Benko Wasn't Paid

I added a new clipping to the page (C08) Zonals 1969-1972 (m-w.com), under the zonal titled '5 New York 1969-11'. It's taken from the letters section of the November 2007 issue of Chess Life and starts,

September Issue: "Fischer Fallout" Fallout • Reading the sidebar on page 25 of the September Chess Life, "Myth of the lone gun," I found two sentences which [mention] me and I think I should correct them.

"Fischer couldn't have played [the 1970 Interzonal] if Pal Benko had not been bought out," and "They then paid GM Pal Benko $2,000 to step aside."

This is indeed only half true. [...]

Five paragraphs later, the letter signs off,

So I state again: I never got anything, not even a penny, for giving up my place to Fischer and I never regretted it. I only asked Fischer, "Don't quit." And indeed, he became the only American world champion.

Pal Benko
Budapest, Hungary

One of the intermediate paragraphs mentions,

Fischer once asked me, "Is it true you got money to give up your place for me?" [...] After I answered, "No," he asked me, "Can you put that in writing?" Indeed I did; one can find it in my old Chess Life column.

If I ever find that needle in the haystack of Benko columns, I'll add the reference.

Boris Spassky (1937–2025)

The Fischer - Spassky era is officially over.

Russian chess grandmaster Boris Spassky dies aged 88 | Reuters (1:15) • '[Published on] Feb 28, 2025'

The description of the video omitted any mention of Fischer. It was, after all, not Spassky's greatest accomplishment.

Russian chess grandmaster Boris Spassky has died at the age of 88. Spassky was the 10th World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972.

His Wikipedia page Boris Spassky (wikipedia.org), mentions all three of his title matches in the first paragraph.

Boris Vasilievich Spassky (January 30, 1937 – February 27, 2025) was a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. Spassky played three world championship matches: he lost to Tigran Petrosian in 1966; defeated Petrosian in 1969 to become world champion; then lost to Bobby Fischer in a famous match in 1972.

As for the dozens of mentions of Spassky on this blog and on my main blog, the two that I remember best are:-

• 2018-07: Another Bad Day for Spassky; see also the link to 'A Bad Day for Spassky'.
• 2009-04: Photogenic Spassky

RIP, Grandmaster. You earned it.

More 1970s Fischer Philippines Photos

One of the topics I covered in World Championships from 50 and 25 Years Ago (January 2024) was a famous meeting from more than 50 years ago. In that post I wrote,

Re [1973] Fischer/Marcos, good thing I didn't go any further for that post. I've already dealt with the meeting in posts on both of my blogs [w/ links].

While I was researching that post, I discovered a related video

Bobby Fischer in Philippines (1973) (4:16) • '[Published on] Mar 10, 2017'

The description of the video is repeated in the video's opening sequence:-

These pictures were from albums given as a gift from President Marcos to Bobby Fischer to commemorate his visit to the Philippines in 1973. These albums were in storage in Pasadena that was abandoned by Fischer when he fled the U.S. These albums ended up in a local flea market.

The video adds,

Presented by
His Excellency
The President
of the
Republic of the Philippines
Ferdinand E. Marcos
and the First Lady
Imelda Romualdez Marcos

The Fischer/Marcos photo appearing in the '50 and 25 Years Ago' post is not included in the video, but there is a photo showing the table around 1:05 into the video. I'm guessing that Florencio Campomanes (wikipedia.org; 1927 – 2010), is the fellow between Fischer and Marcos (striped shirt?) starting at around 2:05.

For more about the 'storage in Pasadena', see Fischer's Storage Locker and eBay (May 2022). For more photos, this time in color, see Bobby Fischer in Philippines, Tokyo & Hong Kong - 1973/74 (youtube.com), on the same Youtube channel.

In the previous post featuring a Youtube video, Man City and Magnus (January 2024), I mentioned that 'While I was preparing the post on my local PC, I received the message: "Video unavailable : Watch on YouTube"'. The same thing happened this time. Has Youtube changed its policy on local use of its videos?

World Championship eBay Auctions

In a recent post on my main blog, Fischer - Spassky Top Items by Price (December 2023), I wrote,

So many years of following Top eBay Chess Items by Price (March 2010) [...] My short list for this post had a dozen items, any one of which could have been featured for the post. By coincidence, the three most expensive items on the list were all related to the 1972 Fischer - Spassky match.

That started me wondering how many earlier eBay posts featured an auction related to the World Championship. There's no easy way to count these using the search available on this public-facing blog, but the private site to create blog posts, Google's Blogger.com, allows for search on multiple tags/labels, e.g. 'eBay and WCC'. I found 49 posts with those tags, including 'Fischer - Spassky Top Items'.

I loaded the control info about the 49 posts into a database and sorted on number of views by descending order. Following are the top five posts ranked by apparent popularity. I say 'apparent', because the number of views depends on factors external to the post. The oldest posts, for example, appeared before blog statistics were introduced on Blogger.com. During the period 2012-2018, posts were affiliated by Chess Club Live (CCL), which greatly boosted their viewing stats. Here's the list of no.1-5:-

• 2013-03-03: 1972 Fischer - Spassky Poster
• 2013-11-24: Carlsen - Anand, Signed Board • 'The Carlsen - Anand World Championship match ended just two days ago, so I [...] looked for Carlsen - Anand items.'
• 2016-02-23: The Real Bobby Fischer? • 'While I was studying the [Darrach] book I was reminded of the many press photos that appeared in the news before, during, and after the 1972 match. I gathered as many of these as I could find and started to sort them. I found close to 100, of which 30 are shown in the following composite photo.'
• 2008-02-05: Halldor Petursson Cartoons
• 2016-07-12: Chess Champion Trading Cards • 'Svijet Sporta card[s] from Yugoslavia in 1980-1981. 'Svijet Sporta' translates to 'Sports World' in English.'

Three of those five posts were related to the 1972 Fischer - Spassky match. Among the posts ranked no.6-10, two were related to the same match. I suppose this all stems from Fischer's mystique, especially among Americans.

Competing World Championships in 1998

Continuing with Small Projects 'On the Cover' (October 2023), the next follow-up is small enough that I have time to handle a second project. Together the two follow-ups provide a snapshot of the World Championship in 1998.

(1) August 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover' (August 2023) • The two part match report by GM Leonid Shamkovich started in the July 1998 issue of Chess Life and ended in August 1998. Since I gave the full introduction to the first part of the report in the August 'On the Cover', I'll repeat only the first paragraph of that intro here:-

Two outstanding young grandmasters, [Kramnik and Shirov], crossed chess swords in the best of 10 World Chess Council (WCC) World Championship candidates' match. The match started May 24 and finished June 5 in the small Spanish city of Cazorla, in Andalusia. Alexei Shirov, who won the match with a score of 5.5-3.5, will meet Garry Kasparov in October for the WCC World Championship.

The rest of the report included annotations for all nine games of the match. GM Shamkovich, after commenting on the ninth game, closed the article saying,

This game turned out to be a final brilliant ending to a relatively dull duel.

An inline text box accompanying the article added,

The World Chess Council (WCC) World Championship Match between defending champion Garry Kasparov and challenger Alexei Shirov will begin October 16 in Seville, Spain. Besides the WCC title, $1.9 million will be on the line, with $1.235 million to the winner and $665,000 to the loser. We will pass along more information on the match as it becomes available.

All in all, largely because the Kasparov - Shirov match was never played, the 1998 Shirov - Kramnik match must be one of the most neglected high-level matches in chess history.

(2) July 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover' (July 2023) • The post provided some background and introduced an important historical speech by (then) FIDE World Champion Karpov.

Karpov's presence in Las Vegas [for the National Open] was explained in the story '1998 National Open, Part II: "A Really Big Shew"' by Jerry Hanken. A sidebar to the story, titled 'Karpov Speaks', started [...]

Karpov's speech covered many topics relevant to the World Championship in the last decades of the 1900s. Following are the sidebar's bullets (in bold text) and its main points. There is much more of historical value behind the '[...]s'.

• Karpov on his trip to America to play in San Antonio: "I remember 1972, my second trip to the U.S. (The first was to Puerto Rico for the Student Team Championship in 1971.) 1972 was a serious tournament which happened in November. Fischer and Spassky had played in the summer, and when I came through New York in November it was not possible to buy a chess set or book, because all America was crazy for chess and all books and sets had been sold. [...]
  
  
• Karpov on meetings with Fischer: "My first meeting was actually in San Antonio. He was invited by Bill Church, and was to appear at the last round. He was, as usual, late. So the organizers didn't want to start the round. He came and greeted all the people and grandmasters, and then he disappeared almost immediately." [...]
  
  
• Karpov [on] later meetings with Fischer: "Even after '75 we met three times. At the meeting in Washington in 1977, we were very close to signing a contract and agreement to play a match. All the problems were solved. We already had pens in our hands to sign, and then Fischer said, 'OK, we play. We agree to everything but one point. The match should be called ...' [...]
  
  
• Karpov on Kasparov: Karpov disputed Kasparov's contention that the Fischer - Spassky match of 1992 was an amateur level match. He thinks some of the games were quite good and could rank in the top ten games of 1992. [...] • Also: Kasparov's claim to be World Champion, Kasparov's claim that Karpov was not a legitimate World Champion, and a private match with Kasparov.
  
  
• Karpov on the last [1997] FIDE Championships: Anatoly noted the criticism (which came from some American magazines) of his entering the matches at the end. [...]
  
  
• Karpov on the future of chess: 'For [chess] to be in the Olympic Games would be very good. Chess is not a sport in every country, and you can get much better support from sponsors and official organizations [once you are part of the official Olympics]. [...]

Wouldn't it be enlightening to have the full transcript of the talk? I suppose it is lost to us forever.

Small Projects 'On the Cover'

Last week's post, Small Projects Checkpoint (September 2023), was all about establishing a plan for the next few months on this blog. For example,

One topic demands attention -- documenting the qualification paths for the most recent World Cup, '2023 World Cup, Baku' (August 2023).

On my main blog, 'Chess for All Ages', the past year has seen a dozen posts on various aspects of the World Championship. It's useful to summarize these posts in order to group them chronologically using this blog's system of labels. Posts marked '(*)' need further attention to develop some interesting aspect which was only mentioned in the original post.

• 2022-11-18: 'A Clock Without Hands' • '"We're nearing the end of this blog's 'Fischer Friday' series". I'll end the series with a post on "1975 Fischer forfeits to Karpov" (m-w.com)'; also summarizes previous posts in Fischer series
• 2022-12-23: Wayback to Chess.net • 'What did former World Champion Karpov say exactly?'
• 2022-12-30: World Championship Columnists • 'In the mid-1990s, both Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov -- bitter rivals at the time -- wrote separate columns for the USCF's Chess Life'
• 2023-01-03: January 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover' • 'Interviews of Fischer, Spassky, and Gudmundur Thorarinsson, president of the Icelandic Chess Federation'
• 2023-01-05: Chess at Trump Tower • 'Intel World Chess Championship Quarterfinal Matches'
• 2023-02-02: February 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover' • CL: 'Anand cuts through FIDE knock-out to challenge Karpov'
• 2023-03-09: March 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover' • 'Karpov defended his FIDE World Championship title'; 'Kasparov will finally defend his PCA World Championship title'; 'Ilyumzhinov has announced plans to make the knockout world championship an annual affair. Las Vegas is high on the list of possible sites for 1998.' (*)
• 2023-04-18: April 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover' • 'Byrne's progress in that World Championship cycle' [needs better intro in post]; ' news of Kasparov's non-FIDE World Championship title; see also the letter from Karpov' (*)
• 2023-07-20: July 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover' • 'FIDE World Champion Anatoly Karpov addressed more than 200 players'
• 2023-08-15: August 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover' • IZ 1973 Leningrad; Shirov/Kasparov news (*)
• 2023-09-12: September 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover' • IZ 1973 Petropolis, Brazil; '"Bronstein replaced Stein", doesn't square with related info on my other pages. More research needed' (*)
• 2023-10-03: October 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover' • Vukcevich; Kasparov - Shirov (WCC); *1998* FIDE World Championship, Las Vegas (*)

I trust that the title and description of each post is sufficient to place it chronologically.

Boris the 10th and Bobby the 11th

Last week, in the post Karpov the 12th (November 2022; video: 'Karpov on Kasparov - 1984 World Chess Championship'), I asked,

Will I find the occasion to overview the other Karpov videos? Maybe, but I might have to bounce back to my main blog to do that.

No bounce necessary. Here's another video from Youtube channel iChess.net.

Karpov analyzes the Bobby Fischer vs Spassky Rematch 1992 (17:23) • '[Published on] Jun 13, 2012'

The description teased,

The three volume "Karpov on Fischer" provides Anatoly Karpov’s perspective on why Bobby Fischer declined to play him in the World Chess Championship Match in 1975.

That discussion has been cut out and the video focuses on one game:-

Grandmasters Karpov and Henley analyze game 25 of the famous 1992 historic return match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, now both close to 50 years old. [NB: Spassky turned 55 in 1992. He was six years older than Fischer]

For context, see the previous post on my main blog, The SmartChess Saga (December 2022; 'a trailblazer among chess-on-the-web sites'). The discussion of SmartChess will continue on that blog.

Smartchess Interviews Karpov

Yesterday's post on my main blog, November 1972 & 1997 'On the Cover' (November 2022), was partially based on the November 1997 issue of Chess Life. I ended the post saying,

An article by Rachel Landry featured an interview with then FIDE World Champion Anatoly Karpov, plus his relationship with GM Ron Henley and Smartchess Online. Is this worth a follow-up?

Indeed it is worth a follow-up. Karpov gave his side of two hot topics from the second half of 1997. The first topic involved a reunification match that was never held. For background, see FIDE/PCA Chronology (m-w.com; Feb 1993 - Oct 1996).

RL: There have been many rumors circulating about a World Championship rematch in Compiegne, France. Carol Stroe, the proposed organizer for this event, said in a press release that you and Garry Kasparov were close to signing a formal accord. Mr. Kasparov's publicity agent fervently denies these rumors. Were you approached about such a match?

AK: Yes, but no agreement was signed.

RL: What is the true likelihood of a World Championship rematch between you and Kasparov?

AK: It is possible but not in October, and as I said before, nothing is definite until an agreement is signed and a prize fund is agreed upon.

The second topic involved the introduction of the much-criticized knockout matches to determine the title of FIDE World Champion.

RL: Will you be playing in the FIDE World Championship Knockout matches?

AK: Yes. I'm playing in the final as defending champion.

RL.: A letter signed by sixteen grandmasters was delivered by Vladimir Kramnik to the 68th FIDE Congress in Moldava. This letter conveyed these players' concerns about seeding arrangements in the upcoming FIDE World Championship Knockout. Can you shed any light on what took place in Moldava with regards to this letter?

AK: I heard Kramnik would be there with the letter. Kramnik read the letter to the assembly, and gave his point of view. Later, I addressed the assembly. Subsequently there was a vote by the FIDE Congress to uphold the original arrangements under which the Championships were organized: that is if Kasparov and myself were playing, then we would both be seeded into the semifinals; whereas if one us was not participating then the other would be seeded automatically into the final. Indeed, the original papers I signed regarding my participation were based on this exact arrangement, and Kramnik amicably agreed that he would abide by FIDE's decision. Incidentally, I met the former President of the New Jersey State Chess Federation, E. Steven Doyle, in Moldava, and we discussed a number of interesting things.

All of this was happening at the same time I was building my WCC site, as I documented earlier this year in The First Quarter Century (September 2022). I researched the 'FIDE/PCA Chronology' partly because I wasn't sure who the *real* World Champion was.

The Karpov interview included many more details related to Smartchess Online, one of the earliest chess web sites. Its first capture in the 'Wayback Machine', dated January 1999, shows the following home page.

Source: http://smartchess.com/ (web.archive.org).

A footnote to the interview mentioned that it first appeared on Smartchess Online in September 1997. I tried to find the original interview via the Wayback Machine, but failed. Smartchess.com appears to have been built using techniques that are incompatible with Wayback assumptions. The period in which Smartchess was active was a controversial time for the World Championship and its association with Karpov might provide valuable background material. I'll try to look at its Wayback records another time.

In the meantime, some other subjects for 'normal' web searches related to Smartchess are GM Ron Henley, Rachel Landry, Paul Hodges, Irina Krush, R&D Publishing, and Hikaru Nakamura. The home page pictured above leads to the 'November - December 1998' issue of Smartchess Online, with the following headlines:-

• '1998 US Championships: SmartChess Online coverage with GM Ron Henley & NM Irina Krush. • Congratulations! SmartChess Online Columnist Irina Krush, 1998 US Women's Chess Champion!'
• 'Press Release: "Krush Challenge" Series. Irina Krush to play a match against GM Walter Browne'
• 'Press Release: SmartChess Online welcomes its new Columnist - NM Hikaru Nakamura'

Krush was 14 years old at the time. Nakamura was 10.

In his interview with Smartchess, Karpov mentioned a couple of video series he was developing for Smartchess's 'WWW Chess Superstore'. I've featured two of these in posts on my main blog:-

• 2012-06-15: Karpov on Fischer • 'Game 6: 1972 World Chess Championship Match - Fischer vs Spassky'
• 2012-08-24: Karpov - Henley on Karpov - Kamsky • 'Karpov's Best Games Vol 4'

How many more of these videos are still available on Youtube? That makes a second topic for follow-up.

'Inspired by the Fischer-Spassky Match'

For nearly six months I've been running a Fischer Friday series on my main blog. A month ago it switched from the 1972 Fischer - Spassky Match to the 1992 Fischer - Spassky Rematch. I documented the transition in FS 1972 + 20 = FS 1992 (September 2022) and listed all of the previous posts in the series.

The following video would have fit well into that series, but I decided that this World Championship blog was an even better fit. On top of that it gives me the chance to incorporate the series into this blog, by mention.

John Donaldson Lecture (41:18) • 'Streamed live on Oct 19, 2022'

The clip starts with sound problems, but they don't last long. The description said,

Join us for a lecture as part of 1972 Fischer/Spassky: The Match, Its Origin, and Influence by IM John Donaldson on his unique experience and perspective on the history of Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky before Reykjavik. Emphasis will be placed on their similar experiences and differences growing up under quite different political systems.

IM John Donaldson joined the Tacoma Chess Club in the fall of 1972, inspired by the Fischer-Spassky match. An international master, with two grandmaster norms, Donaldson has captained the U.S. Chess Olympiad team on 14 occasions. He is the author of over 40 books on chess with his most recent effort being Bobby Fischer and His World.

The lecture is a presentation by Donaldson of photos relating to key events and people in Fischer's career. Three other Youtube videos relate to the lecture:-

• 2022-10-07: Emily Allred on the WCHOF Fischer-Spassky Exhibit | Round 3 • 'World Chess Hall of Fame Curator Emily Allred talks to Cristian Chirila during Round 3 of the 2022 U.S. Chess Championships.'
• 2022-10-13: Shannon Bailey: Inside Fischer-Spassky at the WCHOF | Round 8 • 'World Chess Hall of Fame Chief Curator Shannon Bailey talks to Cristian Chirila during Round 8 of the 2022 U.S. Chess Championships.'
• 2022-10-18: John Donaldson’s Fischer-Spassky Lecture is Must See | Round 11 • 'IM John Donaldson talks to Cristian Chirila during Round 11 of the 2022 U.S. Chess Championships.'

Back to my main blog, we saw IM Donaldson in another recent post, unrelated to Fischer Friday: 2022 CJA Awards - Part 3 (October 2022). Specifically,

Winners of multiple awards • Although the numbers add up to 11 awards, Spanier and Donaldson were named jointly on one award:-

• Honorable Mention; Best Story of the Year; 'The Fischer Project'; John Donaldson (author), Ian Spanier (photographer); Chess Life, July 2021

That one story accounted for five of the ten awards. IM Donaldson had one other award for the same story (Winner 'Best Feature Article - Print') plus one Honorable Mention in 'Best Print Articles' for 'Bobby Fischer's Lost Game Scores' in American Chess Magazine (ACM) #26.

After Fischer's official biographer Frank Brady, Donaldson is undoubtedly the most knowledgeable chess historian on Fischer's career. The Fischer - Spassky match has been a guiding light throughout his own distinguished career.

Karpov on the Rock

Earlier this year, for a featured monthly video on my main blog, I chose Retro Engine Chess (February 2020). There was another good choice, but it had already so many views and comments that I decided not to use it. It popped up on my radar again this past week, and it's too good to ignore a second time.

"I wanted to defeat Bobby" | GM Anatoly Karpov Interview (20:20) • '[Published on] Jan 29, 2020'

The GibChess description said,

A candid interview with former World Champion Anatoly Karpov. The Russian GM shares stories and reflections on his chess career with Tania Sachdev. Special thanks to Chess Base India.

For a transcript of the video, see Karpov on Fischer, Korchnoi, Kasparov and the chess world today (chessbase.com). For a related Youtube video, this one from GBC News and with far fewer views, see Former Official Chess World Champion Anatoly Karpov on the Rock. Its description said,

Former Official Chess World Champion Anatoly Karpov is visiting the Rock as part of the Gibraltar International Chess Festival. Considered one of the greatest players in history, he's the third longest world champion, behind Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov. Christine Vasquez took the opportunity of gaining an insight into current developments in Russian politics but first asked Mr Karpov how he felt to be on the Rock supporting the Chess festival.

Change 'third longest world champion' to 'third longest world champion in post-WWII times' and I'll say no more, even though Carlsen hasn't (yet) caught up with Karpov.

When Fischer Snubbed a Zonal

Three months ago, in a post on my main blog, February 1970 & 1995 'On the Cover' (February 2020), the highlight of the 1970 Chess Life & Review (CL&R) side was a report by Bert Hochberg on the 1969 U.S. Championship. The post included quotes from Hochberg:-

The Hochberg report continued, 'Since this championship, as it is every three years, is the FIDE zonal from which the top three players go to the Interzonal late in 1970, Addison qualifies by finishing second. We are happy and proud to see Bill Addison in the Interzonal and we wish him great success. Pal Benko has never done better than third place in a U. S. Championship.'

It signed off, 'The question will of course be asked: "Why didn't Bobby Fischer play?" The answer to this question, in the form of a letter from Fischer to USCF. Executive Director E.B. Edmondson, will be published next month, along with Mr. Edmondson's reply.'

I was reminded of this in the most recent post on that blog, May 1970 & 1995 'On the Cover' (May 2020). The May 1970 CL&R included another report, titled 'Fischer Dialogue' by Ed Edmondson. It started,

Ever since Grandmaster Fischer withdrew from the 1967 Interzonal after forging to an early lead with seven wins and three draws out of ten games completed, the big question has been "Will Fischer compete in the next World Championship Cycle?" No one has been more concerned with that question than I, both personally and on behalf of our Federation. Personally because I like Bobby, am interested in his welfare, and think he would serve himself best by contesting for the World Championship. On behalf of USCF because the majority of our members admire Fischer's undeniable chess skill and because our national interest would also be served if he tried for the world title.

The report included copies of several letters:-

• 1969-10-24: EBE to RJF, 'available to participate'?
• 1969-10-29: RJF to EBE; 'Information copies sent to major news sources'

The Fischer letter started,

Thank you for your inquiry as to my availability to participate in the 1969 U.S.A. Chess Championship. I am not available. Also I would like to take this opportunity to make a correction of fact. It was stated in last year's CHESS LIFE magazine that I never answered my 1968 invitation to the 1968 U.S.A. Chess Championship. This, as you know Ed, is a lie. I answered and declined in writing to you well over a month before the championship began. The reason I did not play last year and will not play this year is the same -- the tournament is too short.

Another copy of the letter is available in Frank Brady's book, 'Profile of a Prodigy'. More letters followed in the Edmondson report:-

• 1969-11-13: Saul Rubin ('former President of the Marshall Chess Club') to RJF
• 1969-11-??: comments by GM Isaac Kashdan
• 1969-11-04: EBE to RJF, 'reconsider your decision'? [...] 'Returned to sender -- Addressee Unknown'

With the hope of convincing him to play, Edmondson made one more attempt to contact Fischer, this time by telephone. He ended his report saying,

When I talked with Fischer, these last hopes were dashed. Thinking back, I feel that both of us were tense because the tournament was about to begin and the question of whether or not he played was so vital. I tried to expound upon the arguments advanced in my undelivered letter, but Bobby was adamant in his demand for 22 rounds. This demand simply could not be met; you know the rest -- the tournament was played without Fischer.

I still think he's the greatest player of our time.

A coda to the report by CL&R Editor Hochberg said,

We had intended to report here on the unsuccessful negotiations for a Fischer - Botvinnik match and the successful(!) negotiations for Fischer to participate in the USSR vs. Rest of World Match. But we just ran out of room and will have to continue the Dialogue next month.

The June 1970 CL&R delivered as promised. A follow-up report by Edmondson, also titled 'Fischer Dialogue', started,

In May we discussed Grandmaster Robert J. Fischer's declining to play in the 1969 U.S. Chess Championship and Zonal Qualifying Tournament. This month we bring the dialogue up to date by covering the negotiations for a Fischer - Botvinnik Match, the USSR vs. Rest of the World Match, and the Tournament of Peace in Rovinj and Zagreb.

The report included a document by Fischer titled, 'Proposals by Grandmaster Robert J. Fischer for Standardizing Rules and Playing Conditions'. Edmondson commented,

Yes, the organizer who seeks Fischer as a contestant in his chess event often faces insurmountable obstacles. Many try, a few meet all of the originally proposed conditions, and yet success is not so easily come by. Take the case of the Netherlands' Leiden Chess Club and its offer to arrange and host a match between Fischer and former World Champion Botvinnik.

Last summer, President Goudsmit of the Royal Netherlands Chess Federation telephoned to ask if I could supply Fischer's current address and/or telephone number. He explained that he wanted to contact Bobby on behalf of the Leiden Chess Club. which hoped to sponsor a Fischer - Botvinnik Match to observe its 75th Anniversary in 1970.

The report covered negotiations between Goudsmit and 'Fischer's business representative, Bernard Davis of New York City'. The match finally fell through because of last minute format changes demanded by Fischer, and 'was replaced by a four man tournament in which Spassky, Donner, Botvinnik, and Larsen played four games against one another'.

Who would have guessed that Fischer eventually played in the upcoming Interzonal?

2018 Carlsen - Caruana, Warmup

With the 2018 Carlsen - Caruana title match due to start in two days, the entire chess world turns its attention to London. First, here's a summary of pre-match posts on this blog:-

• 2018-08-08: News about 2018 Carlsen - Caruana
• 2018-09-19: 2018 Carlsen - Caruana, Schedule
• 2018-09-26: 2018 Carlsen - Caruana, Online
• 2018-10-03: 2018 Carlsen - Caruana, ChessCasting
• 2018-10-31: Worldchess Is Wide Awake

Add to these a couple of posts from my main blog:-

• 2018-05-22: Caruana's Career
• 2018-09-18: Karpov Talks Carlsen - Caruana
• 2018-09-25: Carlsen / Caruana Record 2017-18

I expected more in pre-match publicity from FIDE / Agon / Worldchess. I should know better than to expect more, but we can always dream. The most comprehensive writeup to date appeared a couple of days ago from another source -- The Couch Potato’s Guide to the 2018 World Chess Championship (uschess.org) by GM Ian Rogers -- and even mentioned my own resources:-

Mark Weeks’ long-running World Championship site and blog cover both history and less well known World Championship news.

How long-running has the coverage been on this blog? Here's a summary of wrapup posts for past title events:-

• 2016-12-14: Carlsen - Karjakin, Wrapup
• 2014-12-10: Carlsen - Anand II, Wrapup
• 2013-12-04: Carlsen - Anand, Wrapup
• 2012-06-13: Anand - Gelfand Wrapup
• 2010-05-12: What a Match!; Anand - Topalov
• 2008-11-05: 2008 Anand - Kramnik
• 2007-10-03: 2007 Mexico City Finished

I haven't noticed much Carlsen - Caruana reporting from the non-chess press and hope I get some material for the next post in the Yahoo series. The most interesting report so far is Marky’s Malarkey: Betting On the World Chess Championship (actionnetwork.com; 'Marky takes a deep look into the world of chess to find out where the value lies.'). I'm not a gambler and Marky’s Malarkey is full of jargon that leaves me baffled: 'prop bet', 'shop for the best line', 'both a Pinnacle and Bovada account', etc. etc.

More in my comfort zone is a countdown series by Chess.com's Mike Klein: The 10 Most Exciting World Chess Championships Ever (started end-October 2018). Here's his list to date.

No.1 on the list is a no-brainer, 1972 Fischer - Spassky, but what about no.2? I'll put my money on 1987 Kasparov - Karpov. The match was tied going into the next-but-last game, the 23nd, which Karpov won thanks to a blunder by his opponent. Needing a win to keep his title, Kasparov presented a classic example of how to handle a clutch game. As I wrote on my highlights page for the match, 1987 Kasparov - Karpov : Highlights,

A few moves into the resumption, Karpov played an inaccurate move and resigned on his 64th move. Thus are the greatest world chess championship matches decided -- two months of mental combat turn on a single move. Since the match ended in a 12-12 draw, Kasparov retained the title for another three years.

In 2018, tied title matches are decided by rapid and blitz tiebreak games. That raises the excitement by several more notches.

Spassky: 'The Dr. Zhivago of Chess'

In a recent post on my main blog, Sports Illustrated 'On the Cover', I showed that a prominent American sports magazine ('SI') once demonstrated a keen interest in chess. Through the series of Kasparov - Karpov clashes in the 1980s, SI had regular, multi-page features on top World Championship events. Here, for example, are the first two pages of a five-page spread on the Korchnoi - Spassky final in the 1976-78 Candidates Matches.

Sports Illustrated, 12 December 1977

The article started,

With the notable exception of Bobby Fischer, who won the world championship from Boris Spassky in 1972 in a memorable Icelandic psychodrama, Soviets have dominated world chess for 30 years. And their reign is not about to end. This week, in the shabby elegance of the Dom Sindikata Theater in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, two Russians, Spassky and Viktor Korchnoi, are meeting for the right to play still another Russian, 26-year-old world champion Anatoly Karpov, for the title.

Spassky is now 40, and his figure, which was trim in Reykjavik, is a bit fleshier, his dark hair longer and more styled. But the same calm green eyes study the board, and the same long artistic fingers are placed along his cheekbones. The world champion from 1969 to 1972, Spassky remains the gentlemanly, dignified, poetic grand master, the Dr. Zhivago of chess.

Across the board sits the volatile, daring Korchnoi, 46, the world's No. 2 grand master. In further contrast to Spassky, the formerly chubby Korchnoi has lost a great deal of weight recently. His brown eyes glitter, his shoulders hunch as he lunges forward to advance a bishop into dangerous territory. Korchnoi seeks the dangerous position -- in life as well as at the chessboard.

That's the sort of colorful sports reporting that is seldom seen outside of the mainstream press. Here is a list of all SI articles on the World Championship that I was able to locate.

• 1960-04-18: A New Moscow Revolution • 'Mikhail Tal's brilliant and bewildering victories in world championship chess stunned the Russians'
• 1960-05-30: A Nod for a Title • 'Sports Illustrated's correspondent in Moscow reports on the new world chess champion Mikhail Tal and on the new chess era that opened with a smile'
• 1961-05-08: The Young Botvinnik • 'An aging champion created a new training technique to recover the fire of youth -- and his title'
• 1967-11-20: The Further Adventures of Terrible-tempered Bobby • 'Bobby Fischer played like a champion at the international tournament in Tunisia, but he ended by forfeiting his way out of the competition'
• 1971-08-02: Maybe You Can Win Them All • 'Bobby Fischer has pitched 19 no-hitters in a row'
• 1971-11-08: Bobby Clears the Board for the Title • 'The young U.S. master, after Tigran Petrosian smashed his 20-game streak, closed strong to earn a shot at the world's chess champion'
• 1972-07-10 A Sudden Stalemate in Reykjavik • 'The world championship was plunged into check when Bobby Fischer decided that a better game was hide-and-seek'
• 1972-07-24: Boris in Wonderland • 'Russia's Spassky played Alice to Bobby Fischer's Mad Hatter in Reykjavik last week'
• 1972-08-14: How to Cook a Russian Goose • 'First, catch a Russian -- and at long last Bobby Fischer apparently has, dominating Boris Spassky so completely...'
• 1974-01-28: Memo from Moscow: don't get byrned • 'Hot on his world chess championship comeback, Boris Spassky faces a scholarly and unintimidated American'
• 1974-09-30: A Case of Beauty Before Age • 'Two Russians are meeting to see who will take on Bobby Fischer...'
• 1977-12-12: Taut Duel for Two Old Comrades • 'They grew up together in Russia and meet again for the right to face the champion, but one is a defector, the other an émigré'
• 1978-01-30: They Couldn't Zap the Viktor • 'Korchnoi came out of his match with Spassky smiling and ready for world champion Karpov, but in Belgrade he was grimly convinced that the Soviet KGB was bombarding him with rays'
• 1978-07-31: Back to Drawing Old Board • 'The Soviet champ and a vocal defector drew the first three games of what could be a drawn-out world championship'
• 1985-02-25: A Dubious Gambit In Moscow • 'Just when chess champion Anatoly Karpov seemed to be weakening, the challenger was abruptly checkmated'
• 1986-11-13: Beating Back A Game Challenge • 'Anatoly Karpov played valiantly in their Leningrad showdown, but Gary Kasparov outlasted his rival to retain the world chess championship'
• 1987-12-07: Duel Of Two Minds • 'Opposites Gary Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov battle for the world chess title'
• 2016-11-12: Chess Pieces of History • 'Board in 1972 battle up for auction'

The reports aren't always perfect. There is sometimes confusion between the concepts of 'game' and 'match' that is irksome to many chess fans, and the 1971 baseball analogy...

Maybe You Can Win Them All • 'Bobby Fischer has pitched 19 no-hitters in a row'

...is clearly an exaggeration. Even with those nitpicks, I'll gladly accept a slightly flawed report that promotes chess to a non-chess readership. For some reason, the World Championship reports stopped after the 1980s. Was it because of a changing perception of chess as a sport, because of the political turmoil in the chess world, or because of something else? I would really like to know.

Elo and Edmondson

My previous post on Folke Rogard, FIDE's Consummate Diplomat, ended,

As for Cramer, the most comprehensive biography I could find is now in Archive.org: The Chessmill -> Fred Cramer by Roman Levit.

For convenience, here's the link again: Fred Cramer by Roman Levit. I found a couple of paragraphs particularly noteworthy.

Fred worked closely with [Arpad] Elo. He edited Elo's book, The Rating of Chessplayers Past and Present. He was a delegate to FIDE, and kept after FIDE to adopt Elo's rating system. Then, after its adoption, Fred continued to fight, this time battles with his own federation, who wanted to tinker with Elo's system as a promotional tool to make more money for the USCF. That led to some legendary battles between Cramer and Elo on the one side and USCF Director Ed Edmondson and Bill Goichburg [Goichberg] on the other.

The hostility grew between Edmondson and Cramer to the point where Edmondson had Fred replaced as FIDE delegate with Pearle Mann. (Fred always blamed Edmondson for the difficulties in negotiating the 1975 Fischer - Karpov match, claiming that just when things would be settling down Edmondson would stir up the Russians with insults or other violations of protocol. Fred always believed Edmondson resented being fired by Fischer during the Reykjavik negotiations, and so after that he tried to sabotage Fischer at every turn.)

Another page (undated) on the same site (now defunct), The Chessmill -> Interview With Arpad Elo, expands on both topics. The introduction to the interview starts,

We continue with our plundering of Wisconsin chess history by reaching back into the longest-published of all the local chess periodicals, Badger Chess, for this interview with Arpad Elo, conducted by Dave Brimble. Arpad Elo has influenced the history of the chess world with his scientific approach to the rating of chess players. In name recognition among chess aficionados, he ranks up there with the world champions.

The observation about name recognition is not exaggerated, although some chess players think 'ELO' is an acronym for something. The tie-in with the Cramer topics is later in the interview.

I was continually attacked by Goichburg [Goichberg] for example, for imagined and supposed usurpation of authority about the rating system. He eventually even got Edmundson [Edmondson] on his side and they tried to get me out of FIDE. They made quite an effort to get rid of me but I finally prevailed, I think because the people in FIDE that I worked with realized the integrity of the system and what I was trying to hold up was the integrity of the system. Whereas Edmundson and Goichburg [ditto] looked on it as a means to finagle and promote, inflating the egos of American chess players, that they are better than they really are. They wanted to use the rating system for political purposes, trying to influence the way the rating system worked. Then they would examine under the microscope all the numerical mistakes I would make and make an issue out of them. That was in the late 70's.

Fred Cramer had a run in with Edmundson in 1972 during the Fischer era. His gripe was about how Edmundson tried to manipulate Fischer. I still believe that Edmundson's shenanigans were a contributing factor to the failure of the Fischer - Karpov match in 1975. I think he deliberately insulted the Russians. Averbakh, the Russian master who was part of the negotiating team, who was also a member of the qualifications committee with me and who I became good friends with said that every time it seemed as if they were making progress about the conditions, Edmundson would throw about insults and such, and violate protocol. The Russians are very serious people and want to stick to the rules and when they get insulted repeatedly it really turns them off.

BC [Badger Chess]: So why would Edmundson try to sabotage the match?

Elo: Because he was fired by Fischer as his second back in '72. Edmundson was then the executive director of USCF and used his influence adversely. Fischer made certain conditions of course and the conditions were a matter of debate. Fischer insisted on the condition that in the event of an equal score at a certain point that the title would be retained by the champion and draws would not count and things like that. Eventually those conditions were slightly modified and adopted when Karpov became champion. So Karpov got everything Fischer asked for with minor changes. Of course I don't know if Fischer would have played in any case. I have a feeling that he would have found some other impossible condition. I agree with those who say that Fischer probably could psychologically not afford to risk losing the championship over the board.

Since the Elo interview might well be the source of the Cramer paragraphs, I would like to see these accusations against Edmondson confirmed elsewhere. Whatever I find, I'll report here. Fischer's default of the 1975 match signalled the end of the Fischer boom in American chess.

Averbakh on the World Championship

In yesterday's post on my main blog, Friendly Chess Players, I introduced Averbakh's 'Centre-Stage and Behind the Scenes: A Personal Memoir'. The book is filled with stories about the World Championship, some of them new to me, many of them in more detail than I've seen before. Here's a list, each entry starting with its first page number in the book.

059 : 1950 CT
063 : 1951 19th USSR Chp semifinal (pre-zonal)
064 : ---- Pen portraits (A)
070 : 1951 19th USSR Chp (zonal)
071 : 1952 IZ
078 : 1953 CT
092 : 1955 22nd USSR Chp (zonal)
100 : ---- Sparring partner to MB
108 : 1958 25th USSR Chp (zonal)
110 : 1958 IZ
112 : ---- Early rules for WCC
120 : 1959 CT
129 : 1962 CT
147 : 1968 IZ playoff
154 : 1971 CM: TP-VK, RF-TP
157 : ---- Baturinsky
163 : 1972 WC: RF-BS
164 : 1963 VS & zonal
166 : 1974 CM: TP-LP, VK-TP
169 : 1977 CM: VK-TP
171 : 1974 FIDE Congress: AK-RF
175 : 1974 CM: AK-VK
178 : 1976 VK defection
185 : 1978 WC: AK-VK, Sevastianov
190 : 1982 IZ
193 : 1972 WC: RF-BS, Euwe
194 : 1982 FIDE President Campomanes
199 : 1982 CM: VS-RH, VS-ZR, GK-VK
214 : 1984 WC: AK-GK I
220 : 1985 WC: GK-AK II
221 : 1986 WC: GK-AK III
223 : 1987 FIDE Presidential election, GMA
223 : 1987 WC: GK-AK IV
224 : 1988 USSR Chp, GK-AK playoff
227 : 1988 USSR vs. World charity match
229 : 1990 Women's CT, Krogius
232 : 1972 Graz, Huebner - Rogoff (B)
233 : 1990 FIDE Presidential election
235 : 1987 GMA
236 : ---- Chess psychology (C)
240 : 1982 OL: Manila
242 : 1993 Schism, PCA, GK-NS, AK-JT
247 : 1994 OL: Salonika -> Moscow
250 : 1994 FIDE Presidential election
251 : 1995 FIDE Congress, Paris, Ilyumzhinov

IZ: Interzonal
CT: Candidate Tournament
CM: Candidate Match
WC: World Championship
OL: Olympiad (esp. Congress++)

AK: Karpov, BS: Spassky, GK: Kasparov, JT: Timman, LP: Portisch, MB: Botvinnik, NS: Short, RF: Fischer, RH: Huebner, TP: Petrosian, VK: Korchnoi, VS: Smyslov, ZR: Ribli

(A) Zubarev, Blumenfeld, Duz-Khotimirsky, Rabinovich, Verlinsky, Romanovsky
(B) A little known story about the future IMF Chief Economist; nothing to do with WC
(C) Incl. six categories of player as in 'Friendly Chess Players'

Although Averbakh's book deserves a review on my blog, this summary will have to do for now.

The Philippine Connection

While writing yesterday's post on my main blog, The Match That Never Was, I had a vague recollection of another fabricated Fischer - Karpov game from a few years ago. Sure enough, I found it on Chessbase.com and added the relevant links to the 'Never Was' post.

One unfabricated fact about the game didn't seem right: that the main negotiations between Fischer and Karpov occurred in the Philippines. The one reference by Chessbase -- Russians vs. Fischer, by Plisetsky and Voronkov (1994), p.366-367 -- mentions only meetings in Tokyo and Cordoba. Then I turned to Kasparov's volume on Fischer, My Great Predecessors IV, where starting on p.467, there is a long, detailed account titled 'Abdication'. Here is a timeline derived from that account.

1972-09	•	Reykjavik: Fischer wins title from Spassky
1972	•	San Antonio: Fischer visits tournament; meets Karpov for first time
1973	•	Manila: Fischer visits tournament; meets Marcos, Campomanes
1973-09	•	Helsinki: FIDE Congress, Fred Cramer presents Fischer's proposals
1974-06	•	Nice: FIDE Congress; Fischer resigns title
1974-11	•	Moscow: Karpov beats Korchnoi in Candidates final
1975-01	•	Philippines offers $5.000.000 for match
1975-03	•	Bergen-aan-Zee, Holland: Extraordinary FIDE Congress
1975-04	•	Euwe declares Karpov World Champion
1974(?)	•	Campomanes takes role of intermediary between Fischer & Karpov
1976-07	•	Tokyo: First negotiations
1976-08	•	Cordoba: Next meeting
1977-10	•	Washington: (1) restaurant, (2) Philippine embassy

There are some gaps in that table, especially months and venues, which I'll fill in from other accounts.

The Question of Old Material

Even though I don't promote my chess sites on the social networking services, I received a comment about the World Championship site on Facebook.

I love your webpage about the world championship of chess. Will you ever add further material? I particularly like the "Highlights" sections... Sadly, that of the Capablanca - Alekhine match is void, and that of the Spassky - Fischer match is very scant... Will you ever beef them up? - S.T.

The comment refers to my page Match and Tournament Highlights, more specifically the 1927 Alekhine - Capablanca and 1972 Fischer - Spassky matches. These are pages where I collect material relevant to a specific match, above and beyond the basic crosstable and PGN game scores. Many of the pages, like the 1927 match, are simply a collection of references to specific games from well known chess literature, documented with a diagram to a critical position from the game. The most recent diagram on any page dates to December 2000. Some of the pages, like the 1972 match, are more detailed. I'm not sure which of these is the most recent, but I would be surprised to find anything after 2002.

When I created the material, there was no Wikipedia or Chessgames.com. These sites, with their legions of anonymous contributors, have far more resource available than I do. Here are links to their material that coincides with the Facebook comment.

• Wikipedia: List of chess world championship matches • 1927 & 1972.
• Chessgames.com: History of the World Chess Championship • 1927 & 1972.

What do to with old material like mine? There are three possibilities: update it, delete it, leave it. I've always taken the option to leave it alone, knowing full well that the material just gets older by the year. I see no pressing reason to change this approach, even though I've collected more source material to draw on than when I did the original work.

There's more to say about this subject, specifically how best to document a World Championship event. Through the years I've given this a lot of thought and might come back to it for a future post.

World Championship Chess on TV

I'm old enough to remember the 1972 Fischer - Spassky match, when I saw chess on television for the first time. I don't remember how many times I caught the Shelby Lyman PBS show, but I vividly remember watching Spassky - Fischer, game 19, an Alekhine's Defense where Spassky sacrificed a Knight for a Kingside attack, which Fischer countered by miraculously forcing the exchange of Queens. I had already been playing for a few years, was rated around 1800 at the time, and the moves of both players seemed supernatural.

Eighteen years passed before I next saw World Championship chess on TV. It was during the second half of the 1990 Kasparov - Karpov match, played in Lyon, France. According to my page on the event, 'The match was televised by the main French station TF1, which broadcast 14 programs of 45 minutes.' Although I didn't note where I got that information, I never invent details like that so it must be right. The shows must have been aired late in the evening or I would have had competition for the remote control and would most likely not have seen any of them.

A few years later, I caught several TV broadcasts of the 1993 Kasparov - Short match. It must have been on BBC1 or BBC2, because we didn't receive any other BBC stations at the time. The recaps were up to BBC's usual high standards, but I wasn't able to find out ahead of time when the shows would be aired and missed most of them.

These memories all came back while I watched the first four games of the 2012 Anand - Gelfand match, broadcast live on the web from Moscow. For various reasons, live chess doesn't suit network television. While there are also some annoying aspects of the Moscow broadcasts, they are far outweighed by the sheer pleasure of seeing the most important chess event of the year in real time. Kudos to everyone responsible for the web production.

Fischer in the World Championship

While working on a post for my main blog, The Brady Bunch, I noticed that Frank Brady's book 'Bobby Fischer: Profile of a Prodigy' (Dover 1989), had good summaries of all the zonal events where Fischer participated. I updated the relevant zonal pages with specific page references, combined them with links about Fischer from my World Championship Index of players (A-G), and created the following table. The links to zonal pages are in the 'ZT' column.

Fischer's World Chess Championship Participation

WCC	ZT	IZ	CT	TM
1960	1957-12; Brady p.20	Portoroz 1958	Yugoslavia 1959
1963	1960-12; Brady p.41	Stockholm 1962	Curacao 1962
1966	1962-12; Brady p.68
1969	1965-12; Brady p.92	Sousse 1967
1972	1969-11; Brady p.155, 173-174	Palma de Mallorca 1970	Candidate Matches 1971	Reykjavik 1972
1975				(1975 Fischer - Karpov)
***
1992				(1992 Fischer - Spassky)

The left column 'WCC' is the year when the corresponding title match was played. The right column 'TM' shows the title matches where Fischer had a role. I've included the 1992 Fischer - Spassky rematch in the TM column to avoid creating another column. I don't believe that anyone except Fischer considered that match to have been for a recognized title.

Carlsen Quits (Again)

GM Magnus Carlsen's announcement that he would no longer participate in the current World Championship cycle -- Magnus Carlsen drops out of World Championship cycle (Chessbase.com) -- sent shock waves through the chess world and shivers (déja vu style) up my spine. Instead of jumping to any conclusions as to Carlsen's motives, I decided to compile a list of similar incidents. Before I could start, I discovered I had been anticipated by the Daily Dirt (the dates in square brackets '[]' are mine):-

Alekhine dodged Capablanca [>1927]. Fischer disappeared instead of playing Karpov [1975]. Or was he taking a principled stand for rigorous rules? Shirov should have played Kasparov for next to no money. Or was it Kasparov who was dodging Shirov [1998]? Kramnik dodging Kasparov's quest for a rematch, or was he trying to restore a credible cycle [2001]? Kasparov skipping the Dortmund qualifier [2002], Ponomariov and Kasparov never playing [2003], and now Carlsen and, well, Ilyumzhinov [2010]. There are a dozen more we could add. • Carlsen Bails from WCh Cycle (Chessninja.com)

'Only a dozen more?', I thought. Here's a list I came up with after about 30 minutes, mostly spent on verification:-

• 1948: Fine [WCC match tournament]
  
• 1950: Reshevsky, Fine, Euwe, Bondarevsky [Budapest CT]; for several reasons
  
• 1965: Botvinnik [CM]

• 1964: Fischer [Amsterdam IZ]
  
• 1967: Fischer [Sousse IZ]
  
• 1972: Fischer [Reykjavik WCC]; will he or won't he?
  
• 1975: Fischer [WCC vs. Karpov]

• 1971: Huebner [CM qf vs. Petrosian]
  
• 1980: Huebner [CM f vs. Korchnoi]

• 1985: KK1; terminated by Campomanes
  
• 1986: KK3; Kasparov threatened to quit
  
• 1993: Kasparov - Short; played wthout FIDE

• 1996: Ilyumzhinov cancels Interzonal and replaces with KOs
  
• 1997: Kramnik [Groningen KO]
  
• 1999: Karpov [Las Vegas KO]

• 1998: Anand [WCC vs. Kasparov, declined]
  
• 1999: Anand [ditto, cancelled]
  
• 2000: Anand [ditto, declined]

There's some overlap there with the Chessninja list. I could have added more from the FIDE KOs played after 2000, but I became bored with the exercise. More challenging would have been a list of cycles where there weren't any such shenanigans. For a similar overview, see my post Troubled Matches from a few years ago. Maybe it has something to do with chess players not wanting to submit to authority.