Chess right of a deposed champion to a rematch, and the next champion, Armenian Tigran Petrosian, a player renowned for his defensive and positional skills, held the title for two cycles, 1963–1969. His successor, Boris Spassky from Russia (champion 1969–1972), won games in both positional and sharp tactical style. The next championship, the so-called Match of the Century, saw the first non-Soviet challenger since World War II, American Bobby Fischer, who defeated his Candidates opponents by unheard-of margins and clearly won the world championship match. In 1975, however, Fischer refused to defend his title against Soviet Anatoly Karpov when FIDE did
Women's World Chess Championship 1972 were joined by Kushnir, the loser of the last championship match. These four players contested a knock-out series of matches to determine the challenger. Kushnir again prevailed, earning the right to another shot at Gaprindashvili's title. The championship match was played in Riga in 1972. This time, Kushnir came closer than ever to beating Gaprindashvili, but with draws in the last two games the defending champion managed to hang onto her title by one point. Women's World Chess Championship 1972 The 1972 Women's World Chess Championship was won by Nona Gaprindashvili, who successfully defended her title against challenger Alla Kushnir.