Fact: The Longest World Chess Championship Match

The longest world chess championship match in history took place in 1984 between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. The match was played under an old format—whoever won six games first would be declared the champion.

After five months and 48 games, the match was controversially stopped by FIDE president Florencio Campomanes, citing the players' exhaustion. At that moment, Karpov was leading 5–3, but Kasparov had won two recent games and was gaining momentum. The match was declared void, and a new championship was scheduled for 1985, which Kasparov eventually won, becoming the youngest world champion in history at 22 years old.

This match remains one of the most controversial in chess history and changed the championship format forever.