1974 Candidates Tournament
The 1974 Candidates Tournament was played as knockout matches. Spassky as the loser of the last championship match and Petrosian as loser of the previous candidates final were seeded directly into the tournament and joined by the top three from each of the two interzonals.
The first round matches were first to win three games, draws not counting. Semifinals were first to four wins, while the final was first to five wins but with a maximum of 24 games. Karpov beat Korchnoi 3-2 with 19 draws, earning the right to challenge Fischer.
1st Round |
Semifinals |
Final |
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Anatoly Karpov | 5½ | ||||||||||||||
Lev Polugaevsky | 2½ | ||||||||||||||
Anatoly Karpov | 7 | ||||||||||||||
Boris Spassky | 4 | ||||||||||||||
Boris Spassky | 4½ | ||||||||||||||
Robert Byrne | 1½ | ||||||||||||||
Anatoly Karpov | 12½ | ||||||||||||||
Viktor Korchnoi | 11½ | ||||||||||||||
Viktor Korchnoi | 7½ | ||||||||||||||
Henrique Mecking | 5½ | ||||||||||||||
Viktor Korchnoi | 3½ | ||||||||||||||
Tigran Petrosian | 1½ (forfeit) | ||||||||||||||
Tigran Petrosian | 7 | ||||||||||||||
Lajos Portisch | 6 |
The semifinal stage was marked by the presence of two ex-champions, Petrosian and Spassky, playing in different matches. The two had faced each other in the 1966 and 1969 title matches. Both were eliminated in this stage of the current cycle. Although the match rules called for four wins in the semifinals, Petrosian resigned the match after losing three games. He then attempted, through political means, to have the result of the match reversed.
Read more about this topic: World Chess Championship 1975
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