Word: chess
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Chess, for the Soviet Union, is not just a game; it is a psychological weapon in Communism's cultural struggle with the West. Thus when World Champion Anatoli Karpov, 27, squared off against flamboyant Russian Defector Victor Korchnoi, 47, for the title and $550,000 in prizes at the remote Philippine resort of Baguio City three months ago, the Soviet chess establishment took no unnecessary risks. To give advice, they provided Karpov with a cadre of talented seconds. To ensure his privacy, they dispatched a crew of grim-faced security men, led by a cigar-chomping ex-KGB prosecutor...
Korchnoi's retinue was equally diverse. It included two young chess experts from England, an Austrian woman who reportedly had spent ten years in a Siberian prison after being convicted of spying for the U.S., and a young Belgian, known only as "Rasputin," whose job was to ward off Zoukhar's "evil eye." A former Soviet grand master who defected to the West two years ago, leaving his wife and son behind, Korchnoi was prepared for all of Moscow's ploys. So unnerving was the prospect of a Korchnoi victory to the Soviet press that it avoided...
According to International Chess Federation rules, the winner would be the first man to win six games (draws did not count). In the end, Karpov & Co. eked out a narrow six-to-five victory in the arduous 32-game match, fending off a spectacular late comeback by Korchnoi. The games themselves were unimpressive. Karpov stuck to the cautious approach that some commentators have dubbed "the boa constrictor" style; Korchnoi, taking far more risks, repeatedly ran into time trouble by nearly failing to make the required 40 moves in the first 2½ hours of play. "There was not a single...
...lustrous black hair in time for school, sisters hang out the laundry on poles, grannies mold patties of coal dust and mud, fuel for the evening meal. Aunties hurry home with the rice ration in open bowls. Fathers split wood, small children chop vegetables. Good ole boys play Chinese chess or pai-fen, a complicated poker...
...around the toy counter, which offers such items as a huge stuffed panda for $47, a solidly built dump truck for about $4.75, and a battery-powered submachine gun for $6.25. A Shanghai-made black-and-white TV set costs around $428, a solid-state radio $33. A nice chess set goes for $8.50, good basketball shoes for $5.25. The high-collared Chung-shan chuang, the so-called Mao jacket, made of heavy blue or gray cotton and well stitched, is a bargain at $11; a matching Mao cap costs $1.50. Friendship Stores in each city, catering to foreigners, offer...