Chess fever in the 1970s

In the 1970s, tournament chess began to attract a great deal of attention. At first, this was largely thanks to Bobby Fischer - his successes, his escapades and, finally, his victory over Boris Spassky in the 1972 World Championship match in Reykjavik. The match received extensive coverage all over the world. Anyone hoping that Fischer would now make a series of dazzling appearances at tournaments was soon disappointed. Fischer took his laurels, boarded a plane and disappeared. Not entirely, though. The new world champion continued to haunt chess magazines and newspapers like a phantom. From time to time, reports would claim that he was about to return, or that he had been spotted here or there. In fact, Fischer did not play a single tournament game as world champion, and it was another 20 years before he was finally seen at the chessboard again.

Master Class Vol.6: Anatoly Karpov

On this DVD a team of experts looks closely at the secrets of Karpov's games. In more than 7 hours of video, the authors examine four essential aspects of Karpov's superb play.

In 1975, Fischer was due to defend his title against the new challenger, Anatoly Karpov. However, Fischer made demands concerning the match conditions that could not be met and thus did not play. Karpov therefore became world champion without a contest, and the new international enthusiasm for chess soon transferred to him.

In many respects, Karpov was the complete opposite of Fischer. Where the tall American was loud and brash - "eccentric", as he was often described - the slight Karpov was reserved, almost inconspicuous. But unlike the now-vanished Fischer, Karpov was very much present on the tournament circuit. As the new world champion, he received numerous invitations and accepted most of them. And when he played, he did so in a manner worthy of a world champion, albeit in a very different style from Fischer.

Chess fever had spread particularly strongly in England. In 1972, the English millionaire Jim Slater had helped ensure that the World Championship match between Spassky and Fischer took place at all by increasing the prize fund. The match had been in serious doubt because the unpredictable Fischer had failed to arrive on time and had made additional financial demands, which Slater met.

Slater was also responsible for something of a chess boom in England when he offered £5,000 to the first English player to become a grandmaster. In the 1970s, £5,000 was worth considerably more than it is today, and the grandmaster title was still a relatively rare distinction. In 1976, Tony Miles duly became England's first grandmaster.

The BBC responded to chess' growing popularity. In 1976, it launched its legendary television series The Master Game, an innovative tournament format designed specifically for a television audience. These televised tournaments, featuring world-class players, continued until 1983. The German broadcaster NDR adapted several of the tournaments and showed them around Christmastime.

The BBC also produced a number of documentaries about chess tournaments. One of these programmes from the BBC archive has now been uploaded to YouTube. Entitled Where Karpov Is King, it examines the dominance of the new world champion. Some of the footage was filmed at the 1977 Interpolis Tournament in Tilburg. Among the great chess personalities of the period appearing on-screen are FIDE President Max Euwe, Vasily Smyslov, Jan Timman, Tony Miles and Robert Hübner.

Fritz 21

YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.