In 1972, he became the first and only American to win the World Chess Championship in the 20th century. In the 19th century, Paul Morphy was briefly the leading player. Wilhelm Steinitz was the first official world champion. He became an American citizen while he was champion. To win the title, Fischer beat Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union. The match was held in Reykjavík, Iceland. However, Fischer did not agree to a match to defend his title. He lost his title in 1975. The title of world champion was given to Anatoly Karpov.