World Chess Championship 1969

The 1969 World Chess Championship was played between Tigran Petrosian and Boris Spassky in Moscow from April 14 to June 17, 1969. This was the second consecutive time Petrosian and Spassky played for the world title. Spassky reversed the previous result; winning the world title and becoming the tenth World Chess Champion.

World Chess Championship 1969

	Defending champion	Challenger
	Tigran Petrosian	Boris Spassky
	Tigran Petrosian	Boris Spassky
	10½ Scores 12½
	Born 17 June 1929 39 years old	Born 30 January 1937 32 years old
	Winner of the 1966 World Chess Championship	Winner of the 1968 Candidates Tournament
	Rating: 2650 (World No. 5)	Rating: 2690 (World No. 2)
← 1966 1972 →

World Chess Championship 1969 on a 2019 stamp of Artsakh

1967 Interzonal

The 1967 Interzonal Tournament was played in Sousse, Tunisia in October and November. The first six placegetters qualified for the Candidates, along with Boris Spassky and Mikhail Tal who were seeded into the Candidates matches as finalists of the previous tournament.

A major controversy occurred when Bobby Fischer, who was leading the tournament with seven wins and three draws in ten rounds, abandoned the event over a dispute with the organisers. Because Fischer withdrew before he had played half his games, the results of his games were not included in his opponents' totals.

Bent Larsen went on to win, with Korchnoi, Geller, Gligorić, and Portisch taking the next four places.

There was a three-way tie for sixth place among Samuel Reshevsky, Vlastimil Hort, and Leonid Stein, who played a round-robin playoff to determine the final place in the Candidates matches. In the event of a tie, the player with the best Sonneborn-Berger tie break from the Interzonal would qualify.^[1] The playoff ended in a three-way tie, so Reshevsky qualified.

1967 Sousse Interzonal Tournament

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	Total	Tie break
1	Bent Larsen (Denmark)	-	0	½	½	0	1	1	1	1	½	1	1	1	½	0	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	15½
2	Viktor Korchnoi (Soviet Union)	1	-	½	½	1	½	½	½	0	½	0	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	½	1	14	136.00
3	Efim Geller (Soviet Union)	½	½	-	½	½	0	1	½	1	½	½	1	½	½	1	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	14	135.75
4	Svetozar Gligorić (Yugoslavia)	½	½	½	-	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	14	135.00
5	Lajos Portisch (Hungary)	1	0	½	½	-	½	½	1	0	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	13½
6	Samuel Reshevsky (United States)	0	½	1	½	½	-	½	½	1	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	1	0	1	1	½	13	129.75
7	Vlastimil Hort (Czechoslovakia)	0	½	0	½	½	½	-	1	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	13	120.25
8	Leonid Stein (Soviet Union)	0	½	½	0	0	½	0	-	½	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	½	13	117.00
9	Milan Matulović (Yugoslavia)	0	1	0	½	1	0	½	½	-	0	1	1	½	1	0	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	12½
10	Aleksandar Matanović (Yugoslavia)	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	-	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	½	0	1	½	½	12
11	Borislav Ivkov (Yugoslavia)	0	1	½	½	½	½	0	½	0	½	-	0	½	½	1	½	1	½	1	0	1	1	11	103.50
12	Henrique Mecking (Brazil)	0	1	0	½	½	0	½	0	0	0	1	-	1	1	1	½	½	½	1	½	1	½	11	102.50
13	Aivars Gipslis (Soviet Union)	0	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	½	½	½	0	-	½	0	1	½	0	1	½	1	1	10	93.75
14	Lubomir Kavalek (Czechoslovakia)	½	0	½	0	0	½	½	½	0	½	½	0	½	-	½	1	½	1	0	1	1	1	10	90.00
15	Duncan Suttles (Canada)	1	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	1	½	0	0	1	½	-	½	1	0	½	1	½	1	9½
16	István Bilek (Hungary)	0	0	½	½	½	½	½	0	½	½	½	½	0	0	½	-	½	½	1	0	1	1	9
17	László Barczay (Hungary)	½	0	½	½	0	0	½	0	½	0	0	½	½	½	0	½	-	½	1	½	½	1	8
18	Robert Byrne (United States)	0	0	0	½	½	0	0	0	0	½	½	½	1	0	1	½	½	-	1	½	½	0	7½
19	Miguel Cuéllar (Colombia)	0	0	½	0	½	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	½	0	0	0	-	0	1	1	6½	61.00
20	Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren (Mongolia)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	1	½	½	0	0	1	½	½	1	-	0	1	6½	54.50
21	Ortvin Sarapu (New Zealand)	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	½	0	½	½	0	1	-	½	4
22	Slim Bouaziz (Tunisia)	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	½	0	½	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	½	-	3½

1968 Los Angeles playoff

		1	2	3	Total
1	Samuel Reshevsky (United States)	-	====	====	4
2	Vlastimil Hort (Czechoslovakia)	====	-	=0=1	4
3	Leonid Stein (Soviet Union)	====	=1=0	-	4

1968 Candidates matches

Spassky won the Candidates Tournament – as he did in the 1966 cycle – earning the right to challenge Petrosian for the World Championship a second time.

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

Sukhumi, June 1968

Boris Spassky

5½

Malmö, July 1968

Efim Geller

2½

Boris Spassky

5½

Porec, May 1968

Bent Larsen

2½

Lajos Portisch

4½

Kiev, Sep 1968

Bent Larsen

5½

Boris Spassky

6½

Belgrade, Apr–May 1968

Viktor Korchnoi

3½

Svetozar Gligorić

3½

Moscow, June–July 1968

Mikhail Tal

5½

Mikhail Tal

4½

Third place

Amsterdam, May 1968

Viktor Korchnoi

5½

Samuel Reshevsky

2½

Bent Larsen

5½

Viktor Korchnoi

5½

Mikhail Tal

2½

Larsen and Tal contested a third place playoff in the Dutch town of Eersel in March 1969, which Larsen won 5½–2½.

1969 Championship match

The match was played as best of 24 games. If it ended 12-12, Petrosian, the title holder, would retain the Championship.

World Chess Championship Match 1969

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	Points
Boris Spassky (Soviet Union)	0	½	½	1	1	½	½	1	½	0	0	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	0	1	½	½	12½
Tigran Petrosian (Soviet Union)	1	½	½	0	0	½	½	0	½	1	1	½	½	½	½	½	0	½	0	1	0	½	½	10½

Spassky won.