Anatoly Karpov, the World Chess Champion, faces off against Viktor Korchnoi, a Soviet defector, in the 1978 World Championship in Baguio City, Philippines. The two bitter rivals, Karpov a loyal member of the Communist Party and Korchnoi a harsh critic of the Soviet regime, engage in a battle of wits on the chessboard. Meanwhile, their teams engage in a war of espionage, involving parapsychologists, coded yoghurts, and KGB agents. As the match reaches its climax, Korchnoi wins three games in a row to level the score, putting Karpov's title in jeopardy.
Closing Gambit: 1978 Korchnoi versus Karpov and the Kremlin
The 1978 World Chess Championship between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi unfolded as a gripping drama, pitting the Soviet Union's favored candidate against a former ally turned rival.
