Top 3 Biggest Chess Rivalries Of All Time
Chess - a game that some of us play for fun, while others take very seriously. Some people dedicate their entire lives just to get really good at it. Over the years, chess has gained more and more popularity, with millions of people worldwide playing it today. However, some people get really competitive with it, wanting to get better at it than anyone else. Today we'll be looking at the Top 3 Biggest Chess Rivalries Of All Time, possible future rivalries, and a big rivalry that barely made the cut. Enjoy!
Honorable Mention: Karpov vs. Korchnoi
Perhaps one of the biggest rivalries in chess history is the 1970s Karpov vs. Korchnoi battle for the world champion title. With challenger Viktor Korchnoi looking to overtake Anatoly Karpov, everyone was excited for what the outcome would be. In fact, this world championship match would be so interesting, an entire film was made describing the drama that occurred!
The match was first to 6 wins, and went back and forth for a while until Karpov broke into a 4-1 lead followed by 5-2. However, the games weren't over, and after Korchnoi went on a rally winning 3 out of the 4 following games and tying the score 5-5, Karpov finally collected himself and won the 32nd game of the world championship, barely overcoming Korchnoi with a 6-5 score.
Karpov proceeded to hold his World Champion Title until 1985, when he lost it to Garry Kasparov. Although the 1970s and 1980s were some big years for chess, what if we take a step back in time and look at chess nearly 80 years before?
#3: Lasker vs. Tarrasch
August 17, 1908. The 8th official world chess championship between Emanuel Lasker and Siegbert Tarrasch has begun. Winning for Lasker, the favorite, was extremely probable, especially since Tarrasch was seemingly 'out of his prime.' The games were held in Dusseldorf and Munich, which are both big cities in Germany. Since both players were playing in their home country, the match wasn't in anyone's political favor.
The rules for the match were simple. First player to 8 wins is victorious. Lasker ended up successful pretty convincingly, scoring 8 wins, 5 draws, and only managing 4 losses.
What was particularly interesting about this match was the 14th game, which lasted 119 moves and held the record for the longest world championship game all the way up until Game 5 of 1978 Korchnoi vs. Karpov world championship that lasted 124 moves. Here is the game in all of its prime and glory.
Although some of you may put other rivalries such as Alekhine vs Capablanca or Tal vs Botvinnik over this one, the reason I thought the Lasker vs. Tarrasch rivalry was so important was because it was historic. Barely any rivalries happened over 100 years ago, and for this one to be so big and serious, I had to include it on the list. Even though this was a significantly big rivalry, it doesn't even compare to the next rivalry.
#2: Fischer vs. Spassky
One of the biggest, if not the biggest rivalries of all time was between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. The reason that I didn't make this #1 on the list was because, although the chess match was really significant, it was mostly a political rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States. The battle ensued in Reykjavik, Iceland, and lasted a total of 9 weeks.
The match was best out of 24 games, and the first person to receive 12.5 wins would get the title. If the match was a 12-12 tie, then the defending champion, Spassky, would retain the title. Surprisingly, Fischer's magic won pretty convincingly with a 12.5-8.5 score.
One game was especially famous for its ending. At the end of game 6, after Fischer beautifully crushed, Spassky stood up at the board and started applauding! Hence the game's nickname, The Applause.
If you want more info on this rivalry, make sure to check out my friend @Rodgy's blog where he talks about Fischer's life and what made him so good at the game.
The match between Fischer and Spassky definitely had an effect on millions of people. Don't believe me? Ask any chess player in the world what they think was the biggest rivalry of all time, and I'm sure that 90% would have Fischer vs. Spassky in their Top 3.
#1: Karpov vs. Kasparov
The 1974 world chess championship between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov was, and still is widely regarded as one of the most exciting matches in chess history. The match stretched to over 5 months, all the way into 1985, and was famously aborted by FIDE President Florencio Campomanes due to, in his words, 'player health', despite the fact that both players wanted to continue. Now, why would the FIDE President himself abort such an important match? It is estimated that, after fully completing all of the games, Karpov lost about 22 pounds, so it makes sense why he would make this decision.
Before the abort occurred, Karpov led 5-3 and was looking to win the championship. What makes this match so incredible was that, despite the fact that 48 games were played, 40 of them were draws! Not only that, after 9 games, Karpov was already leading 4-0, but was never able to achieve his 6th win. Because of the abort, Karpov and Kasparov had to play a rematch the next year, in which Kasparov won and became the youngest world champion ever at the age of 22.
After three entire months without a win, Kasparov, who was down 5-1, won both games 47 and 48, and ended the match on a high note.
Kasparov ended up winning the rematch and was officially crowned as the new World Chess Champion. This match was so intense because of the sheer amount of pressure that dropped on Karpov and Kasparov when playing for so long. Honestly, I'd say that this was probably the most exciting chess rivalry of all time. What do you think?
Now, we talked about past rivalries and world championship matches, but what if we think into the future? What will chess have to offer?
Future Rivalries?
I'm sure most of you heard about Alireza Firouzja's recent rise in the chess world. At just 18 years of age, he crossed 2800 FIDE and became the youngest person to do so. In fact, Magnus Carlsen himself, who is the current world champion, said that he likely wouldn't play anyone else other than Alireza in the next world championship. I talked more about this in another blog of mine. Do you think that Firouzja can challenge Carlsen for the world champion title in 2023? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Thanks so much for reading! I hope you learned something new today. Feel free to debate in the comments about what you think the biggest rivalry of all time is. If you enjoyed reading this, you might want to consider checking out some of my other blogs. Have fun and stay safe, adios.