The dirtiest chess match in history
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 19 March 2021
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1978, the World Chess Championship between the Soviet champion and convinced communist, Anatoly Karpov, and the dissident and defector, Viktor Korchnoi, turned into one of the most infamous clashes in the history of the game. At a time of peak Cold War tension, the two players traded allegations about yoghurts containing messages, the use of psychics and the mysterious appearance of a meditating yoga cult dressed in orange robes. David Edmonds tells the story of the match through the memories of British grandmaster, Michael Stean,
PHOTO: Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi squaring up in 1978 (Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:40.0 | Hello and thank you for downloading the podcast of Witness History from the BBC World Service |
| 0:46.2 | with me David Edmonds. Today I'm bringing you the story of one of the most infamous clashes |
| 0:51.3 | in the history of chess, one that mixed attacks and gambit |
| 0:54.4 | on the board with Cold War Scull Duggery offered. |
| 0:57.6 | Baguio City in the Philippines, July 1978 and some Pompan ceremony for a chess match. |
| 1:08.2 | Not just any match, but the World Championship match. |
| 1:11.5 | It took place between two men who loathed each other, Anatoly Karpov, the reigning |
| 1:15.9 | world chess champion and Challenger Victor Korshnoi. An ancient and cerebral board game was about |
| 1:21.4 | to become the arena for a political circus. |
| 1:24.0 | Well it was a surreal experience. |
| 1:27.0 | Michael Steen was in his mid-20s, a very strong chess player in his own right, a grand master no less. |
| 1:32.0 | He was there as one of Victor Corsionoy's seconds. |
| 1:34.8 | That's to say he was there to support cautionary in his chess preparation and help him |
| 1:39.7 | analyze games if after several hours play they were adjourned for a break. |
| 1:44.0 | Bishop G4 F3, Bishop back, and now here. |
| 1:47.0 | So there are several opportunities. First is this. |
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