Editing Anatoly Karpov (section)

===Match with Fischer in 1975===
Though a world championship match between Karpov and Fischer was highly anticipated, those hopes were never realised. Fischer not only insisted that the match be the first to ten wins ([[draw (chess)|draws]] not counting), but also that the champion retain the crown if the score was tied 9–9. [[FIDE]], the International Chess Federation, refused to allow this proviso, and gave both players a deadline of April 1, 1975, to agree to play the match under the FIDE-approved rules.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Hochberg |first=Burt |date=May 1975 |title=News & Views |magazine=Chess Life and Review
|location=Newburgh, New York |publisher=United States Chess Federation }}</ref> When Fischer did not agree, FIDE President [[Max Euwe]] declared on April 3, 1975, that Fischer had forfeited his title and Karpov was the new World Champion.<ref>{{cite book |last=Byrne |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Byrne (chess player) |date=1976 |title=Anatoly Karpov, The Road to the World Chess Championship |location=New York |publisher=Bantam Books |page=1 |isbn=0-553-02876-6}}</ref> Karpov later attempted to set up another match with Fischer, but the negotiations fell through. This thrust the young Karpov into the role of World Champion without having faced the reigning champion.

[[Garry Kasparov]] argued that Karpov would have had good chances because he had beaten Spassky convincingly and was a new breed of tough professional, and indeed had higher quality games, while Fischer had been inactive for three years.<ref>''Kasparov, [[My Great Predecessors]], part IV: Fischer, p. 474''</ref> This view is echoed by Karpov himself.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/karpov-interview-tania-sachdev|title=Karpov on Fischer, Korchnoi, Kasparov and the chess world today|publisher=Chessbase|date=February 5, 2020|access-date=February 6, 2020}}</ref> Spassky thought that Fischer would have won in 1975, but Karpov would have qualified again and beaten Fischer in 1978.<ref>In [http://www.chesscafe.com/text/polgar26.pdf an article] (PDF) published in 2004 on the Chesscafe website [[Susan Polgar]] wrote: "I spoke to Boris Spassky about this same issue and he believes that Bobby would have won in 1975, but that Anatoly would have won the rematch."</ref> Karpov has said that if he had had the opportunity to play Fischer for the championship in his twenties, he could have been a much better player as a result.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 21, 2021 |title="Каспаров получил от меня 48 бесплатных уроков". Большое интервью Карпова |url=https://www.sport-express.ru/chess/reviews/kak-prohodili-matchi-po-shahmatam-anatoliya-karpova-protiv-garri-kasparova-intervyu-1790651/ |access-date=July 4, 2022 |website=sport-express.ru |language=ru}}</ref>