1980 Candidates Matches

Viktor Korchnoi won a second consecutive Candidates cycle to earn a rematch with Anatoly Karpov. His path ran through Petrosian and Polugaevsky and ended in a bizarre final at Merano, where Robert Hübner — ahead early — abandoned the match and simply left town.

◇A knockout of eight, and a first-ever tiebreak

The 1980 Candidates seeded the two 1977 finalists, Korchnoi and Spassky, and drew in six qualifiers from the Interzonals for another knockout of quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. Korchnoi beat Tigran Petrosian 5½–3½ at Velden, Lev Polugaevsky beat Mikhail Tal 5½–2½ at Alma-Ata, and Robert Hübner beat András Adorján 6½–4½ at Bad Lauterberg.

The fourth quarterfinal, between Lajos Portisch and Boris Spassky at Mexico City, ended level at 7–7 and became the first Candidates match in history decided by a tiebreak: the rule required a win with the Black pieces, and Portisch advanced on that count.

◇Korchnoi through to a rematch

In the semifinals Korchnoi edged Polugaevsky 7½–6½ in Buenos Aires in a match that lasted almost exactly a month, while Hübner beat Portisch 6½–4½ at Abano Terme. That set up Korchnoi against the West German at the top of the bracket, with the challenger's place — and a rematch against Karpov — at stake.

The final was played at Merano, the same Italian resort that would host the World Championship match itself the following autumn.

◇Hübner walks away

Hübner, a player as brilliant as he was highly strung, led by a point after six games. Then he lost games seven and eight; games nine and ten were adjourned. After asking for a postponement and an unresolved dispute, Hübner left Merano and forfeited the match. Korchnoi was declared the winner, ahead 4½–3½ — three wins to two, with three draws — one of the strangest conclusions to a Candidates final on record.

The victory made Korchnoi, now 49, Karpov's challenger for a second time. They met at Merano in 1981; Karpov won convincingly, closing the book on the great Karpov–Korchnoi rivalry of the late 1970s and early '80s.