Major Tournaments and Matches

The Karpov Era

Karpov gains the right to meet Fischer by defeating Kortchnoi in the Candidates final. In 1975, Karpov gains the world championship when Fischer cannot agree to terms with FIDE for the 1975 match. Karpov proves to be an active world champion, playing in and winning many tournaments. He holds on to his title twice more by again defeating Kortchnoi in 1978 and again in 1981.

1974

USA Championship, 1974. Walter Browne wins the first of his six US championships. Crosstable

42nd USSR Championship, 1974. Tal and Beliasky (9 1/2/15) tie for first ahead of Vaganian and Polugaevsky (both tied at 9/15). Crosstable

Candidates (quarter final), 1974. Karpov, Petrosian, Spassky, and Kortchnoi advance to the semi final round Karpov v Polugaevsky..Petrosian v Portisch..Spassky v Byrne..Kortchnoi v Mecking..

Candidates (semi final), 1974. Karpov trounces Spassky 7-4. Kortchnoi defeats Petrosian Karpov v Spassky..Kortchnoi v Petrosian..

Candidates (finals), 1974. Karpov defeats Kortchnoi 12 1/2-11 1/2 in a tough, drawn-out match featured 19 draws Crosstable

1975

43rd USSR Ch, 1975. Petrosian wins with 10/15 ahead of Vaganian, Gulko, Romanishin, and Tal, and with 9 1/2. Crosstable

Wijk aan Zee, 1975. Portisch (10.5/15) wins ahead of Hort. Crosstable

Teesside, 1975. Geller is victorious at the strongest tournm=ament in England in many decades. Crosstable

USA Ch, 1975. text here Crosstable

1976

IBM Amsterdam, 1976. Kortchnoi and Miles tie for first (9.5/15) ahead of Sax (9). At the end of the tournement, Kortchnoi requests asylum. Soviet players subsequently boycott tournaments in which he is playing. Crosstable

Wijk aan Zee, 1976. Ljobojevic and Olafsson tie for first (7.5/11) ahead of Kuajica and Tal (6.5). Crosstable

4-man tourney, Amsterdam, 1976. Another impressive win for Karpov. Crosstable

4-man tourney, Manila, 1976. Here, Karpov finishs second to local GM Eugenio Torre. Crosstable

Manila Interzonal, 1976. Mecking is first, ahead of Polugaevsky and Hort. Crosstable

Biel Interzonal, 1976. Larsen finishs first ahead of Petrosian, Portisch, and Tal. A playoff is needed to determine the final spot in the candidates. Crosstable

Varese Playoff, 1976. Tal comes in last in the three way playoff and is therefore eliminated from the candidates. Crosstable

44th USSR ch, 1976. Karpov wins (12/17) ahead of Balashov (11), Petrosian and Polugaevsky (both with 10.5). Crosstable

1977

Candidates (quarter final), 1977. Kortchnoi, Polugaevsky, Spassky, and Portisch advance to the semi final round Kortchnoi v Petrosian..Polugaevsky v Mecking..Portisch v Larsen..Spassky v Hort..

Candidates (semi final), 1977. Kortchnoi defeats Polugaevsky. Spassky defeats Portisch Kortchnoi v Polugaevsky..Spassky v Portisch..

Candidates (finals), 1977. Kortchnoi defeats Spassky to earn the right to challenge Karpov Crosstable

Las Palmas, 1977. Karpov finishes 2/12 ahead of Larsen. Crosstable

Bad Lauterberg, 1977. Karpov dominates with 12/15 ahead of Timman (10/15). Crosstable

Tilburg, 1977. Karpov wins impressively with 8/11 ahead of Miles. Crosstable

1978

46th USSR championship. Tal and Tseshkovsky share first place with 11/17 ahead of Polugaevsky. A young Gary Kasparov qualifies for the event and achieves a level score. Crosstable

Wijk aan Zee. Portisch places first ahead of Kortchnoi. The Soviet players boycott owing to Kortchnoi's participation. Crosstable

Niksic. Gulko and Tmman tie for first with 8/11 ahead of Vaganian with 6 1/2. Crosstable

US Championship. Lubosh Kavalek finishs first with 10/14, a point ahead of James Tarjan. Crosstable

IBM Amsterdam. Timman is first with 9 1/2/13. Ribli is a point back. Crosstable

Tilburg. Portisch is first with 7/11 a half point ahead of Timman. Crosstable

1979

Wijk aan Zee. Polugaevsy finishes a point ahead of Miles. Crosstable

Banja Luka. Kasparov is clear first at an all GM event. Crosstable

Montreal, the "Tournament of the Stars". Crosstable

IBM Amsterdam. Hort and Sax tie for first, but Andersson ties for third relying upon a new weapon, the Hedgehog! Crosstable

Rio de Janeiro Interzonal. Portisch, Hubner, and Petrosian qualify by tying for first place. Crosstable

Riga Interzonal. Tal is in great form, winning with 14/17! Polugaevshy and Adorjan (after a playoff) also qualify. Crosstable

47th USSR championship. Geller takes first with 11.5/17 ahead of Tusapov, Balashov, and Kasparov. Crosstable

1980

Baku. Kasparov triumphs with a close win over Beliavsky. Crosstable

Wijk aan Zee. Americans Browne and Seirawan have a surprising shared first. Crosstable

Phillips & Drew. Miles, Kortchnoi, and Andersson share first place. Crosstable

World Junior championship. Kasparov and Short place first and second, a prediction of future champions? Crosstable

Buenos Aires. Larsen triumphs over Timman and Ljubojevic. Crosstable

USSR ch. Psakis and Beliavsky share first. Crosstable

Tilburg. Karpov edges out Portisch and Timman. Crosstable

Bugojno. Karpov on a winning streak, ahead of Larsen and Timman Crosstable

USA ch. Christiansen, Evans, and Browne share first. Crosstable

1981

Tilburg Beliavsky is first. A young Gary Kasparov only achieved an even score. Crosstable.

At the 49th USSR championship, it was Kasparov and Psakhis sharing first place, but Belyavsky had the great attack in the following game. I note in passing that he annotates the game carefully in his wonderful 1998 book, Uncompromising Chess Here are the games from the 49th USSR championship, here is the crosstable, and there is one of the games from the event.

Beliavsky,A (2615) - Yudasin,L (2365) [B61]
URS-ch49 Frunze (4), 12.1981

Perhaps the most interesting event of 1981 was the super-GM Moscow tournament featuring Karpov, Kasparov, Symslov, and Polugaevsky. Karpov finished a clear first 1 1/2 points ahead of the field to confirm his position as the strongest player of the day. Here are the games from the Moscow tournament and here is the crosstable.

But Polugaevsky stole a bit of the show with this fine win over Torre.

Polugaevsky,L (2620) - Torre,E (2550) [D44]
Moscow Moscow (6), 04.1981