USSR vs. Rest of the World, Round 4 - Live, with commentary

by ChessBase
4/2/2020 – The ten best players of the Soviet Union play against the ten best players from the "Rest of the World". Today we will see the decisive fourth and last round. After three rounds the Soviet team leads 15.5-14.5. Live transmission of the games starts at 17.00 pm CEST (11.00 EDT, 15.00 UTC). With commentary by IM Merijn van Delft.

Master Class Vol.1: Bobby Fischer Master Class Vol.1: Bobby Fischer

No other World Champion was more infamous both inside and outside the chess world than Bobby Fischer. On this DVD, a team of experts shows you the winning techniques and strategies employed by the 11th World Champion.

Grandmaster Dorian Rogozenco delves into Fischer’s openings, and retraces the development of his repertoire. What variations did Fischer play, and what sources did he use to arm himself against the best Soviet players? Mihail Marin explains Fischer’s particular style and his special strategic talent in annotated games against Spassky, Taimanov and other greats. Karsten Müller is not just a leading international endgame expert, but also a true Fischer connoisseur.

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The "Match of the Century" is played on ten boards. The ten best players from the Soviet Union – including former World Champions Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov, Mihail Tal and Tigran Petrosian and current World Champion Boris Spassky – play against the ten best players from the "Rest of the World".

The venue is the Dom Sindikat in Belgrade. Four rounds will be played. Round four starts at 17:00 local time.

Games

 

Live commentary by Merijn van Delft

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adbennet adbennet 4/5/2020 04:12
Further to @lajosarpad comment, the actual 1970 USSR lineup had only five Russians. Russia by itself could not have taken on the Rest of the World. They would have had their hands full taking on the Rest of the USSR!
1. Boris Spassky - Russia
2. Tigran Petrosian - Armenia
3. Viktor Korchnoi - Russia
4. Lev Polugaevsky - Belarus
5. Efim Geller - Ukraine
6. Vassily Smyslov - Russia
7. Mark Taimanov - Russia
8. Mikhail Botvinnik - Russia
9. Mikhail Tal - Latvia
10. Paul Keres - Estonia
Reserve: Leonid Stein - Ukraine
John Maccormack John Maccormack 4/4/2020 12:58
Can someone show me how Portisch could have won his fourth round game against Korchnoi instead of taking a three move repetition draw? JXM
adbennet adbennet 4/3/2020 06:03
Petrosian vs Fischer round 4.
Accuracy: White=100%, Black=100%.
I have never seen that before.
Vidmar Vidmar 4/3/2020 12:04
Fischer hadn't played in eighteen months and was still highest rated in the world by 50 points. This is before the '71 Candidates and '72 WC matches !
Green22 Green22 4/2/2020 06:21
How come it is not a round robin where the players switch up? same 2 players play all 4 games?
sshivaji sshivaji 4/2/2020 09:22
Wont it be really cool if those alive amongst the original participants could provide commentary? Spassky, Hort, and Ivkov come to mind!
lajosarpad lajosarpad 4/2/2020 09:21
@adbennet this means that the commentary is pre-live. @Chessoutpost we need to take into account the fact that the Soviet Union was much bigger than nowadays Russia, encompassing Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, to name just a few.
Chessoutpost Chessoutpost 4/2/2020 04:48
I think this match was simply the best chess event in history outside of an Olympiad. And look how times have changed. The USSR roster had probably 10 of the top 20 players in the world at that time, and maybe even better than that. Now as I scan the FIDE ratings list, I see only (3) Russians in the top 20. I would love to see this same format with players from the 80s/90s so for the last time we could see Kasparov, Karpov, Timman, Short, Vaganian, etc play in one more match. It's not about the level of chess it's about the event. One last hurrah for all of the favorites from the 80's/90's. If we did the same match today with the highest rated players in the world, Russia would have only 7 players in the top 30 or so. I don't think they would stand a chance today. Chess has truly evolved into a global sport. Loved this event format though.
adbennet adbennet 4/2/2020 04:01
"Live commentary by IM Merijn van Delft"

Mr. van Delft was born only in 1979. :)
Petrosianic Petrosianic 4/1/2020 07:50
Spassky blundered!
Leavenfish Leavenfish 4/1/2020 05:43
This new chess I see....I can almost understand! The crystal clear play of Bobby destroying Petrosian is a thing to behold! My engines do not understand this crazy new stuff....Long live this new chess!
sshivaji sshivaji 3/31/2020 10:18
Why was Polugaevsky vs Hort agreed drawn. Looks like black can play on for a slight edge at least, white king is rather exposed.
sshivaji sshivaji 3/31/2020 09:25
Can the games be live broadcasted in sync with your local time zone? :) We have it bad with live sync in the US . Would love to see the games really live!
Vidmar Vidmar 3/31/2020 09:02
Fischer beats Petrosian again ! This is their board 2 he's destroying. To allow Rxf7 check was world class. Bobby must have seen the rest of the game.
MJFitch MJFitch 3/31/2020 06:28
Spassky simply DESTROYS Larsen...BRUTALLY (-:
Lovuschka Lovuschka 3/31/2020 10:22
Well, if the Soviets weren't so extremely strong, I'd say that Fischer could become World Champion one day. 34.c4 completely obliterated Petrosian's position.
anthonyy anthonyy 3/31/2020 08:56
my little finger tells me that Spassky will win a fantastic game with Black agains Larsen ...
companys companys 3/30/2020 10:25
The banner should be corrected for Hort as he played for Czechoslovakia back then.
Petrosianic Petrosianic 3/30/2020 05:41
If anybody is taking bets, who will give me the World and 2 points?
John Maccormack John Maccormack 3/30/2020 05:24
This is a great idea for all the chess-starved fans who are now holed up around the world! I can't wait for the match to begin. And I certainly won't cheat and do any research beforehand. Thanks ChessBase for thinking of us. JXM
Vidmar Vidmar 3/30/2020 05:03
Look at Petrosian's position at move 23 ). From '70 to '72, Bobby's chess was the strongest ever seen!
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