Events in

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

in 1970;

Top players

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

top 10 by

Elo rating The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess or esports. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American chess master and physics professor. The Elo system wa ...

- 1970 #

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Chess Champi ...

2720 #

Boris Spassky Boris Vasilyevich Spassky (; January 30, 1937 – February 27, 2025) was a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. Spassky played three world championship matches: he lost to Tigra ...

2670 #

Viktor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi (, ; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Bor ...

2670 #

Efim Geller Efim Petrovich Geller (; ; 8 March 1925 – 17 November 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice (in 1955 and 1979) and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occa ...

2660 #

Bent Larsen Jørgen Bent Larsen (4 March 1935 – 9 September 2010) was a Danish chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and author. Known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play, he was the second-strongest non-Soviet Union, Soviet player, behind ...

2650 #

Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vardani Petrosian (; ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster and the ninth World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing s ...

2650 #

Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (; ; – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who held five world titles in three different reigns. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer sci ...

2640 #

Lev Polugaevsky Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky ( rus, Лев Абрамович Полугаевский, p=pəlʊɡɐˈjefskʲɪj; 20 November 1934 – 30 August 1995) was a Soviet chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in ...

2640 #

Lajos Portisch Lajos Portisch (born 4 April 1937) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated in twelve c ...

2630 #

Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov (; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who was the seventh World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidates Tournament, Candidate for the World Chess Championship on ...

2620

Chess news in brief

*A much publicised team event, described as 'The Match of the Century', comprises a four-round, ten-board contest played between teams of the USSR and the Rest of the World. The encounter, held at the Trades Union House in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, is the brainchild of

Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 ...

and captures the interest of the world media, due to the attendance of the world's elite grandmasters and because of the symbolism with

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

politics. Two thousand spectators make up the audience.

is chosen (by virtue of his

) to play board one for the Rest of the World team, but surprisingly agrees to step down to board two when

argues that recent performances should put him first and refuses to give way. The match is won by the USSR, by the narrowest of margins (20½-19½) and many commentators are surprised that the USSR's remarkable strength in depth (four of the five last boards are ex-world champions) does not lead to a more comprehensive victory. Larsen scores a creditable 2½-1½ win against

, while Fischer comfortably defeats

3-1. *Fischer is triumphant at the

Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

Interzonal Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the Ca ...

, scoring 18½/23, well ahead of Larsen,

Robert Hübner Robert Hübner (6 November 1948 – 5 January 2025) was a German chess grandmaster, chess writer, and papyrologist. He was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s. Chess career At eighteen, Hübner was joint winner of t ...

(all 15/23),

Mark Taimanov Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (; 7 February 1926 – 28 November 2016) was one of the leading Soviet and Russian chess players, among the world's top 20 players from 1946 to 1971. A prolific chess author, Taimanov was awarded the title of Grandmas ...

and

Wolfgang Uhlmann Wolfgang Uhlmann (29 March 193524 August 2020) was a German chess grandmaster. He was East Germany's most successful chess player between the mid-1950s and the late 1980s, reaching the 1971 Candidates Tournament. During his career, Uhlmann pla ...

(both 14/23). *Fischer enjoys another 3½ point winning margin at

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, where he scores 15/17, ahead of

Vladimir Tukmakov Vladimir Borisovich Tukmakov (, born March 5, 1946, in Odesa) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He gained the Grandmaster title in 1972. Career His career first blossomed when he helped and then led the USSR to consecutive wins of the World St ...

(11½/17) and

Oscar Panno Oscar Roberto Panno (born 17 March 1935) is an Argentine chess Grandmaster. Biography Panno was born in Buenos Aires. He won the 2nd World Junior Chess Championship in 1953, ahead of such future strong Grandmasters as Borislav Ivkov, Bent Lar ...

(11/17). *Larsen wins the

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

tournament, with 9½/14, ahead of Fridrik Olafsson (8½/14),

Wolfgang Unzicker Wolfgang Unzicker (26 June 1925 – 20 April 2006) was one of the strongest German chess Grandmasters from 1945 to about 1970. He decided against making chess his profession, choosing law instead. Unzicker was at times the world's strongest ama ...

and

Svetozar Gligorić Svetozar Gligorić ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Глигорић; 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record 11 times, and is considered the best ...

(both 7½/14). *Fischer wins at

Rovinj Rovinj (; Venetian and ; Istriot: or ; ; ) is a city in west Croatia situated on the north Adriatic Sea with a population of 14,294 (2011). Located on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, it is a popular tourist resort and beach destin ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

with 13/17, ahead of

Vlastimil Hort Vlastimil Hort (12 January 1944 – 12 May 2025) was a Czech and German chess grandmaster. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the World Chess Championship 1978, 1977–78 Candidates Tournament for ...

and

, each with 11/17. Former World Champion, Tigran Petrosian scores 10½/17. *Spassky is the winner of

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

's four-player event.

Jan Hein Donner Johannes Hendrikus (Hein) Donner (July 6, 1927 – November 27, 1988) was a Dutch chess grandmaster and writer. He was born in The Hague. His father Jan Donner was a prominent Dutch politician and judge. Donner won the Dutch Championship in 195 ...

and Bent Larsen also compete. *The

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

Olympiad An olympiad (, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the Ancient Olympic Games, ancient and Olympic Games, modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Archaic Greece, Greece ...

plays host to sixty teams and three hundred and sixty players. The USSR are overall gold medal winners with 27½/44, making it their tenth successive win, ahead of Hungary (26½/44) and Yugoslavia (26/44). Spassky makes the top board best score (individual gold, 79.2%), ahead of Fischer (silver, 76.9%) and then Larsen (bronze, 76.5% - from the B Final). There are record numbers of spectators, especially on the day of the Fischer - Spassky encounter, which is won by Spassky. Following a poor performance in the preliminaries, England are surprisingly relegated to the C Final, which they win and from where

William Hartston William Roland Hartston (born 12 August 1947) is an English journalist who has written the Beachcomber column in the ''Daily Express'' since 1998. He is also a chess player who played competitively from 1962 to 1987 and earned a highest Elo ra ...

takes the board three gold medal (78.1%). Other individual gold medals include those awarded to

Borislav Ivkov Borislav Ivkov (12 November 1933 – 14 February 2022) was a Serbian chess Grandmaster. As one of the most decorated players in the history of Chess Olympiad, Ivkov was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal t ...

(board two) and

Aleksandar Matanovic Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

(board four). Harry de Graaf officiates. *

formally adopts the

system and publishes its first official list, a revised version of the provisional 1969 list, taking more recent game result data into account. The top 10 is as listed above. *

Kapfenberg Kapfenberg () is a city in the Bruck-Mürzzuschlag district of the Austrian state of Styria. It lies in the valley of the Mürz river in central Austria. With an estimated population of 22,080 individuals in 2024, it is the third largest city in S ...

hosts the final stage of the

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

. From the eight qualifiers, USSR take gold with 52½/70, from Hungary (41/70) and East Germany (39½/70). Played over ten boards (with reserves), the Soviet Union's result is emphatic, even though they leave out Spassky and Botvinnik.

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

scores 5/5 on board eight. Prizes are awarded to players scoring the best result on each board.

Harry Golombek Harold "Harry" Golombek OBE (1 March 1911 – 7 January 1995) was a British chess player, chess author, and wartime codebreaker. He was three times British chess champion, in 1947, 1949, and 1955 and finished second in 1948. Biography He was ...

is the controller. *Taimanov is a comfortable winner in

Beverwijk Beverwijk () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast. A ...

, at the annual Hoogoven tournament, with 12/15. He finishes ahead of Hort (10½/15) and Ivkov (10/15). *Korchnoi wins the 38th Soviet Championship with 16/21, ahead of Tukmakov (14½/21) and

Leonid Stein Leonid Zakharovych Stein (; November 12, 1934 – July 4, 1973) was a Soviet Union, Soviet chess Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster from Ukrainian SSR, Ukraine. He won three USSR Chess Championships in the 1960s (1963, 1965, and 1966), and was amo ...

(14/21). Solid progress continues to be made by last year's World Junior Champion,

Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (, ; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, ⁣and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 ...

, as he scores 12/21. *Larsen wins the US Open Chess Championship in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. Over three hundred players compete. *Yugoslavia's bright new prospect

Ljubomir Ljubojević Ljubomir Ljubojević (; born November 2, 1950) is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the Yugoslav Chess Championship in 1977 (tied) and 1982. Life and career Ljubojević was born on 2 November 1950 in Titovo Užice, Yugoslavia (now Užice, S ...

, shares first place at

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

with Bruno Parma (both 10/15), ahead of

Vladimir Antoshin Vladimir Sergeyevich Antoshin (; 14 May 1929 in Moscow – 13 May 1994) was a Soviet chess Grandmaster, a theoretician and a national champion of correspondence chess. Student Olympiad performances As a young man, he was a high achiever, princ ...

and

Georgi Tringov Georgi Petrov Tringov () (7 March 1937 – 2 July 2000) was a Grandmaster of chess from Bulgaria. He won the Bulgarian national chess championship in 1963, the year he was awarded the Grandmaster title, only the second Bulgarian player thus hono ...

(both 9½/15). *Keres wins at

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

with 10/15, ahead of László Szabó (9/15) and Borislav Ivkov (8½/15). * Evgeny Vasiukov and Mark Taimanov share victory at

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

with 11/15. Following are Florin Gheorghiu (10/15) and

Dražen Marović Dražen Marović (born January 14, 1938, in Split) is a Croatian chess grandmaster who was active in former Yugoslavia, later a trainer, journalist, writer and broadcaster. Biography Despite learning the game at the relatively late age of sixt ...

(9/15). *Mikhail Botvinnik announces his retirement from competitive chess, in order to devote more time to his chess school activities and a developing interest in chess-playing computer programs. *FIDE President

Folke Rogard Bror Axel Folke Per Rogard (6 July 1899 – 11 June 1973) was a Swedish lawyer, chess official, player and arbiter. He was born in Stockholm, with the surname Rosengren, and qualified as a lawyer with that name. After a family member was charged w ...

retires and is replaced by former World Champion, Max Euwe. His appointment appears to be a universally popular choice. *The Soviet spacestation

Soyuz 9 Soyuz 9 (, ''Union 9'') was a June, 1970, Soviet crewed space flight. The two-man crew of Andriyan Nikolayev and Vitaly Sevastyanov broke the five-year-old space endurance record held by Gemini 7, with their nearly 18-day flight. The mission ...

hosts the first game of chess in space, when the

Cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

s play against the ground support staff. The game takes six hours to complete (as communication is only possible for a short time during each orbit) and is drawn after 35 moves of a

Queen's Gambit The Queen's Gambit is the chess opening that starts with the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 It is one of the oldest openings and is still commonly played today. It is traditionally described as a '' gambit'' because White appears to sacrifice the ...

Accepted. CHESS magazine - Vol 35, August 1970, p 349

Births

Xie Jun Xie Jun (born October 30, 1970) is a Chinese chess grandmaster and is the first Asian woman to become a chess grandmaster. She had two separate reigns as Women's World Chess Champion, from 1991 to 1996 and again from 1999 to 2001. Xie is one ...

, Chinese GM and former Women's World Champion - October 30 *

Boris Alterman Boris Alterman (, ; born May 4, 1970) is a Ukrainian-born Israeli chess International Grandmaster, Grandmaster, FIDE Senior Trainer (2010), advisor of the Junior (chess program), Junior chess program. He started playing chess at the age of 7. H ...

, Soviet-Israeli GM, a highly rated tournament player of the 1990s - May 4 * Rune Djurhuus, Norwegian GM and former European Junior Champion - January 25 * Zbyněk Hráček, Czechoslovak GM, a former winner of the national championship - September 9 *

Alisa Marić Alisa Marić, PhD ( sr-Cyrl, Алиса Марић, ; born 10 January 1970) is a Serbian chess player who holds the FIDE titles of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) and International Master (IM). On 27 July 2012, she was elected as Minister of Youth and Sp ...

, Serbian WGM and IM, former Women's World Championship Candidate - January 10 * Mirjana Marić, Serbian WGM, former women's national and World Youth Champion - January 10 * Gilberto Hernández Guerrero, Mexican GM, for many years the country's strongest player - February 4 * Tiger Hillarp Persson, Swedish GM and former national champion - October 28 * Manuel Apicella, French GM and former national champion - April 19 * Zoltán Varga, Hungarian GM and former national champion - July 12 * Karsten Muller, German GM, a writer for Chessbase and noted expert on endgames - November 23 * Alberto David, Luxembourg GM, for many years the country's strongest player - March 26 * Yona Kosashvili, Georgian born GM who has also lived in Israel and Canada - July 3 *

Lin Weiguo Lin Weiguo (; born July 25, 1970) is a Chinese IM-titled chess player. He was National Chess Champion three times in 1991, 1992 and 1997. He competed for the China national chess team twice at the Chess Olympiads (1992–1994) with an overa ...

, Chinese IM and 3 times the national champion - July 25

Deaths

* Vincenzo Castaldi, Italian IM, many times the national champion - January 6 * Mariano Castillo, Chilean Master and multiple winner of the national championship - September 23 * Abraham Kupchik, U.S. Master and Olympiad medal winner - November 26 * Ludwig Rodl, German Master and Olympiad medal winner - March 23 *

Adolf Seitz Jakob Adolf Seitz (February 14, 1898, Meitingen, Germany – April 6, 1970, Switzerland) was a German–Argentine chess master and journalist. Career In 1920, he tied for 2-4th in Canterbury, took 10th in Berlin, and tied for 4-5th in Kulmbach. ...

, German-Argentine Master mostly active in the 1920s and 1930s - April 6 * Alois Wotawa, Austrian composer of chess problems and endgame studies - April 12 * Wilhelm Schönmann, German Master, active in the early part of the 20th century - May 15

Miscellaneous

* 1970 Dubrovnik chess set was created for the

19th Chess Olympiad The 19th Chess Olympiad (), comprising an open team tournament as well as the annual Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE congress, took place between September 5–27, 1970, in Siegen, West Germany. The Soviet team with six Grandmaster ...

Notes

References

*
Chess History & Chronology - Bill Wall
2009-10-20)
Olimpbase - Olympiads and other Team event information
{{chess 20th century in chess Chess by year