World Championship 1978: Karpov – Korchnoi
The first Karpov–Korchnoi match set a Soviet loyalist against a defector and descended into pure Cold War theatre — a hypnotist in the front row, mirrored sunglasses, and a formal protest over the colour of a yogurt. Karpov led 5–2, nearly threw it away, and won the thirty-second game to survive 6–5.
◈Loyalist versus defector
Viktor Korchnoi had defected from the USSR in 1976, and fought bitter Candidates matches against Petrosian, Polugaevsky, and Spassky to earn his shot — over the Soviet federation's furious objections. For the first time since 1951 the match reverted to the old first-to-six-wins format, with no limit on the number of games.
The bitterness of Korchnoi's break with the Soviet establishment coloured everything that followed.
◈The circus and the comeback
Karpov's team included the parapsychologist Vladimir Zukhar, who sat staring from the front rows; Korchnoi wore mirrored glasses to counter him and lodged protest after protest — most famously over a blueberry yogurt delivered to Karpov mid-game, which the challenger's camp claimed could carry coded instructions. On the board, Karpov surged to a 5–2 lead and needed just one more win.
Then Korchnoi roared back with three wins in four games to level the match at 5–5 after thirty-one games — before Karpov took the decisive thirty-second to retain the title 6–5 (+6−5=21).
◈Cross Table
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karpov | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 16½ |
| Kortschnoj | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 15½ |
1 win · ½ draw · 0 loss — click a game number to replay it.
“A yoghourt after move 20 could signify 'we instruct you to offer a draw'; or a sliced mango could mean 'we order you to decline a draw' … the possibilities are limitless.”