The year is 1968. I think Fischer even cried after a game at that time,” he says. Subsequently, Karpov was to become the 12th World Champion and collect nine Chess Oscars during the course of his career (the award was given for the most successful chess player of the previous 12 months). At least initially. A Soviet grandmaster played by Marcin Dorocinski, he's one of the few players she's unable to easily beat. The creators consulted one of the greatest chess players ever: Garry Kasparov, a Russian grandmaster and former world champion. And another allusion: That “Match of the Century” between Spassky and Fischer for the title of World Champion in 1972 was supposed to have ended in a draw. This comes as no surprise as Karpov was the best chess player in the world for a decade from 1975. Spoilers for Netflix - Queen's Gambit. This list of Russian chess players lists people from Russia, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Empire who are primarily known as chess players. His unnamed wife acts as his interpreter during press conferences. Borgov,” says Beth Harmon, the chess prodigy in the new Netflix series, The Queen’s Gambit. I used to come home and literally collapse. But the two's dynamic certainly bears a resemblance to one of the most infamous rivalries in professional chess history. After the war, the boy started going to the chess pavilion in the park, spending all day there like a person possessed. Like Borgov, Spassky was famous for his standoff with an American – in real life it was Bobby Fischer, the legendary “rock star” of chess. He is the world’s best player. Karpov resembles Borgov to a lesser degree than Spassky does, but, as is stated in the foreword to the eponymous novel by Walter Tevis (which the series adapts for the screen), the author took inspiration from these three great chess masters – Spassky, Fischer and Karpov. His confrontations with opponents frequently ended in a furor, with accusations flying around of psychological pressure and of the involvement of parapsychologists during matches. The Russian. “Invitations for me to take part in international tournaments would arrive, but the Sports Committee decided to take revenge on me for losing to Fischer,” according to the chess player. They were both older and arguably more accomplished than their rivals, and both lived in the Soviet Union during a time when the Iron Curtain was its most opaque. ... Beth Harmon takes on fictional Russian World Champion Vasily Borgov. Borgov,” says Beth Harmon, the chess prodigy in the new Netflix series, The Queen’s Gambit. So she went on to play a local tournament, with 2000+ players! On her journey to becoming the best chess player in the world, Beth must first beat the current world number one. It is the climax of the Netflix series, The Queen's Gambit . The character of the main rival of brilliant chess player Beth Harmon could be based on at least two Soviet grandmasters. He got a degree in economics 10 years later, in 1978, while already World Champion, but he made good use of his academic qualifications. The inspiration behind the Harmon vs Borgov match is a defining game between American chess prodigy and grandmaster Bobby Fischer and Russian’s Boris Spassky during the World Chess Championship in 1972. Karpov became the only world champion in history who not only received his title without playing a world championship match or tournament, but did not play a single game with the preceding champion. “There is one player that scares me. When Fischer won, Spassky joined the audience in applauding him – exactly as Borgov did in his final match with Beth Harmon. The Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, McDonnell Defense, is a somewhat unorthodox opening for both … He didn’t, however, manage to take on Fischer: The American refused to play (which was automatically counted as a defeat) after the International Chess Federation failed to meet his terms for the tournament. Both left no stone unturned in demolishing their opponents. And the next morning, without fail, I would be late for school,” he recalls. Aside from a political career (USSR Supreme Soviet deputy and State Duma deputy for the ruling United Russia party in several convocations, including the present one), he has also been a banker and businessman and was president of the company, Berghoff-Russia. Fischer rose to fame in the mid-20th century as a young chess prodigy, bringing unheard of attention to the sport. That world number one is Russia’s Vasily … Viktor Korchnoi (four-time USSR champion who fled the Soviet Union and settled in Switzerland) wrote in his book that he used to put on sunglasses “to deprive Karpov of his favorite activity: to stand at the table looking his opponent straight in the eye. Tevis has also said directly that Fischer and Spassky influenced his novel. His career continued for another 20 years, after which Spassky returned to Russia and applied himself to popularizing chess in the country. Mikhail Botvinnik (1911-1995) Botvinnik is widely regarded as the father of the Soviet chess … While I was wearing glasses, he could only see his own reflection.”, Read more: How Russian chess players used psychic powers against each other.