One Ugly World Championship Match

     In 1976 Viktor the Terrible defected from the Soviet Union and two years later at the age of 47 he was playing the 27-year-old Anatoly Karpov for the World Championship title in Baguio City. 
     When Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos offered Baguio as the site of the championship, a Sports Illustrated writer described the city as resembling a resort town in the Catskill Mountains of New York with its cool breezes and pine-scented air; modern, yet rustic. Raymond Keene, Korchoi’s second, called it a “Chess in a ghost town” and said that while millions were following the match no one dared go to Baguio. 
     The Soviets badly wanted their man to win. It would have been a political disaster if Karpov had lost to a defector. Mikhail Tal was one of Karpov’s seconds and later told Korchnoi, “...in Baguio, we were all afraid of you – if you had won the match, you could have been physically eliminated. Everything had been prepared for this.” 

     As a defector, Korchnoi was a man without a country. During the 1977 Candidates semifinal match he was living in The Netherlands and had recently won the Dutch Championship so asked to play under the Dutch flag. Florencio Campomanes, the organizer, refused the request because Korchnoi had not been living in The Netherlands for a year. Shortly afterwards Korchnoi went to live in Switzerland so he could not play under the Swiss flag either. A month before the match he said that if he could not play under the Swiss flag, he wanted a white flag marked Stateless. The Soviets agreed to a white Stateless flag, but the organizers decided that the only flags allowed on stage would be the USSR, the Philippines, and FIDE and no flags would be displayed at the board. 
     Karpov and Korchnoi were pretty evenly matched even though at the start Karpov's rating was substantially higher at 2725 while Korchnoi's was 2665. Up until that time Karpov only had a plus-1 in their individual encounters. Korchnoi wasn't intimidated; he bragged, “He was only four when I became grandmaster." and he later promised, “I will beat the little boy and prove once and for all the Soviet System produces only robots.” 
    Both players had teams of trainers and on Karpov's team was Dr. Vladimir Zukhar, a parapsychologist. During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union had been allies, but the relationship between the two nations was a tense one. Americans had long been wary of the Soviets and the Soviets resented the Americans’ decades-long refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part of the international community as well as their delayed entry into World War II, which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of Russians. After the war ended, these grievances grew into an overwhelming mutual distrust and enmity. It was during the Cold War era that the Soviets had become interested in the development of mind control techniques and one of the researchers was Dr Zukhar. 
     Korchnoi's seconds were the English players Michael Stean and Raymond Keene and the Russian-born Jacob Murey. Petra Leeuwerik was the delegation leader and one of her assignments was to interfere with Zukhar. According to Keene she was also a major problem. After his defection, Korchnoi sought his wife and son's release by petitioning governments for help. Also about that time began an affair with Leeuwerik, who had also been imprisoned in the Soviet Union years before allegedly for spying for the United States. After his family was freed, he got divorced and married Leeuwerik.  Later Korchnoi began to suspect that either his team was bugged or that Keene was secretly working for Karpov. You can read Keene's account of some of the problems in The Spectator Archive. 

Leeuwerik

    Supposedly Zukhar was there to assist Karpov with his daily habits, but Korchnoi thought his use was far more sinister. Soon after the start of the match Korchnoi realized that Zukhar was staring at him. According to New York Times chess columnist Robert Byrne, Zukhar's presence drove Korchnoi into a rage. Korchnoi became annoyed by Zukhar's presence and even began hearing voices telling him to lose because he was a traitor to the Soviet Union. After Korchnoi had sent a letter of complaint, Zukhar was constantly being moved around. An appeals committee met every day to argue how many rows back from the stage Zukhar should be seated; he was finally removed all together before game 20.

     Korchnoi took countermeasures against Zukhar when two yoga experts named Victoria Shepherd and Steven Dwyer who belonged to the American group of the Ananda Marga sect arrived. Korchnoi claimed they just showed up and wanted to help. The two were wanted in India for attempted murder of an Indian diploma. While there, their job was to counter-annoy Karpov by interfering with Zukhar and, also, to teach Korchnoi transcendental meditation.
     The Soviets countered by asking Campomanes to keep the couple, who were dressed in white garments and saffron robes, away. Karpov had been leading 5-2, but by the time the 32nd and last game was played the couple who had called themselves Dada and Didi were gone, but Zukhar was again sitting in the front row. 

The match was tempestuous in many ways: 

     Korchnoi called Karpov ''the jailer of my wife and son,'' implying that Karpov could have obtained their release from the Soviet Union.  Karpov called Korchnoi ''immoral'' for leaving his family behind when he defected to the West. Korchnoi replied to the charge by screaming, “Filthy!” 
     Karpov refused the traditional handshake. When the two met again in their championship match in Merano in 1981, Karpov and the Soviet Chess Federation pretty much left Korchnoi alone when they realized that when he was enraged he played better. 
     Whenever Karpov offered a draw Korchnoi threw a tantrum and waved his arms in the air. Because the two weren't speaking Korchnoi considered these offers a direct violation of the rules and demanded that draw offers must be made through the referee. 
     During the 12th game when Karpov's chair-shifting resulted in the inevitable rustle, Korchnoi screamed a Russian epithet at him meaning roughly ''worm'' or ''little creep,'' This wasn't the first time molehills had become mountains in world championship matches. Back in 1894 when Lasker and Steinitz had met in Montreal, Lasker requested a separate table because Steinitz had the nasty habit of loudly sipping his lemonade. And Petrosian had a habit of wiggling his foot and bumping the table, most notably during his opponent's turn to move.
     Pacing is another way to annoy opponents, so eventually world championship matches included a pacing area offstage which also had tables to provide whatever it was the champ or wannabe champ desired to sip or snack on. The area also had an easy chair so that each player could sit for a few moments and collect his thoughts. 
      Taking a hint from Fischer in his 1972 match with Spassky, Korchnoi complained about noise from television cameras. He must have had Superman's hearing because nobody else could hear them. Or, maybe it was Zukhar who was putting the noises into Korchnoi's head. Remember the voices telling him to lose? In any case, to placate Korchnoi the cameras were removed. 
     Korchnoi showed up for the first game wearing mirrored sunglasses and continued to wear them for a while. Karpov claimed they “...were like two mirrors, and whenever Korchnoi raised his head the light from the numerous lamps on the stage was reflected into my eyes.” At one point a couple of visiting GMs duplicated the situation and found it not to be the case. After one of the games, at the request of the Soviets, the playing hall was examined by nuclear specialists to be sure that Korchnoi's glasses were not emitting any harmful rays; of course, they weren't. 
     Another issue was the chairs. Korchnoi brought his own chair, a $1,300 beauty with a hydraulic lift that would allow him to sit higher than Karpov. Evidently the idea was to incorporate power posing into his strategy. Power posing is the act of taking a posture of confidence to make yourself more dominant. In 2012 social psychologist Amy Cuddy gave a talk about the scientific evidence behind power posing. Her research showed that standing or sitting a certain way, even for two minutes, raises testosterone levels and lowers the stress hormone cortisol. These immediate changes in your body chemistry can affect the way you do your job and interact with other people. Korchnoi also demanded that the chairs could only rock, not swivel side to side. Karpov's chair was furnished by the organizers and being a small fellow, he needed a booster seat in the form of a cushion to raise him to Korchnoi's level. 

     Before the match Karpov requested that Korchnoi's chair be examined for extraneous objects or prohibited devices. The chair was dismantled, x-rayed at the Baguio General Hospital and cleared for sitting. Korchnoi's “no-swiveling” request had been denied and during game 14 Korchnoi complained that Karpov was swiveling. Karpov swiveled again during the next game and Korchnoi again complained. Karpov said he'd stop swiveling if Korchnoi took off his glasses. The next day a jury decided swiveling or standing behind one's chair was not to be allowed. Chalk up a psychological victory for Korchnoi! Karpov wasn't done though; in 1981 during a game against Korchnoi he swiveled. Korchnoi retaliated by calling him a “detestable worm.” 
     During the 25th game a waiter delivered a tray with yogurt to Karpov causing Korchnoi's team to complain that it was clear the way the stuff was arranged on the tray could convey a coded message. It was decided that Karpov could have his yogurt anytime, but it had to be violet or blueberry in color.
     Somehow they managed to play 32 games, but when game 32 was was adjourned, with Korchnoi at a clear disadvantage, the next day he refused to resume it. 
     He wrote to Compomanes, “I don't resume the 32nd game but I am not going to sign the score sheet of the game because it has been played under absolutely illegal conditions. I don't consider the game valid. The match is not finished. I reserve the right to complain to FIDE on the intolerable Soviets' behavior, a hostility of the organizers, a lack of activity of the arbiters.” Raymond Keene resigned the game for Korchnoi who had left Baguio without getting his money. One report stated Campomanes said he could have the money if he admitted the match was over, but Korchnoi never did. Another source said Keene collected the money for Korchnoi. 
     Final score: Karpov won with +6 -5 =21.