1978, Thy Name is Drama

I think he likes cats.

There's a lot to know about Korchnoi. Trying to find something exceptional in this page (link) is difficult.  It's all exceptional records and stuff 

https://linksharing.samsungcloud.com/fS5C36aqfc56

I have his autobiography, "Chess is My Life."  Although it's copyrighted 1978, it pretty much ends in 1976. 

What's exceptional with Korchnoi is how he was able to beat younger players.  But there's a book by Nigel Davies on that. Explanandum and explanans

"Korchnoi vs. Spassky | ChessCentral's Blog" https://chesscentral.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/korchnoi-vs-spassky/

Great stories, great pictures! Facts beat fiction. Who needs fiction with these guys, glasses and yoghurt  :-)

Wasn't there some controversy right before the match? With the chairs?

Something about Karpov did not like the height?

In Raymond Keene's book on the match (The World Chess Championship: Korchnoi vs. Karpov), he states that before game four Karpov complained his chair was too low. A cushion was supplied that made the chair too high. A duplicate of the original, modified to make it four centimeters higher, was shipped from Manila. It proved unsatisfactory and the original chair was used with a smaller cushion.

The fuss may have been inspired by Fischer and his demands. It may have been part of the psychological battle between the two camps. Or Karpov may have actually been at unease in his chair. There was a lot of pressure on the players physically, emotionally, and psychologically that may have made even the slightest discomfort hard to bear.

I mentioned in Sarah's Karpov Interview topic that Karpov worked for the KGB.  His codename was "Raul." (From "The KGB Plays Chess")

Florencio Campomanes was also on the KGB payroll, for many years.  He accepted bribes to be a front for Soviet interests in the FIDE.

Interesting thread. Especially the link to the annotations by Tal.

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"Review: The KGB Plays Chess - Chess.com" https://www.chess.com/news/view/review-the-kgb-plays-chess

Someone who was especially happy when Gorbachev came to power in 1985 was Boris Gulko.

"Boris Gulko | Top Chess Players - Chess.com" https://www.chess.com/amp/players/boris-gulko

And moved to the US the year after.  Probably the 2nd most well known chess dissident in history after Viktor Korchnoi 

Don't forget Mrs. Gulko, WGM Anna Akhsharumova, who defected with him. She was a 2 time Soviet Women's Champion and a one time US Women's Champion. When they came to the US, they were referred to as America's First Chess Family.

GM Keene's book is a mixed bag to me. First, it was poorly edited. Second, it is obviously biased against both Karpov (and Soviets in general) and Petra Leeuwerik. On the other hand, it has some interesting insights and takes a humorous approach at times. It's readable and the game by game (with dates) format is actually very nice. But the noticeable bias makes me take his evaluations, even some of his reporting, with a grain of salt, not knowing whether it's designed to make Korchnoi=good; Karpov=bad by exaggeration, by omission or by some other cunning journalistic trick (I'm not say he did that, but that when someone show obvious bias, it's a potential factor to consider).

Anyway, I found this from GM Keene's book interesting:

Game 13 (Aug 17th and 20th)
"Although earlier it had appeared that Petra Leeuwerik was more worried by the staring zombie [Zukhar] than Korchnoi, it was now clear that Korchnoi himself had become petrified."

(referring to:  Game 9 (Aug 5) : "At the beginning of the ninth game Ms. Leeuwerik asked Schmid to exercise his powers to have Zukhar removed. Schmid asked Zukhar to join the rest of the Soviet delegation at the back of the hall, but in the end he merely moved from the fifth to the seventh row.  After this 'coup' Ms. Leeuwerik announced proudly, 'Viktor does not know anything about this because he did not notice him.' Later, on her own initiative, she tried to get play moved to a closed room, but Korchnoi was not at that time disturbed by Zukhar and he did not want to move.  Leeuwerik commented angrily and illogically, 'Viktor has gone crazy. He doesn't know he is being disturbed.'  She was obviously unaware of the undertones of self-satire in her remarks.")

"His fears were mot assuaged by the receipt of an unsolicited academic opinion from Cambridge that hypnosis from a distance is at least possible. Korchnoi recruited an anti-missile-missile in the person of Israeli psychologist Dr. Vladimir Bergina [Vlad vs Vlad?]. Whether he had less powers than Zukhar or whether Karpov is less vulnerable to mental disturbance, Karpov was not the least put off by Bergina's presence. Although he appeared to me [Gm Keene] to be having a beneficial effect on Korchnoi, Ms. Leeuwerik persuaded Korchnoi to send him home after only a few days."

An example of Keene's humor and insights that added some appeal to the book:
Game 16 (Aug. 24)
"The weather continued to cast a damper on the proceedings. It rained twenty-four hours a day and even the fish were drowning. Two people were actually killed by a landslide at the back of the playing hall. Rain streamed through the hotel roof and Stean aquired[sic] a private lake in his bedroom. Not being able to swim he chose to evacuate.
There were fears that the generator in the playing hall might collapse and the sixteenth game have to be postponed but Campomanes gave the green light. After the game the generator at the Pines Hotel dd indeed explode and we were plunged into darkness for hours. I was interested to learn that the Philippinos[sic]  picturesquely describe such events as brown-outs.

or Game 31 (Oct. 12th and 13th)
"Korchnoi believes that thirteen is his lucky number. This may seem perverse since he lost disastrously in the thirteenth game of the present match as he had done in the thirteenth game of the Candidates' final against Spassky. But it was on Friday the thirteenth in game 31 (the reverse of 13!?!) that he stunned the chess world by equalizing the score at 5-5"

I had forgotten how that book was worded until I skimmed through it this morning looking for the chair incident. It reminded me of the major media websites with all the hyperbole and slanted language. It actually gets quite comical at times.

Yeah. GM Keene might be completely accurate but his approach makes you skeptical (unless it's what you want to hear, so you turn a blind eye to it) and you don't know what to think.  I feel when one writes such a book, objectivity and factuality should be the hallmarks.

As for match negotiations with Fischer, here is how it went and ended:

In the year 1977 (and as long as 1981) Viktor Korchnoi was trying to set up a match with Bobby Fischer. Israel was going to be the sponsor of the match (in case it took place). Here is the New York Times report of this news: Korchnoi Seeks Chess Match With Fischer 9nth of January, 1977 edition.

A Virginia based newspaper Daily Press Newport News reports the following on their 12/02/1978 issue: 

• Korchnoi visited Fischer in South Pasadena, California. 
• The two met there to negotiate a private match.
• Reports Korchnoi's statements. "Korchnoi found Bobby to be very sharp in his chess thinking and au courant with the latest theoretical developments."

The Indiana Gazette's (from Pennsylvania) 10/08/1977 edition also has this news. Here is the report:

Offer Made To Bobby Fischer For Chess Match
New York (AP)—Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer may be battling Victor Korchnoi — if Fischer will settle for the $3 million offered by a West German financier.
A Dutch paper quotes Korchnoi, a Soviet emigre to West Germany, as saying that financier Wilfried Hilgert is ready to pay Fischer $3 million for the match, which could take place next February.
“I've been in contact with Fischer and in early September I'll go to America to meet him and fix further details,” the paper quotes Korchnoi.

An Iowa based newspaper also reported it on the 25th of August issue. They state that the match was being planned to be played in February 1978. The newspaper states that according to a Dutch newspaper, Willfried Hilgert from West Germany agreed to pay three million dollars to Fischer so that Fischer plays the match. In the earlier New York Times' report (09/01/1977), the speculations about 3 millions dollars was there but Korchnoi denied it.

On the 14/9/1977 issue of the "Lansing state journal", a Michigan based journal, Korchnoi said that "$350,000 match in West Germany has been mentioned." 

As for what followed for this match, I have found some newspaper reports. Here are they:

* 18 January, 1979, The York Daily report newspaper publisheded the following:

Fischer asked to play match in Israel

A parliament member who once helped arrange a spy swap is now taking on an even more delicate task — he's trying to arrange a chess match between former champion Bobby Fischer and Soviet defector Viktor Korchnoi in Israel.

A spokesman for parliamentarian Shmuel Flatto-Sharon said Wednesday an invitation was sent Tuesday to Fischer in Pasadena, Calif. Korchnoi arrived in Israel for a 10-day visit Sunday for a series of exhibition matches.
“We would very much like to secure your agreement to play four chess matches here in Israel at the time of your convenience.” the invitation said. Proceeds from the matches will be donated to the Israeli army fund, it said.

Flatto-Sharon helped arrange a swap in April of three persons jailed for spying in Mozambique, East Germany and the United States.

As for the rest of how the match negotiations advanced (or failed), there are some [not verified?] speculations. Two of them being:

• Fischer accused Korchnoi of spying him, then did no longer respond to match negotiations - this consequence is partially confirmed by Korchnoi, in his interview he gave in Tillburg in 1986. He did say that Fischer accused him of spying, due to Korchnoi telling the press about his conversations with Fischer. Korchnoi says this was the last time they had talked.
• Fischer wanted Korchnoi to act as go-between for a private match with Korchnoi - I am yet to source this claim (this one may even be an urban legend as I have failed to find anyone close to the two saying something like this)

As of now, I did not find anything to back-up on these two speculations.

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/34912776269