March 29 - April 5, 1970
During the 1950s and 1960s, chessplayers from the Soviet Union who participated in international (FIDE) tournaments dominated these events. The dominance was not limited to individuals, Soviet teams had also dominated the Olympiads since the early 1950s.
Soviet dominance was not limited to tournaments. Since Botvinnik's victory in the 1948 World Championship Tournament, the final matches for the world championship had been contested solely by Soviet players:
| 1951 | Botvinnik - Bronstein |
| 1954 | Botvinnik - Smyslov |
| 1957 | Botvinnik - Smyslov |
| 1958 | Smylsov - Botvinnik (rematch) |
| 1960 | Botvinnik - Tal |
| 1961 | Tal - Botvinnik (rematch) |
| 1963 | Botvinnik - Petrosian |
| 1966 | Petrosian - Spassky |
| 1969 | Petrosian - Spassky |
The event took place in Belgrade from March 29 to April 5. In this event, dubbed "The Match of the Century" by its Yugoslav organizers, two teams of elite grandmasters contested a series of short (4-game) matches. The event seemed ideal for the Soviets. A victory in the overall match would confirm to the world the true strength of of the U.S.S.R. Should the Soviets be defeated, well, this was a team that represented the entire rest of the world!
The Soviet lineup was impressive, to say the least. In board order the team was composed of the following players:
| Boris Spassky (reigning World Champion) |
| Tigran Petrosian (former World Champion) |
| Victor Korchoi |
| Lev Polugeyevsky |
| Efim Geller |
| Vasily Smyslov (former World Champion) |
| Mark Taimanov |
| Mikhail Botvinnik (former World Champion) |
| Mikhail Tal (former World Champion) |
| Paul Keres |
| Leonid Stein (reserve) |
| David Bronstein (reserve) |
Members of the World team were selected by Dr. Max Euwe, a former World Champion from the Netherlands. He had chosen the team based on rating lists. This resulted in Robert Fischer (U.S.A.) on Board 1 and Bent Larsen (Denmark) on Board 2. Larsen protested this ordering claiming that his latest performances were superior to those of Fischer. In a surprise move, less than 24 hours before play was to begin, Fischer yielded Board 1 to Larsen. Perhaps almost as surprising was the fact that the Soviet delegation agreed to this change. This meant that Fischer would now be paired against Petrosian rather than Spassky. Would a sudden change in opponent have any effect on the Soviet players?
| Bent Larsen (Denmark) |
| Robert Fischer (U.S.A.) |
| Lajos Portisch (Hungary) |
| Vlastimil Hort (Czechoslovakia) |
| Svetozar Gligoric (Yugoslavia) |
| Samuel Reshevsky (U.S.A.) |
| Wolfgang Uhlmann (Germany) |
| Milan Matulovic (Yugoslavia) |
| Miguel Najdorf (Argentina) |
| Borislav Ivkov (Yugoslavia) |
| Fridrik Olafsson (Iceland) (reserve) |
| Klaus Darga (Germany) (reserve) |
| White | Result | Black |
| Larsen | ½ - ½ | Spassky |
| Petrosian | 0 - 1 | Fischer |
| Portisch | ½ - ½ | Korchnoi |
| Polugaevsky | 0 - 1 | Hort |
| Gligoric | 0 - 1 | Geller |
| Smyslov | ½ - ½ | Reshevsky |
| Uhlmann | 0 - 1 | Taimanov |
| Botvinnik | 1 - 0 | Matulovic |
| Najdorf | ½ - ½ | Tal |
| Keres | ½ - ½ | Ivkov |
Round 1: U.S.S.R. 5.5 - World 4.5
| White | Result | Black |
| Spassky | 1 - 0 | Larsen |
| Fischer | 1 - 0 | Petrosian |
| Kortchnoi | ½ - ½ | Portisch |
| Hort | ½ - ½ | Polugaevsky |
| Geller | ½ - ½ | Gligoric |
| Reshevsky | 0 - 1 | Smyslov |
| Taimanov | 1 - 0 | Uhlmann |
| Matulovic | ½ - ½ | Botvinnik |
| Tal | 0 - 1 | Najdorf |
| Ivkov | 0 - 1 | Keres |
Round 2: U.S.S.R. 6.0 - World 4.0
Cumulative: U.S.S.R. 11.5 - World 8.5
| White | Result | Black |
| Larsen | 1 - 0 | Spassky |
| Petrosian | ½ - ½ | Fischer |
| Portisch | 1 - 0 | Kortchnoi |
| Polugaevsky | ½ - ½ | Hort |
| Gligoric | ½ - ½ | Geller |
| Smyslov | 0 - 1 | Reshevsky |
| Uhlmann | ½ - ½ | Taimanov |
| Botvinnik | ½ - ½ | Matulovic |
| Najdorf | 0 - 1 | Tal |
| Keres | ½ - ½ | Ivkov |
Round 3: U.S.S.R. 4.0 - World 6.0
Cumulative: U.S.S.R. 15.5 - World 14.5
| White | Result | Black |
| Stein | 0 - 1 | Larsen |
| Fischer | ½ - ½ | Petrosian |
| Kortchnoi | ½ - ½ | Portisch |
| Hort | ½ - ½ | Polugaevsky |
| Geller | ½ - ½ | Gligoric |
| Olafsson | 0 - 1 | Smyslov |
| Taimanov | 0 - 1 | Uhlmann |
| Matulovic | ½ - ½ | Botvinnik |
| Tal | ½ - ½ | Najdorf |
| Ivkov | 0 - 1 | Keres |
Round 4: U.S.S.R. 5.0 - World 5.0
Cumulative: U.S.S.R. 20.5 - World 19.5