World Chess Championship 1972 World Chess Championship 1972 The World Chess Championship 1972 was a match for the World Chess Championship between challenger Bobby Fischer of the United States and defending champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union. The match took place in the Laugardalshöll arena in Reykjavík, Iceland, and has been dubbed the Match of the Century. Fischer became the first American born in the United States to win the world title, and the second American overall (Wilhelm Steinitz, the first world champion, became a naturalized American citizen in 1888). Fischer's win also ended, for a short time, 24 years of Soviet domination
1981 in chess 3 games, lost 2 games and drawn 3 games. The World Chess Championship 1981 was a match contested from 1 October to 19 November between the defending World Champion, Karpov and the challenger, Korchnoi. The first player to gain 6 wins would be awarded the title of World Chess Champion. Like the Candidates final, the match was held in Merano. Anatoly Karpov had been FIDE's recognized World Champion since 1975, when he gained the title by forfeit from Bobby Fischer (United States). Karpov and Korchnoi had both played only one World Chess Championship match prior to 1981, a very close