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Defending champion |
Challenger | |||||
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 Bobby Fischer |
 Anatoly Karpov | |||||
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Born 9 March 1943 32 years old |
Born 23 May 1951 23 years old | |||||
| Winner of the 1972 World Chess Championship | Winner of the 1974 Candidates Tournament | |||||
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Rating: 2780 (World No. 1) |
Rating: 2705 (World No. 2) | |||||
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The 1975 World Chess Championship was not played due to a dispute over the match format. Champion Bobby Fischer (United States) was to play Anatoly Karpov (Soviet Union) in Manila, commencing June 1, 1975. Fischer refused to play the then-standard "Best of 24 games" match and, after FIDE was unable to work out a compromise, forfeited his title instead. Karpov was named World Champion by default on April 3, 1975.