Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich

Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich

(vyēk`tər ləvôv`yĭch kôrch`noi), 1931–2016, Russian-Swiss chess master. A long-time leading Soviet player, he lost to Anatoly KarpovKarpov, Anatoly
, 1951–, Russian chess master. In 1970 he became the world's youngest international grand master. Karpov won (1975) the world championship by default when Bobby Fischer, the titleholder, refused to agree to terms for a match.
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 in 1974, competing for the right to challenge Bobby FischerFischer, Bobby
(Robert James Fischer) , 1943–2008, American chess player, b. Chicago. In 1958, he became a grandmaster, the youngest to that time. In the Interzonal and Candidates' matches in 1970 and 1971 he won an unprecedented 20 straight games to qualify to challenge
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 for the world title. Korchnoi criticized Karpov after the match, was banned from competition for six months by Soviet authorities, and in 1976 emigrated to Switzerland. An innovative but erratic tactician, he lost world-title matches against Karpov in 1978 and 1981.

Bibliography

See his autobiography, Chess Is My Life (1978, rev. ed. 2004).