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World Chess Championship 1974 Karpov - Spassky Candidates Semifinal Match Highlights

The ninth game was Karpov's best. It gave him his third win, with just one more needed to win the match.

Spassky built up considerable pressure in game 10, but was unable to penetrate Karpov's well organized defense. Karpov notched his fourth win in game 11 with a nice sacrifice, ending the match.

Paul Keres wrote in the August 1974 issue of Chess Life:-

I have the feeling that Spassky lost this match mainly for psychological reasons. I do not know why, but he apparently felt rather unsure in the handling of certain opening setups, and some strategical problems. Some games give me the strong impression that Spassky has lost faith in his own abilities, with a consequent reduction in his usual fighting spirit. Psychological disadvantages are sometimes sufficient to decide the issue in an encounter between equal opponents.

Mikhail Botvinnik wrote in the preface to his book Anatoly Karpov, His Road to the World Championship:-

In the second game, [Spassky, who had won the first game] did not play for a win with White, and on the seventeenth move - agreed to a draw. It is now clear that this decision of Spassky's was symptomatic. It was typical of the present-day Spassky, who wants to win with the minimum of extertion, and does not press himself. And when in the subsequent games Karpov forced him into a stern and uncompromising battle, Spassky suffered four defeats in 9 games.

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