CLOSING GAMBIT: 1978 KORCHNOI VERSUS KARPOV AND THE KREMLIN

After Fischer beat Spassky in the 1972 World Chess Championship, the Soviets plotted to regain this coveted title by supporting Anatoly Karpov – a loyal member of the Communist Party. Fischer refused to defend his title and Karpov was crowned King, but his first title defence was against Viktor Korchnoi – a critic of the Soviet regime and high-profile defector since 1976.

As the rivals fight on the chess board, their teams are locked in a war of espionage, parapsychology, coded yoghurts, KGB agents, death threats, and a mystic sect wanted for murder.