All language subtitles for Closing.Gambit.1978.Korchnoi.Versus.Karpov.And.The.Kremlin.2018.720p.BluRay.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

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(applauding)

- [Narrator] In 1975, in the Philippines,

two warriors, Muhammad
Ali and Joe Frazier,

had already fought a bitter
head-to-head contest.

(suspenseful music)

(applauding)

Three years after the Thrilla in Manila,

Karpov and Korchnoi were to
fight the Battle of Baguio.

- It wasn't just the ideological battle,

it was a major clash of personalities.

(ticking)

Korchnoi and Karpov hated each other.

They loathed each other.

(ticking)

- Just a clear demonstration
of KGB dirty tricks.

(crowd chanting)

- Viktor had no doubts
he would be assassinated.

- So if you were going
to write a movie script,

you couldn't have done it better.

- They have been spying on me

ever since I landed at the airport.

(laughing)

Everywhere I go, they spy on me!

Everywhere I go, they spy on me.

- The whole Red Army against me.

(suspenseful music)

- Chess has been viewed
since Stalin's time

as an intellectual tool to
demonstrate the superiority,

intellectual superiority,

of Communist regime
over the decadent West.

- In the Soviet Union,
there was a number of things

that the society prized above many others:

poetry,

ballet,

chess.

These three areas that the Soviets

absolutely prided themselves on,

invested billions of rubles,

in the West were virtually overlooked.

- The Soviets weren't
interested in chess per se,

they were interested in winning.

- It was a part of propaganda.

- Chess was held in such high esteem.

There was this system of what
was called Pioneer Houses,

and every district of a large city,

and then smaller cities as well,

there would be a Pioneer
House with a chess coach.

- They had the best books,
they had best trainers,

they had the best tournaments,

and it all led to this
Soviet Chess School.

- After the second World
War, they changed the title

amongst themselves, it
was internal business,

and while the rest of the
world admired their chess,

there was nothing much
more we could do about it.

(speaking foreign language)

(jazz music)

- This was this intellectual prize

that the Soviets possessed,

and they absolutely were
determined to keep it.

- Which is why all the
people who were in control

in the Soviet Union, in the
Soviet Chess Federation,

were not chess players.

They were people from
the party from the KGB.

- If they think you didn't
perform up to your potential,

they could punish you
by many different ways.

- It just happened silently

and nobody would object or complain,

because to object or
complain would be dangerous.

- There was a tradition in Soviet chess

of failure being punished,

and when Taimanov lost 6-0 to Fischer,

he had all sorts of state
privileges withdrawn.

- In 1972, Bobby Fischer,
Boris Spassky meet.

It's the Capitalist, the
Communist, the Cold War.

(crowd cheers)

- Fischer was really a
lonesome hero of the West,

fighting against the whole system.

- [Narrator] Fischer lost the first game

due to an inexplicable blunder,

and blamed the whirring sound

of nearby cameras for his loss.

When he failed to appear
for the second game,

because he wanted the cameras removed,

the KGB sent Boris Spassky a telegram,

ordering him to return to Moscow.

The KGB wanted to abandon the match

and retain the World Championship title.

Spassky, however, refused the KGB's order.

When Fischer returned to
play and win the third game,

the Soviets had lost the
off-the-board contest.

Spassky then went on to lose the match

and the World Chess Championship.

- Losing the match to an American,

almost a hippie-like
player, an individual,

that was a big blow to
the Soviet authorities.

- When Spassky lost to Fischer,

he found himself feeling very
uncomfortable in the USSR.

- They had the rule

that the prizes were not taxed,

and so Spassky received full amount,

which was, even for
leaders of the country,

it was huge amount.

Then he was not very modest,

so he created waves against him.

- The Russians really learned
from their loss to Fischer.

They decided that you could
no longer take prisoners.

(applauding)

- [Narrator] Six years
later, the world's press

would again be camped at
another Word Chess Championship.

But this time, its roots
were in another war.

(bombs whistling)

The Second World War,
(cannons firing)

and the Siege of Leningrad,

(loud explosions)

where a young Viktor Korchnoi

faced starvation and death every day.

- In 1937, his father
teached him to play chess.

He was six years old.

His father died in the
Russian army in November 1941,

and he was very often alone.

God knows where his mother was,

and sometimes his stepmother went

to the death relatives of the family

just to take the coupons for bread.

- He was starving there,

and no doubt it had
very big impact on him.

- It's very hard, if
not simply impossible,

to separate Viktor the person

from Viktor the chess competitor,

because he lived for chess.

- He could not live without chess.

He could not even breathe without chess.

- It was everything.

It was water, oxygen, and without that,

he would probably die.

- When he wrote Chess Is My Life,

that basically summed it up.

- He had in life, only chess.

He had some other interests, but still,

the main interest, 100%, was chess.

- He also found it a bit
confusing that other people

weren't quite as passionate
about chess as he was.

- Viktor consumed vast amounts of time

trying to find the best move.

- And during that time,

his senses are like a
Ferrari in fifth gear.

- What Korchnoi did is to
show that it's a fight.

It doesn't matter if
you're better or worse.

- He liked chaos.

It was, in his hands, it was
probably controlled chaos,

but it was still chaos.

- He would accept bad positions
for the sheer mental energy

of solving the problem, getting out of it,

and perhaps even winning.

- Korchnoi belongs to a small
group of big chess players.

But Batynik needed to hate the opponent,

and Korchnoi was clear
follower of Batynik.

- One of Korchnoi's nicknames
was Viktor the Terrible.

He was so provocative.

- For him, chess definitely was a form

of psychological warfare.

- Like a dragon or something.

Could be very quiet, but as
soon as you would tickle him,

then a fire coming from his mouth!

- Steam coming out of his ears.

I mean, he was huffing and puffing

and smacking the pieces down on the board.

- I have played Korchnoi many times,

and have been irritated by him

the same number of times I've played him.

- I managed to beat him
and he shook my hand

with absolute disgust and disdain.

Everything about his body language said,

"How can I lose to you?"

- He was very bad loser.

When he was losing his games,

he started insulting his opponent.

- He said, "What is it?"

And I said, "Well, I'm a pawn up."

He said, "Pawns, pawns
are for schoolboys."

- He looked at me and he said,

"Young man, you're a very
superficial chess player

"and I could've beaten you if I wanted."

- Korchnoi played Mohammed Al-Modiahki,

the Qatari Grandmaster, and
he leant across the board

and said, "Do you speak English?"

To which he replied, "Yes."

And he said, "Then why don't you resign?"

(chuckles)

- How can you say something like this?

Even to your worst enemy, you
don't interrupt he thinking.

- Sometimes Korchnoi went too far,

but it's because of his passion.

- Destroying whoever was
sitting in front of him

was very much part of it,

but I thought it was a badge of honour.

- Viktor Korchnoi the Terrible, indeed.

- But everything for his chess career.

He could sacrifice everything for that.

He became a member of
Communist Party in 1965.

And the other Grandmasters,

or a lot of other Grandmasters,

they didn't.

- If you think of any
adjective to describe Viktor,

think of the opposite adjective

and you've probably got Karpov.

(thoughtful music)

- [Narrator] Anatoly Karpov, or Tolya,

as he was affectionately
nicknamed, was 20 years younger.

He was also a child of the new,

post-Stalin Russia under Khrushchev.

- He had very good first trainer.

It was maybe always replacement of father.

It was Mr Furman.

- When he came onto the
scene, Anatoly Karpov played

with remarkable speed.

There was no one like him.

- 1970, he becomes World Junior Champion.

1971, he wins, along with Leonid Stein,

his first super tournament
being only 20 years old.

1973, he shares with Korchnoi

first-second in an interzonal tournament.

- New star is born.

- No one could really
touch him during that time.

You know he just
dominated the chess world.

- He was the ideal Soviet citizen.

Like their first cosmonaut,
someone like this.

People had posters of him
on their wall at home,

boys and girls.

- From a very young age,
he was in the front yard

of this Communist Youth Movement.

He just always played
this role of our boy.

- Karpov was a loyal soldier
of the Communist Party.

He found it more accommodating to be loyal

and receive all the
benefits of the superstar.

- I don't know whether
Karpov was KGB agent,

but I'm pretty sure he was a
faithful son of his motherland.

- He's been called the Ice Man.

He's cool, calculated,
avoids risks wherever he can.

- When I've been interviewing
Karpov during a tournament,

you have to struggle a little bit

to get a good soundbite out of him.

- Stylistically, they
said he's a dull player.

I don't think he was dull at all.

- In a way, Magnus Carlsen play now

reminds me very much young Karpov.

He had unprecedented feeling

for how to put pieces in support.

- He'd play a few moves and
you'll play a few moves,

and then suddenly you're a bit worse,

and you're not quite sure how it happened.

- Karpov is not even so
interested in his own plan,

but he will keep on foiling yours.

- You give him a chance, he
immediately grabs the chance.

Whatever happened one
move ago, he doesn't care.

So he starts playing from scratch.

This is kind of a machine-like quality.

- Even when he was very short on time,

not only good moves,
it was the best moves.

- When you get into very unusual schemes,

he can lose his orientation.

Most famous example is Tony Miles.

In Skara in 1980, he played 1...e6,

which is one of the
most embarrassing moves

on the chess board, and he beat Karpov,

and Karpov didn't even mind the loss,

he was offended at the opening.

- It's normal when you discuss a game,

you try and find out what is
the truth of the position.

But for Karpov, this had no relevance.

What he wanted to do was
to show his superiority.

- The way Karpov behaved off the board,

to gain a little advantage
or psychological advantage

against his opponents,
that was just Karpov.

- If you ever start to underestimate him,

you do so at your peril.

- [Narrator] Having successfully qualified

through the 1973 Candidates Tournament,

both Karpov and Korchnoi were now through

to the quarterfinals of
the knockout match system,

but their disagreement in
the last round at Leningrad

was the start of their bitter rivalry.

- So, we were leading,

and then we came with
the same number of points

to the last round.

Then Korchnoi approached me and he said,

"Tomorrow we play last
round, we both qualify.

"But you understand, I played
better this tournament,

"so it wouldn't be correct
if you win the tournament.

"That's why I offer two draws.

"You make draw with Toray,

"and then I make draw with
Hubner, do you agree?"

Then I said, "Viktor, I don't understand.

"We played nice tournament.

"Why should I offer draw on Toray?

"Who wins tomorrow,
that will be the winner

"of the tournament."

So, I beat Toray very quick.

Maybe 21, 22 moves.

And then Korchnoi had to suffer,

then there were applauses.

So we realised Korchnoi won the game,

and Korchnoi was passing me and he said,

"You forced me to beat Hubner."

(chuckles)

- [Narrator] As Korchnoi and
Karpov started their cycle

of matches to decide who
would challenge Fischer

for the World Championship in 1975,

the young Karpov had already
decided that it was unlikely

that he would beat Fischer.

- I said "This is not my cycle."

and so I thought maybe
I had lack of experience

of matches, first of all.

But then, I crashed to Pulyadevsky.

And then with Spassky,

which I had some physical
preparations on the Baltic Sea,

which is very cold and on the ice,

and then it was strong
wind, and I got sick,

I had the fever.

And then I called organisers
and I said, "Let's postpone."

They said, "But you know,
we invited so many people,

"so this is big event."

So I couldn't postpone the first game,

I had to play ill.

I started with the loss with white pieces,

and after this, I beat Spassky
four games almost in a row.

- Beating Spassky in
1974, which I think was

one of the peaks of Karpov's career,

Spassky played much better than regular,

and he still lost.

- After this match with Spassky

and my fantastic preparation,

I changed my openings.

I thought, "Now, I can
fight for world champion."

- [Narrator] When Karpov
and Korchnoi won through

to the final, it already looked likely

that Fischer wouldn't play either of them.

The final of the candidates' match

was now increasingly looking as though

it could decide the
world champion himself.

- Then, he approached each
person in press centre,

and we had many mutual
friends, and he said,

"We meet with Karpov in the
final, and now you must choose

"with whom you continue your relations,

"with me or with Karpov."

It is not strange.

So many people, even
old friends of Korchnoi,

they were surprised and they told me

what his strange behaviour.

- The Soviets had really
made the decision,

Anatoly was going to be the
challenger to Bobby Fischer.

- If anyone could fight against
Fischer, it could be Karpov,

because he was younger than Fischer.

- With Korchnoi, we
were on very good terms.

We did mutual preparation
before, in '71 and '72,

but in '74, he was complaining

officials were not on his side.

But he did everything.

Officials should be on my side. (laughs)

- Viktor says it at the
start of one of his books:

"I was no wunderkind.

"I was no wonder child."

Whereas Karpov, his talent
was one of the biggest

in the history of chess,
so he was given everything.

- Officials wanted to
have this match in Moscow.

But that time, we both lived in Leningrad.

He said that he would
prefer to play in Leningrad,

and I was not against.

And then I said, "It's okay.

"Let's make agreement.

"I want to play at five o'clock,"

and this was only my condition.

So I went to Minister of Sport.

He said, "Okay, if you both
want to play in Leningrad,

"what to do?

"Play in Leningrad."

- This was a fascinating clash of styles.

It almost was like their
personalities as well,

because Karpov was quite reserved,

whereas Korchnoi, he likes
to put himself out there,

he likes to provoke people.

- The first minute I enter
my apartment, telephone.

Korchnoi, he said, "I don't
agree to start our games

"at five o'clock.

"I would insist to start at three,"

and he knew quite well
that I am late bird.

Then I said, "Viktor, we agreed,

"with witness, your close
friend and my close friend."

Immediately I rang the ministry.

I said, "We can play at
Tbilisi, we can play Yerevan,"

(laughing) "we can play Kiev, Moscow."

And then he said, "But we
want you to play Moscow."

I said, "Anywhere, but not Leningrad."

And then he said, "If
Korchnoi doesn't know

"how to keep the word,
then my position will be

"you play in Moscow and we start
the games at five o'clock."

And from this, Korchnoi said, "Okay,

"officials are on the Karpov side."

- The system was really
behind Anatoly Karpov.

(applauding)

- [Korchnoi] They are
shouting, "Smash him!

"Well done, Tolya!

"Smash him, Tolya!"

All these shouts which
are made by the Soviets,

very artificial, because I am
always thinking at the board.

He is playing quickly, well, he's genius.

I'm working hard.

- [Narrator] Korchnoi eventually
lost the 24-game match

by the slender margin of one point.

But whereas Karpov had received the help

of the best chess brains in Russia,

Korchnoi felt that it was no coincidence

that the top grand masters
who wanted to help him,

such as previous world
champion Vasily Smyslov

and challenger David Bronstein,

had been sent away from
Moscow for six weeks.

They both returned to Moscow
after the match had finished.

- It was unfair conditions.

Top, top grand masters
wanted to help Korchnoi,

and they had to do it surreptitiously

with phone calls in the middle
of the night from payphones

so that the KGB couldn't listen in.

- At the end of the match,

Karpov weighted only 45 kilogrammes.

This is a dangerous weight.

- Viktor Korchnoi could accept this loss

and he had made some bad
remarks about Karpov,

after which his career was in danger.

- He was talking about Karpov
not being as a good player,

someone who is just lucky.

- In Communist time yeah
you know some comments

(sighs) were not accepted.

- Korchnoi was made to suffer
by the Soviet authorities.

That would have built up
this kind of bitterness

and rancour against the Soviet system,

and against this one man, Karpov.

- [Narrator] When Korchnoi

was punished for incorrect behaviour

and forbidden from travelling abroad

to play chess, his bitter rival,

former world champion Tigram Petrosian,

was the first to
criticise him in the press

and call for his punishment.

- Petrosian disqualified
Korchnoi for one year.

I was concentrated on my
preparation with Fischer,

and I didn't know what Federation did.

- [Narrator] Karpov was calculating.

He had to steer his own path
through this Soviet minefield.

- Only after beat Korchnoi,
people started to believe

that maybe he can beat Fischer.

- But Bobby wasn't playing;

Bobby was mired in this incredible
doomsday Christian cult.

Bobby had his demons.

- Fischer couldn't make himself

ready to play against Karpov.

Karpov was a player that
Fischer didn't know,

and Fischer was always afraid

of something that the didn't know.

- Karpov didn't have the
chance to beat Fischer,

so he had to prove himself
as a world champion

in some other way, and
he managed to do that.

He's quite impressive.

He won almost every tournament he played.

- It was the first world champion

who really was not afraid
to face challenges.

- [Narrator] After Karpov had won back

the World Chess Championship,

the restrictions on Korchnoi were lifted.

To the the Sports
Committee, Korchnoi was just

a troublesome yesterday man.

- Korchnoi realised that

he wouldn't be able to win the title

while staying the Soviet Union.

- Chess professionals were
not independent contractors.

They all were paid by the state,

their trips to the West were
sanctioned by the state.

- The state provides you
with all life opportunities,

and in return, it demands 100% conformity.

- Viktor Korchnoi pleaded many times,

"I like to decide myself where I am going,

"when I am going, which
tournament I am playing,

"and not the Sport Committee
who is deciding for me."

- The Soviet Union, it is not
allowed to tell, normally,

like in the Western, in the free world.

- So Viktor Korchnoi
realised that the only way

to continue his profession
was to leave the Soviet Union.

(tense music)

- [Reporter] Impossible
doesn't seem to be a word

that's recognised any longer
by determined escapists

with friends on the other side.

(people yelling)

- In the beginning of 1976 in January,

Viktor and me, we played in Hastings.

- To obtain his visa
Korchnoi needed some support,

so I gave him guarantee that
he can go and nothing happens.

- [Sosonoko] We were walking,
discussing only one problem:

how, for Viktor, it's easier
to leave Soviet Union.

They will not give him
permission because he was

one of the leading Soviet
chess grand masters.

- We met in Hastings and we drank whiskey

for the whole night.

And he was very open.

I gave him even some
tip, where should he go.

- Most easy solution: play
in a tournament abroad

and don't go back to the Soviet Union.

"But you understand that after that,

"your family will be family of a traitor."

- Bela, the wife of Korchnoi, told me,

"Well, you know, Mr Hort,

"I am always afraid that
somebody's even already watching us

"when we are went to toilet."

- [Sosonoko] Half a year later,
he came back to Amsterdam

to play their IBM tournament.

- Korchnoi went to Tony
Miles and he asked him,

"How do you spell political asylum?"

- On the very last day,
the taxi driver asked him,

"Where we are going to, sir?"

And he told me, "I didn't know.

"I didn't know what to say."

"Sir, where we are going to?"

"Amsterdam," I said.

- He finally made that decision

and it came as quite a
surprise for everyone.

That was a terrible blow
for the Soviet Union.

- Later on, he was saying
that he didn't put me

in the corner, in difficult position,

because he left country
not during the first trip

but during the second. (laughs)

- He wasn't a political animal.

He simply wanted to play chess,

but he wanted to play
chess and be himself,

and in the Soviet Union,
that was not possible.

- Bela, his wife, Igor, his son,

were literally trapped and
stuck behind the Iron Curtain.

- We imagine you will probably
never see them anymore.

- The Soviets labelled him as a criminal.

- Judas of chess.

- He was given
round-the-clock police guard

by the Dutch police, well aware that

the Soviets could come and take him out.

- Viktor was a threat to the
World Chess Championship.

With absolute, 100% certainty,

Viktor had no doubts he
would be assassinated.

- When certain people
left the Soviet Union,

they had special aim,

they are preparing hostile
activity against me.

- The Soviet press, typical for that time,

tried to avoid mentioning
Korchnoi by name.

- He was a persona non grata,

he was airbrushed out
of Soviet chess history.

- If they could drop his name, they did.

- Contender, challenger.

Rarely Korchnoi.

- So, chess players, between themselves,

started calling him Villain.

- It's like, Voldemort,

the name that cannot be mentioned.

- What Korchnoi did after he defected

was quite effective.

- His chess blossomed after he left.

- [Narrator] As the candidates matches

for the 1978 World
Championship approached,

Viktor Korchnoi was still
subject to a Soviet boycott.

He could not play in any
tournament in the Eastern bloc,

and no Soviet-bloc player would be sent

to play in a Western tournament.

The World Championship
candidates' matches, however,

were not subject to this boycott,

and fate was to take an unusual turn.

- He played a match against
Petrosian in the quarterfinal.

- He had a bitter rivalry with Petrosian,

you know kicking each
other under the table

and all kinds of stuff going on.

He faced Lev Polugaevsky, another
very strong Soviet player,

and he played Boris Spassky,
former World Champion,

also from the Soviet Union.

- Spassky, who was
married to a French lady

who was a diplomat's daughter,
was living in France,

and for Viktor, it was impossible

for any Soviet to live
outside the Soviet Union

with the acquiescence of the Soviet system

unless he was KGB.

- Even though Spassky was an
emigre from the Soviet Union,

Korchnoi grew to hate Spassky.

- This match was a
remarkable roller coaster.

Viktor won a whole series of games,

and then Spassky established
this tactic of withdrawing

from the stage, and he won a
whole series of games back,

and then Viktor recovered his
composure to win the match.

- [Narrator] Although
World Championship matches

are played between two players,

each player has a small team of seconds

comprised of world-class grand masters.

- If they watch you in the
tournament oh for instance,

they can say, "Your opponent
made three moves fast

"and I noticed that you lost
it, you lost your cool."

This sort of observation
can be very useful,

because it is what decides games.

- When Batuidi played
Bronstein or Smyslov or Tal,

or Spassky played Petrosian,
there were teams already,

but with Karpov, everything
turned into machinery.

- Unfortunately, Furman my
main trainer, passed away

half a year before the match.

It was big problem for me,

because I had to organise new team.

So I had to play new role,
because I had to lead my team.

- The team was composed of Michael Tal,

former World Champion,

Lev Pulgaevsky, fantastic
player and theoritician,

Yuri Baleshov, also very strong player

and profound theoritician,

and Igor Zaetsev, the guy who
was not such a strong player

but had absolutely original ideas.

- It's not only having Tal
and other leading players

helping Anatoly Karpov,

but also KGB using every
dirty trick in the book.

- The leader of the Soviet
delegation was the head

of Soviet Chess Federation.

His name was Viktor Davidovich Batuinsky,

who was a colonel in the KGB.

- He was very mighty.

He was procurator, already,

who signed the death
warrant in Soviet system.

- Of course, he is infamous for his role

in the Stalinistic days,
but on the other hand,

he was quite a good chess player,

and he also had a very vast chess library,

one of the biggest in the world.

- [Narrator] With a delegation
of seconds, bodyguards,

a psychologist, a personal chef,

and KGB advisors and officials,

Karpov's entourage was
just short of 20 people.

All were paid for by the Soviet state.

- He very often had a KGB man with him,

Vladimir Pleshakov was his name.

And Vladimir Pleshakov,
somebody who was actually armed.

- He was responsible
for the life of Anatoly.

- I also got along with him quite well,

but he was a terrible alcoholic.

- [Reporter] Karpov's official car

crashed into a pine tree on
a mountain road one night,

and the first people on
the scene found it empty.

(speaking in foreign language)

- Anatoly car, where is Anatoly?

- [Man] Nobody knows.

- [Narrator] In comparison,
Korchnoi's delegation

numbered just three seconds.

- Ray Keene was known to be
a very good theoritician.

And Stean was also quite a strong player,

very promising player.

- I thought I could really help Korchnoi,

and the innovatory creativity

that was permeating
British chess at the time

would be something that
would give him added punch.

- I became kind of the rational voice.

Ray Keene had this slightly
more presidential approach.

- Korchnoi then wanted to add Yasha Murey,

who I had doubts about.

- The ex-Soviet who had these
wonderful, flamboyant ideas,

very few of them had ever worked,

but the ones that did mattered.

- [Narrator] The one
non-chess-playing person

in Viktor Korchnoi's
delegation was Petra Leeuwerik.

With her Austrian-Dutch background,

she became an implacable
enemy of Communism

in the Soviet-controlled
sector of Austria and Germany

after World War II.

- Petra was an extraordinary
woman of incredible energy.

So loyal to Viktor.

- She used to play chess as a hobby,

and then she met Viktor.

It was during the super
tennis exhibition in Zurich,

and Viktor had seen the book
of Tolstoy in Russian language,

and he asked, "Who is
here reading Russian?"

- Petra was virulently anti-communist.

She had been a terrorist
against the Soviets,

literally fought against
them, had been arrested.

- She's from the Soviet part of Wien,

and when she was 18, they had took her

and they put her in the prison,

and after 10 years, 1956, she was released

in the so-called Adenauer Amnesty.

- Petra was his rock; he needed
somebody to fall back on.

He needed emotional support,
and he needed somebody

who understood what he had been through.

Somebody who spent 10 years
in a Soviet labour camp

knows what it's like.

- She became a bodyguard, manager,

housekeeper, secretary, girlfriend.

- Korchnoi had a very
capable team behind him,

but it's difficult to compare
with a team led by Tal.

- It was world champions
against a bunch of amateurs.

(laughs) I mean, it was no contest.

- [Narrator] When Karpov won
the World Champion's title

in 1975, he became only
the 12th World Champion

since the contest began.

Instead of the normal schedule
of the best of 24 games,

in Baguio, it was decided that the winner

was to be the first
person to win six games.

In theory, this meant that the match

had no definite end date.

- World Championship
match, it's a crown jewel.

There were only 16 world champions

since the first official match in 1886;

that tells you the value of the title.

- Competing in World Championship is

different from
psychological point of view,

because it's a big pressure on you.

The pressure is enormous if
you have to play such matches.

A constant pressure, actually, for years.

- From an emotional point of view,

when I lost to Garry Kasparov,

it took me almost two decades

before I could look at these games.

It was actually that traumatic.

- Beating the World
Champion, it's very different

from beating all the contenders
on the way to the match.

It's like climbing Mount Everest.

- The difference between tournament

and a World Championship match

is that, obviously, you
only play one person.

- You're trying to find some weakness,

either in their personality
or their psychology.

- It's a Darwinian experience.

- Seeing the same guy day after day,

or in their case, week after
week, month after month,

it's a different tension.

- Any two chess players
playing a game are trying

to draw each other into
their weakest areas.

- You cannot be nice to your opponents.

- Every strategy which can
destabilise your opponent

is a good one.

- The winner of the
match, it's decided by,

I think, by two factors.

One is how soon you can
learn about your opponents

and from your mistakes and to adjust,

and second is how strong you are

to stay calm under pressure.

- [Narrator] In July 1978,
Karpov and Korchnoi arrived

in Baguio City in the Philippines.

President Marcos, a keen chess
player, and his wife Imelda,

were sponsors of the match.

The prize fund was over
half a million US dollars,

with the winner earning $350,000.

In comparison, the men's
tennis champion at Wimbledon

that same month--
- 15-love.

- [Narrator] Was taking
away a mere 19,000 pounds.

The scene was set

for the most remarkable World
Chess Championship ever.

- The excitement about the
match and the publicity

was very much connected to the fact

that Korchnoi was a defector

and Karpov was darling of the system.

- You had a match staged
in the Philippines

with this incredibly dubious regime,

the Marcos regime who was sponsoring it.

- The proclamation of martial law

is not a military takeover.

- It was just mad.

- [Reporter] On to the
Philippines, to the city of Baguio,

240 kilometres south of Manila.

It's become a familiar
dateline for chess fans,

because the world
champion, Anatoly Karpov,

is defending his title here

against the challenger, Viktor Korchnoi.

It has proved to be a dramatic encounter

with endless disputes and rangles.

About flags, thought
waves, mirrored glasses,

and even tubs of yoghourt.

The setting is a brand new
convention centre in Baguio,

built to accommodate up to 1,000 people.

And the Phillippino government
spared no cost or effort

to get everything right.

Once, hundreds of school
children were crowded

into the auditorium and
told to breathe heavily

just to simulated the
presence of a large audience.

- The Soviets wanted to keep their

Soviet World Championship title,

and it was extremely important.

- Failure was no longer an option.

I mean they'd already
lost the world title once,

to an American.

Losing it then to a Soviet defector.

- A defector!

A criminal!

Run away with that?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

that would be intolerable, unacceptable.

If we can't beat em, kill em! (laughing)

- [Narrator] Before the
match had even started,

the Soviets fired the first
show in the propaganda war.

They protested that even
though Viktor Korchnoi

had settled in Switzerland,

he was not allowed to play
under the Swiss National Flag,

as his illegal defection from Russia

had made him stateless.

- A flag is a symbol,

and the Battle of the
Flags was itself, symbolic.

- [Reporter] The Swiss flag,
which adorned his team's cars,

was ruled out by an
international chess jury.

Korchnoi wasn't too dismayed though,

he had scored a point by offering to use

a white flag saying "Stateless"

or a Soviet flag with the
words "I escaped" on it.

- We were discussing have a sort of

pirate flag or some jolly
roger, what have you.

But it didn't really
matter what the flag was,

the point of the dispute,

as with most things in the Soviet system,

was it was a means to
demonstrate their power.

- Florencio Campomanes,
the match organiser,

knew to become FIDE President,

he would need the Soviet Union

and the Soviet bloc behind him.

- We called him "Carpomanes"

Not Compomanes, Mister, I
think that you can buy him.

You can buy him.

- [Reporter] Karpov had a cocktail party

given in his honour on the
eve of the championship,

by the Soviet ambassador.

And President Ferdinand
Marcos of the Philippines

headed an impressive guest list.

It must all have reinforced
Korchnoi's feeling

that the establishment was
closing ranks against him.

- Korchnoi knew that he would be facing

a KGB-controlled operation.

- We knew there were going to
be a lot of KGB people around.

Viktor taught us to recognise them.

They would have a liken to the description

of the hippopotamus.

Difficult to describe, but
you know it when you see it.

And the KGB agents in the hotel lobby

were very much the same.

- [Reporter] There was
excitement in the air

when July the 18th finally arrived.

The first game in a championship carrying

the priceless prestige of the world crown.

Korchnoi started with the white pieces,

giving him the initiative.

But both men played with caution,

determined to avoid an
opening defeat at all costs,

and the game ended in a tame
draw after only 18 moves.

- [Narrator] No one could have predicted

that the match would still
be continuing into October,

causing the Danish Grand
Master Bent Larsen,

to send both players a record

of Phillippino Christmas carols.

Whilst the opening games
themselves were tame encounters,

the Soviets decided to ignite

the off-the-board controversies

by requesting that Korchnoi's expensive

$1300 chair from Sweden be
inspected for radio waves

in case they were interfering
with Karpov thoughts.

In response, Korchnoi's
delegation complained

about the yoghourt that was
being made by Karpov's chef.

- During the game Karpov was
getting some sort of yoghourt,

and Korchnoi complained
that the colour of yoghourt

indicates to Karpov what
kind of move to make

and then (chuckles) the
Chief Operator Lothar Schmid

he ordered to bring the
yoghourt at the same time,

and the same colour.

- This wasn't about coded messages at all,

that this was about, there
was some kind of stimulant

in the yoghourt which would
just, speeded up his metabolism.

(ticking)

- At Game Five, Korchnoi adjourned,

we analysed the position all night.

Winning at every variation.

A couple of hours before the game resumed

Korchnoi went to sleep.

And Michael Stean and I left
his room in the Pines hotel

and we saw the local policeman

looking at the adjourned position.

And their very first move was
one we hadn't even looked at,

we hadn't even considered it.

And I said to Michael,

"Maybe we should go and wake Viktor up.

"And these coppers have found
a move we didn't think of."

And he said, "Nah," you know he says,

"Bah and rubbish now we
looked at everything."

So we don't tell Viktor, the game resumes,

Karpov of course has played
the move of the policeman.

And it turns out to be much
stronger than we thought,

and Viktor took so long
working out how to win

that he missed and forced mate with checks

and eventually drew the game.

- The first part of the match,

it was very tough we
were very, very close.

- [Narrator] After
seven consecutive draws,

at the start of Game Eight,

Karpov ignored Korchnoi's
outstretched hand,

refusing to start the game
with the customary handshake.

It was the first time this had happened

during any World Championship match.

- Korchnoi thought were not done.

And another one for my team.

(speaking foreign language)

- He insulted the Soviet Union
and the person of Mr Karpov

as a citizen of the Soviet Union.

- They really insulted.

And after this I said to myself,

"Okay this probably the moment."

- The score is level
and then by Game Eight

he has suddenly decided not
to shake the opponent's hand.

No, you don't do that.

It's just an insult.

- Viktor Korchnoi plays
much worse when he's angry.

And before the last game the Soviets

produced this master stroke
that really upset him.

Which was refusing to shake hands.

- I'm gonna refuse your hand.

It's gon' piss you off!

- At that point, the referee
should have stepped in

because this was just a
gross breech of etiquette.

- Even Korchnoi with
all his knowledge of KGB

and the Soviets, he still didnt'
believe they would do that.

- Any way Karpov could
arrange things that would

put his opponents off,
you know knock him around,

slap him around, he was
not above availing himself

of those opportunities.

- [Narrator] After Karpov's
first win in Game Eight,

the Soviets threw a party to celebrate.

The official match organiser,
Florencio Campomanes,

also attended and toasted
Karpov's victory with champagne.

- And to five more!

(murmuring)
(laughing)

Korchnoi's delegation informed the Soviets

that they were happy for handshakes

not to take play any more.

As it would save Korchnoi the bother

of washing his hands afterwards.

When the Soviet delegation rebuked them

for insulting Karpov,
Ray Keene sent Baturinsky

a large cigar as a peace offering.

The cigar was returned to him a day later

with a bar of soap.

- When Korchnoi came out of Game Eight,

he said, "I sensed that Karpov
had some bombshell idea."

And we opened Lopez.

We did not find a knight g5,

it's an amazing idea,
it's absolutely fantastic.

And we were just shocked and we thought,

"What the hell is going on?"

(ticking)

- From Game 10 to 20, of
course then Karpov was better.

He would exploit Korchnoi's big weakness,

which was time trouble.

His handling of the clock.

- Viktor was losing games
which he was pressing to win.

And Karpov was holding
on then and hitting him

with counterpunches
sort of late in the game

when Viktor was getting tired.

- He wasn't able to put the
ball in the back of the net and,

and sometimes the ball
was going in his own net.

- Game 13 and 14 Korchnoi lost two games.

And this was even reckless
because in one game

he was doing great the whole time

and at the very last
move he still has a draw.

These are moments you feel
like killing yourself.

- When Korchnoi slumped in the middle

we thought well it's all over,

we're just sort of trying to cling on.

- Viktor was clearly
becoming very disturbed

by the parapsychologist Dr Zukhar.

- [Reporter] Another big talking point

reached into the world of the paranormal,

with Korchnoi claiming his
thoughts were being influenced

by the brain waves of Dr Vladimi Zukhar.

He would take a seat near
the front of the stage

and simply stare at Korchnoi,

without appearing to take any interest

in the progress of the game itself.

- Zukhar was there
specifically with the intention

of placing him sort of
in Korchnoi's eyesight.

And then waiting for
Korchnoi to do the rest.

- [Reporter] Whatever Dr Zukhar's powers,

Korchnoi was clearly upset.

And he called an impromptu
and animated press conference

to give vent to his feelings.

- He plays with a state of will of Zukhar!

And I play against Zukhar!

- Korchnoi asked Zukhar
for psychological advice

when he lived in Soviet Union.

So here you see someone
who knows you very well,

some of your inner
mysteries, inner problems.

Working for your enemy.

- He is disturbing me,

and he is on the visual,
(smacks fist)

and on the mental
(smacks fist)

psychological,
(smacks fist)

and hypnotic connection
(smacks fist)

with Karpov!

What is strictly prohibited by FIDE rules!

- The Korchnoi team decided
on a very scientific method

of countering Dr Zukhar's powers.

Petra sat behind him in the auditorium,

and poked him with a pencil.

- Most of them just were probably

just had a laugh at the antics.

But having gone through the cycle later,

I can tell you that this
is deadly serious stuff.

- One does lose a sense
of proportion regarding

what's happening inside the cauldron

and what's happening outside.

But it's inevitable,
because once you recognise

chess is only a game you've
lost the match. (laughing)

(ticking)

- Every time Karpov won his chef,

of course he had a personal
chef in his entourage,

baked him a cake with
the final position on.

And when Karpov won Game
17 from a lost position,

and unleashed a sudden
check-mating attack from no where

with a couple of knights at the end,

the first thing he did was eat
the white king from the cake.

(applauding)

- In the Sport Committee

was a telephone where
Parliamenter and Grand Master

were sitting.

If Leonid Brezhnev ask,
"What about the position?"

and, "How about our Anatoly?"

- Of course it's normal for any country

who has the World Champion
to try to protect him.

The question is with what means?

- Viktor was aware that
there was a possibility

that his personal safety
might be threatened.

But it was something
that didn't concern him.

- Although on one occasion he was

surrounded by bodyguards, it
flashed across his mind that

well you know they could turn,

they could be turned at any moment.

- Where he was careful about security

wasn't physical security,

but security of information.

We were not allowed to
analyse in the hotel room.

He was convinced that our
rooms would be bugged.

- In the second half of the match,

I was appointed not just Chief Second,

but also the Head of the delegation

which had been Petra Leeuwerik.

- There was a sort of period when Viktor

was sort of gradually trying to get

some sort of foothold into the match.

Struggling for long periods,
but always surviving.

(ticking)

- As long as Korchnoi doesn't lose,

he will continue putting this
psychological pressure on

to put that final nail in the coffin.

- [Narrator] With Korchnoi
unable to get himself

back into the match and score wins,

his delegation decided to counter

the negative energies of the
parapsychologist Dr Zukhar.

- If there is any negative influence

from the part of of Zukhar,

the meditation that Viktor
is doing will block that.

- The Ananda Marga thing,

with these orange robed mystics,

levitating for victory for Korchnoi,

that was a total shock!

- [Reporter] The scandal
was all the greater

because gurus were on bail,

appealing after being convicted
of the attempted murder

of an Indian diplomat.

- An Indian boy like me would have

been mystified by this stuff,

I mean you would think are
they adults or what is this?

- We had all these yoga lessons

and then we were standing on our heads

and doing all sorts of odd things.

- I felt thought that
this was quite funny.

People who had absolutely
nothing to do with chess.

But he was probably right
to do something like that

because the Soviets got confused.

They couldn't understand
something like that.

- My friends come to the playing hall,

the security searched them and ask

their identification cards.

So it's very strange, it's
kind of psychological pressure

all the time and the organizer's
compromise is guilty.

- What the Soviets did
was almost self-defeating

because if you wanted Viktor
to play at his very, very best

make him angry, and boy
did they make him angry!

- They use blackmail,

they use all kind of pressure onto,

onto the organise, onto the jury.

That it's very difficult to,

well to fight with them.

- [Narrator] Despite the
Korchnoi's delegation's

best efforts to counter
the Soviet's gamesmanship,

Karpov won Game 27 when Korchnoi
blundered in time trouble,

thereby taking a 5-2 lead in the match.

- Match is virtually
over, I mean it's gone.

All Karpov needs is one
win, Viktor needs four.

- The Soviets thought
they'd won the match.

So they agreed to withdraw Zukhar.

- Karpov relaxed early.

And then he thought I am 5-2 ahead,

I am 20 years younger.

- And Viktor's stages one of the greatest,

most remarkable comebacks
in the history of chess.

- I have never come back
from a three point deficit.

I can't recall anyone else who comes back

from a three point deficit.

- The turning point came
when there was an adjourn

to co-pawn ending.

I remember Viktor going to the game

not knowing what his
first move was going to be

because the logical move lead to a draw.

So at the board, he played something else

which was one of our sub-optimal lines.

Deliberately, and this
is Viktor the Gambler,

just to confuse Karpov.

And he succeeded, and he won the game.

Then I sensed something
was changing at that point.

- I don't know what happened,

I had some maybe psychological collapse.

And then Korchnoi won two
games, almost in a row.

And then I had to suffer a lot.

And then another thing
which was depressing for me

in Philippines, they have tradition

to give women names to
typhoons, from A, zed.

And so to the end of this match,

the second alphabet was
finishing. (laughing)

And so it was very depressing.

- He had sleeping problems.

In fact what he claims
is that this guy Zukhar,

who was supposed to be a parapsychologist,

was there to help him to sleep.

- Karpov's stamina was not strong enough

so he, he always at the end of them

he would always feel that
he was losing his steam.

- We go hey and we're starting to win,

why are we starting to win?

He's obviously very tired, right.

Let's go into long end games
and see if we can win them.

And we did.

- Korchnoi highlighted one of
Karpov's biggest weaknesses.

At the moment when decisive
action is called for

he is very hesitant.

- Amazingly at the end, Korchnoi was back.

- We thought Karpov was
on the verge of cracking.

- [Narrator] When Korchnoi
drew level at five wins each,

the storms in Baguio were nothing compared

to those brewing in Moscow.

The unthinkable, losing the world title

to a Soviet defector was
almost becoming the probable.

- In Moscow was a congress of Komsomol,

Komsomol's a youth organisation.

And the Secretary said in his speech,

"Now it's 5-5,

"but Comrades, we are sure that victory

"will be on our side, on the Soviet side!"

And the big applause of the audience.

- This was incredible I was,
we were all in this moment

in Czechoslovakia was
exactly for Korchnoi!

Not for Karpov.

- Vitaly Sevastyanov,
famous Russian cosmonaut,

who was resident of
Soviet Chess Federation,

he insisted I taked him out.

And then he went to Manila,

and they had world
championship basketball.

(cheering)

And so I visited final match.

It was, extremely interesting match.

- Soviet Union is leading the whole match

and they are losing the
last seconds to Yugoslavia.

Can you imagine Karpov thinking

that what going to happen to me.

Our guys are losing,

I'm going back and losing my final game.

- [Reporter] Good luck
tonight, good luck to you.

- Okay thank you.

- [Reporter] Don't get so close!

Come on man!

- His main second, Yuri Balashov,

wrote after the match that we knew

that somebody was written already reports

to KGB that there's something
not good around Karpov.

And we understood that we will be punished

in the Soviet Union, yes.

They knew how to punish,
they knew how to punish.

- For Karpov returning
back to the Soviet Union

after losing to Korchnoi, (sighs)

that would be quite a challenge.

- So Korchnoi has now pulled back

from 5-2 down to five each.

And he's won three of last four games.

And various things happened at this point.

One was that the President of
the World Chess Federation,

Dr Max Euwe came to me and said,

"Let's just call the match off shall we?

"We'll call it a draw,

"and we'll have another match next year."

My first thought was, if I
suggest this to Korchnoi,

and he says yes,

he may have thrown away his
chance of winning the match

because we just won three
in a row essentially.

But if he says no, then
he plays the next game

he may wish that he agreed to do it

and it may affect his play.

So the first dilemma is do I tell Korchnoi

or do I just take the decision myself

as the head of the delegation?

My second thought was,

what is the world gonna say

when it's got to a most exciting point

and we call it off?

So I said to Euwe no,

I said we're not gonna do that.

We're not even gonna tell Korchnoi,

let's forget that you suggested it

because I think it was a
illegitimate suggestion.

- In Baguio there was a
referee Lothar Schmid.

He was very, very careful.

Cus he wants to be always referee.

And suddenly he has
some reason that he said

no, I can not be there for the last game

and he really left Baguio.

He was afraid, what happens when Korchnoi

would suddenly win this match?

- We knew that the Soviets
were going to do something,

and the degree of pressure and influence

they bought to bough reached it's zenith

after that 32nd game.

- Phillip was the second referee in Baguio

and I think that he was
corroborating with Russian.

He was also main referee
during the last game in Baguio.

This I did not like.

- The Soviets immediately broke (laughing)

their agreements about having
Dr Zukhar near the front row.

- Phillip should not
allow Zukhar that he could

suddenly be in the first ring or two!

He has not done it!

I said he was paid for it!

- They also insisted that we
take the Ananda Marga people

who were supporting Korchnoi out of town.

- We have bene keeping
track of the activities

of Ananda Marga Michael
Dwyer and Victoria Shepherd,

convicted felons out on bail.

We have reported the presence
and recent activities

of Dwyer and Shepherd to the PC-INP

Provision Commander in Bangued Province.

- Personally I wasn't too
sorry to see them kicked out,

on the other hand I didn't
want Korchnoi to feel

that he has been disavowed
by having been kicked out.

- Viktor didn't understand whey the,

these meditating people
weren't there in the morning.

- I sensed this was a
desperate, last ditch attempt

from all sides obviously
just to stop the match.

Russians putting Zukhar back,

Ananda Marga being, threatened
with being removed from town.

But I thought hey guys, this
implies that we're actually

gonna win on the chess board.

(sirens chirping)

(dramatic music)

- Korchnoi snips on my
condition and my form.

And then he decides that
he must play for win,

doesn't matter, white or black.

After Manila I was ready for big fight.

- Now Viktor was to win
with the black pieces.

Which is a real no-no at
the world's top level.

- You don't have to try to
win, Karpov will collapse.

Because he has been collapsing.

He had to play for quiet position,

maybe slightly worse, but
not to give Karpov chance.

- Nobody was going to say to him,

oh just steady old chap,
just take it easy for a game,

you'll be fine I mean nobody was

going to say that to Viktor!

- Here is Anatoly with the white pieces,

Game 32, what the hell just happened?

How did Korchnoi manage to tie the match?

What!

You're gonna play that
ridiculous defence against me?

- Korchnoi played the opening which

he never played against me.

It's clear Korchnoi played for win.

But there was word that it
would be complicate game.

And probably I would not carry tension

for two, three, four, or five more games.

- Playing this slightly risky
opening in this crunch game,

it says everything about Viktor.

- It was a dumb thing to
do but he just you know,

if you're playing an exhausted opponent

who's run out of ideas.

To give him a totally
fresh field of combat

is a strategic and psychological blunder.

- Well Viktor just walked
into the worst uppercut ever.

- Micheal suggested
the idea of the move c5

in the Pirc defence.

And I wasn't happy with this at all,

because they way Michael wanted to play it

he wanted to put the black
queen's bishop on B7.

And then it looks like he's
biting into runners on D5.

Actually Murey was dead against this.

And I was dead against this.

As I was the expert on the Pirc defence

everybody thought it was head! (laughing)

- It was excellent game, this last game.

Excellent game,

on the chess level.

- There are so many things that you can,

that you can get wrong.

Just one false move and you're dead.

I was so nervous I
couldn't watch the game.

- Korchnoi wins! Ah!

Oh my god.

(speaking foreign language)

- We are happy to meet you on the occasion

of the finish of the World
Chess Championship Match.

Your champion, Anatoly Karpov!

(applauding)

- [Narrator] The Soviets celebrated

more out of relief than happiness.

Had Korchnoi won, the KGB's
response to this event

was unknown.

- I think if Korchnoi
had won the championship,

the Soviet's would've done everything

they possibly could to get it back again.

- What would have happened
if Korchnoi had won?

Korchnoi claims that he
would have been shot.

- He may have saved his own
life by not winning that game.

Because had he won,

we have it on the
authority of Mikhail Tal,

who was one of Karpov's seconds,

Tal said, "Viktor had you won that match,

"you were a marked man."

- I think that having him
assassinated by the KGB

would have made it rather obvious

where the assassination had come from.

- The KGB involved, so everything
was possible in that time,

everything was possible.

- [Narrator] Game 32 was a game
too far for Viktor Korchnoi.

Karpov had outplayed him in
an unfamiliar opening system

and shown the instinct of a true champion.

- Credit should be given to Karpov,

that he didn't crack under pressure.

Many people would have.

- Even if I don't, I did not like it,

especially in the time!

Karpov was better.

- [Narrator] After the huge disappointment

of losing the match Korchnoi refused

to sign the score sheet for the last game.

He then criticised his Head
of Delegation, Ray Keene,

accusing him of spending too much time

with his Soviet counterpart Baturinsky

and too much time in the press centre

preparing his forthcoming
book on the match.

- And then the whole
thing turned to rat shit.

Petra truly quite philosophically,

but Korchnoi in my opinion,

wrongly boycotted the closing ceremony.

- We weren't interested in the protocol.

We weren't interested in anything.

We just wanted to get out.

- [Keene] He left me to represent him,

which I tried to do with as
much dignity as I could muster.

Certainly if I'd broke off
the team at that point.

- Could he have won if
it was just a fair match?

Who knows, he never got that.

- Phillip half an hour later,

he was throwing all dirties on Korchnoi.

Traitor, he betrayed, you
know, he was cheating!

- There was this deep feeling of anger.

That the Soviets were
allowed to get away with

what they got away with.

- I've only felt that Korchnoi

for the punishment he took in that match.

All the family issues,
and all the other issues

that came into these matches.

It would've hurt a weaker man.

- I was very disappointed
when he finally lost.

I remember receiving this
Soviet chess newspaper

in the post with this incredible photo

of Karpov receiving the
Order of Lenin from Brezhnev.

- [Narrator] As soon as Korchnoi returned

to competitive chess, the
Battle of Baguio was behind him.

As a survivor of the Siege of Leningrad,

he learned to think about the
next day, not the last one.

- Two days after he lost the match,

Korchnoi gave his exhibition in Hong Kong,

and the next day

he flew from Hong Kong to Buenos Aires,

was Chess Olympiad to
play for Switzerland.

And I met him there and he looked

not as unhappy man, not at all.

Not at all!

Because he could play chess.

- Once he saw a chess board,

everything changed.

- He becomes the best player of Olympics!

Scoring +8 on the first board,

and he wins the Chess Oscar 1978

in spite for losing this match!

- He was still in chess.

He was still in business.

- [Narrator] Incredibly, Viktor Korchnoi

was again going to win
the right to challenge

Anatoly Karpov for the World Chess Title

at Morano in 1981 at the age of 50.

- Whether it be in '74, in '78,

in '81, he had become
three times the challenger.

- Viktor Korchnoi did what
he wanted on the chess board.

He said what he wanted
off the chess board.

He was completely his own man.

- So dynamic, so aggressive.

I would say even arrogant in
the good sense of this word.

In his 50s and 60s and even 70s.

- [Narrator] Korchnoi's stunning results

continued even into his 80s.

His victory at Gibraltar in 2011

over World Championship
Candidate Fabiano Caruana,

nearly 60 years his junior,

caused a sensation in the chess world.

- When I looked at the
quality of the game,

and it's amazing!

- He was very happy.

I remember he came to me and said,

you know I finished meditations again.

Would you like to read it?

And then he like giggled
like, did he like or not yeah?

- Korchnoi and myself had
problems playing tournaments.

But then we start to play tournaments

and once I can say organisers
and players are astonish

because we played bridge together.

Like many years ago in
Leningrad and Moscow.

- In Brussels '87 they played a game.

And it was dead draw but Karpov apparently

didn't want to, to agree to a draw.

He had maybe a slight edge

but it was nothing going on there.

For a moment Korchnoi touched his king

and it was fatal, you
couldn't touch the king.

Then he took his king and he threw it

through the playing hall. (laughing)

That was his way of resigning.

And then Korchnoi for my team

and we couldn't get visa to Soviet Union.

Consul says that he doesn't believe

that Korchnoi can be on my team.

I called Consul and I
said Korchnoi is correct,

he's on my team and we play in the time.

Could you give visa?

Korchnoi was very surprised
that I called our embassy

and to give him chance to receive visa.

And after this our relation
started even to be,

even better and so he
played I think three seasons

for my team.

- [Interviewer] So did you ever discuss

the 1978 World Championship?

- No, no, no, no, no!

(laughing) Certainly not! (laughing)

I knew it wouldn't be
a nice memory for him.

So why to tease him?

- [Narrator] Following a
stroke and heart complications,

Viktor Korchnoi received
treatment in a Swiss clinic.

His uncompromising will to
fight on the chess board

now became his battle in everyday life.

- We went to visit Viktor in the hospital.

And Viktor was in very bad condition,

but then we put chess board.

And his eyes focused and
kind of played a game.

I start showing him something
and he said, "No, let's play."

And you know his eyes focused

and he start making excellent moves.

And the game was going to end in a draw,

and he put a last trap, and
he thought he was winning,

and said, "auf wiedersehen" in German.

- The day Viktor died chess
lost its greatest figure ever.

- He told us, guys all
of you have potential

to become World Champions.

I reached my peak at 47 in Baguio.

And this words I remember forever.

- He will probably remembered more

than other, some world champions.

- Korchnoi's legacy to
chess is multi facet.

- People loved Korchnoi.

People, especially chess people.

- This is really one
of the all time greats.

- Viktor was just this
super human character.

He was a hero in the
classic sense of the word.

He was a fighter.

- Petra did something very gracious,

so she had a special piece of
jewellery with the number 13,

it was just in with all diamonds,

she needed for Baguio
for Korchnoi's victory.

She expected him to be
the 13th World Champion,

and she gave it to my mother.

Said this is for you,

because Garry will be 13th World Champion.

And my mother still keeps it.

That's like a sign of great honour.

- After all these years many
of the unkind things he said

about me, to my face, he never, never,

Viktor would never said
it behind your back.

Some of the fondest
things I remember of him.

- When Viktor left the Soviet Union,

he knew that he was leaving
behind his wife and son.

- They escaped eventually.

But it wasn't guaranteed.

I'm not sure you can
do this, but he did it.

- He would literally give
up all of his possessions

and relationships for chess.

- Nobody played in chess
history like Korchnoi.

It's very difficult to
play the way how he played.

- Sometime I say Rusty come,
you like chess, you like it.

But now you have to fight like Viktor.

- He is a symbol of somebody

who tried to fight alone
against such a monster

which was the Soviet Union.

- Viktor's legacy as an
individual was defined

by his fight against a system.

But that system no longer exists.

And so in a sense,

there's a danger his legacy will be lost

and I don't think it should be.

Because, his was a wonderful example.

- [Narrator] After the
epic Karpov and Korchnoi

chess struggles were over and
he had retired from chess,

Karpov became a member of
Vladimir Putin's government.

- I always view Karpov as a,

not as a just you know a personal enemy,

but more like a tool of the system.

- He a tendency to use the rules,

the FIDE rules, to his advantage.

- No matter what change was made

over since 1977 to 1997, you
always find one beneficiary.

It was Anatoly Karpov.

- It was more important keeping
the privilege he had gotten

rather than worrying about whether

the world would look on it kindly or not.

In that sense he's an extreme,

I don't know what the
word, cynic or pragmatist.

- When I played him in 1992
he came alone with this

parapsychologist just
sitting in the front row,

staring at me.

Those underhand tactics are
part of the Karpov armoury.

- I think he's one of the greatest ever.

Definitely the strongest player
of the world for 10 years.

- Not only did he defend his title twice

against Korchnoi but also he had

these extraordinary matches
against Kasparov in the 1980s.

- As World Champion he
was regal, impervious.

Then he lost the world
championship to Garry Kasparov,

and in the world of
chess it's often stated

he regained his humanity.

- He becomes less fanatic.

I think it's the same as Kasparov.

He becomes more sociable.

- As a person I've grown
to like Karpov immensely.

I think time and certain distance

from my own matches
with him have put things

in a certain perspective.

He's actually a very
witty, charming person.

Unbelievably good company.

- Anatoly as the world champion received

enormous benefits that he happily,

happily, happily accepted.

Later he would reflect and say (scoffs)

I was being an ass, wasn't it? (laughing)

And your're like, but he
could never, ever say that

in his first world.

- [Narrator] Kasparov also retired

from competitive chess in 2005,

but continued to be an outspoken critic

of Russia's democracy.

In 2007, Kasparov was
arrested and imprisoned

after an anti-Kremlin
demonstration in Moscow.

(chanting)

- So many people that
I treated as friends,

they didn't even call my mother.

And Karpov showed up in jail.

I wanted to see in which condition he is.

But they didn't allow me.

- Tried to bring these magazines,

he actually, the prison
guard brought it to me

and said, "It's from Karpov."

I said, "Come on, I know Karpov." (scoffs)

He said, "No, Karpov brought it to you."

- I know that many police
officers, they play chess.

They have chess sets and chess clocks.

And so if they would allow me to enter

and then we could play so
it would a fantastic news

for all this in the world.

And so they missed it.

- I don't know why he did it.

It's maybe some kind of solidarity

with what's past it called

the smallest trade union in the world,

the World of World Champions.

But he did show up.

Which had a very deep and
profound effect on me.

- [Narrator] The Korchnoi
versus Karpov match

highlighted the bitter internal struggle

of a Soviet system trying
desperately to cling to power

against the emerging perestroika movement.

- It was not just a fight
between two individuals,

that were so different in everything.

But it also was a political challenge.

And the political challenge
of rebel against the system,

he failed, but he showed the
vulnerability of the system.

- It was not black and white, there were,

there are shades of colours you know.

And Korchnoi, Korchnoi
was not an angel at all.

And Karpov was not a
monstrous figure at all.

(applauding)

- All of them were heroes,

and all villains.

But the definitely the hero was

the KGB because the main goal,

namely to keep the world
title in the Soviet Union

was done.

- [Narrator] The Karpov
versus Korchnoi matches

were the last hurrah of the KGB.

The emergence of Garry
Kasparov's generation

would see the KGB's
power over chess weaken.

- The Soviet authorities blocked us

from shaking hands with the defectors.

And then when I was
forced to played Korchnoi,

I was told by KGB guy on the team,

that you remember the rule.

I said basically F you.

You want me to play, I shake his hand.

I had tremendous respect for the man,

so it was my first rebellion.

- [Narrator] The clock
was finally running out

for the old guard of Baturinsky
and his Cold War chess men.

- In 1991 I have seen him
in Moscow and he was really

very shabby and he was drunk,

and he had not job any more by KGB.

- He was in bad shape later
on when Communism fell.

- He didn't have much money left and

Karpov bought his library.

- After Baturinsky died in 2002,

Korchnoi start to speak his big respect,

he like Baturinsky.

He had respect for him as a professional.

To make from KGB people are people demons,

I don't think it's right,
they were the same people

with drinking problems, women problems,

everything problems and
everything only working

for this organisation.

The percent of the KGB who
asked for political asylum

in the West are higher than
any other proper profession.

Because they could go
regularly to the West,

and they could see with all
eyes, what is difference.

- [Anand] That world is gone forever.

It'll be a long time before a chess match

is seen as a proxy for
geo-political agendas.

(thoughtful music)

Now what we have is youngsters

just having a fun game of chess.

- In Baguio it was 32 games.

But look at the World
Championship now, 12 games.

It's nothing.

- It's not a patch on
those guys in the 70s.

The 70s and the 80s, that era is special

and it'll never come back.

(dramatic music)

(dramatic music)