | |||||||||||||
| Borislav Ivkov | 2½ | ||||||||||||
| Bent Larsen | 4½ | Third place | |||||||||||
| Bled, June–July 1965 | |||||||||||||
| Mikhail Tal | 5½ | ||||||||||||
| Lajos Portisch | 2½ | ||||||||||||
| Bent Larsen | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Mikhail Tal | 5½ | ||||||||||||
| Efim Geller | 4 | ||||||||||||
Spassky won, earning the right to challenge champion Petrosian for the title.
Larsen and Geller played a third place playoff in Copenhagen, Denmark in March 1966. Larsen won 5–4.
The match was played as best of 24 games, with the champion (Petrosian) retaining the title in the event of a 12–12 tie.
While Petrosian retained the title with a 12–10 lead after Game 22, he and Spassky decided to play the final two games anyway. [2]
This was the first World Chess Championship match since 1934 in which the reigning World Chess Champion defeated his opponent.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tigran Petrosian (Soviet Union) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 12½ |
| Boris Spassky (Soviet Union) | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 11½ |
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Russian and former Soviet chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. Spassky played three world championship matches: he lost to Tigran Petrosian in 1966; defeated Petrosian in 1969 to become world champion; then lost to Bobby Fischer in a famous match in 1972.
Tigran Vardani Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster and the ninth World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style, which emphasized safety above all else. Petrosian is often credited with popularizing chess in Armenia.
Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal was a Soviet and Latvian chess player and the eighth World Chess Champion. He is considered a creative genius and is widely regarded as one of the most influential players in chess history. Tal played in an attacking and daring combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability. Vladislav Zubok said of him, "Every game for him was as inimitable and invaluable as a poem".
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who was the seventh World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions. Smyslov twice tied for first place at the USSR Chess Championships, and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won is an all-time record. In five European Team Championships, Smyslov won ten gold medals.
Paul Keres was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five occasions. As Estonia was repeatedly invaded and occupied during World War II, Keres was forced by the circumstances to represent the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany (1941–44) in international tournaments.
Leonid Zakharovych Stein was a Soviet chess Grandmaster from Ukraine. He won three USSR Chess Championships in the 1960s, and was among the world's top ten players during that era.
Jørgen Bent Larsen was a Danish chess grandmaster and author. Known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play, he was the second-strongest non-Soviet player, behind only Bobby Fischer, for much of the 1960s and 1970s. He is considered to be the strongest player born in Denmark and the strongest from Scandinavia until the emergence of Magnus Carlsen.
This is a timeline of chess.
Robert Eugene Byrne was an American chess player and chess author who held the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). He won the U.S. Championship in 1972, and was a World Chess Championship Candidate in 1974. Byrne represented the United States nine times in Chess Olympiads from 1952 to 1976 and won seven medals. He was the chess columnist from 1972 to 2006 for The New York Times, which ran his final column on November 12, 2006. Byrne worked as a university professor for many years, before becoming a chess professional in the early 1970s.
Oscar Roberto Panno is an Argentine chess Grandmaster.
Efim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions. He won four Ukrainian SSR Championship titles and shared first in the 1991 World Seniors' Championship, winning the title outright in 1992. His wife Oksana was a ballet dancer while his son Alexander was also a chess master. Geller was coach to World Champions Boris Spassky and Anatoly Karpov. He was also an author.
Lajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest non-Soviet players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated in twelve consecutive Interzonals from 1962 through 1993, qualifying for the World Chess Championship Candidates Cycle a total of eight times. Portisch set several all-time records in Chess Olympiads. In Hungarian Chess Championships, he either shared the title or won it outright a total of eight times. He won many strong international tournaments during his career. In 2004, Portisch was awarded the title of 'Nemzet Sportolója', Hungary's highest national sports achievement award.
Borislav Ivkov was a Serbian chess Grandmaster. He was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal tournaments, in 1967, 1970, 1973, and 1979.
Dragoljub Janošević (Janosevic) was a Yugoslav chess Grandmaster.
At the World Chess Championship 1963, Tigran Petrosian narrowly qualified to challenge Mikhail Botvinnik for the World Chess Championship, and then won the match to become the ninth World Chess Champion. The cycle is particularly remembered for the controversy surrounding the Candidates' Tournament at Curaçao in 1962, which resulted in FIDE changing the format of the Candidates Tournament to a series of knockout matches.
Events in chess in 1962:
The 1969 World Chess Championship was played between Tigran Petrosian and Boris Spassky in Moscow from April 14 to June 17, 1969. This was the second consecutive time Petrosian and Spassky played for the world title. Spassky reversed the previous result; winning the world title and becoming the tenth World Chess Champion.
The 1975 World Chess Championship was not played due to a dispute over the match format. Champion Bobby Fischer was to play Anatoly Karpov in Manila, commencing June 1, 1975. Fischer refused to play the then-standard "Best of 24 games" match and, after FIDE was unable to work out a compromise, forfeited his title instead. Karpov was named World Champion by default on April 3, 1975.
Events in chess in 1971;
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi was a Soviet and Swiss chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion.
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