"KARPOV'S OPPONENT"

The Russian players Smyslov, Petrosian, Tal, Geller and Gulko and
the Russian crowd of seconds and functionaries heard of
the defection on the day it happened. Considering how efficiently
information spread by word of mouth in those days in the USSR,
every Russian chess player will have known about it the day
after all these people returned from Biel. -- Jurgen

THIS CRAZY WORLD O F CHESS by GM Larry Evans (page 100)

Korchnoi became the target of Soviet wrath when he defected in 1976.
First they tried to disqualify him from a title shot on the grounds
that he was stateless, but FIDE had the courage to declare that
challengers represented themselves as individuals, not their nations.
FIDE nonetheless bowed to Soviet pressure by forcing Korchnoi to
accept a rematch clause that FIDE had stricken in 1963.

Then the Soviet Union refused to release Korchnoi’s family and
objected to his playing under the flag of his new country,
Switzerland. During his 1978 title match, the Soviet press never
mentioned his name, referring to him only as "the challenger" or
"Karpov’s opponent."

Chess always was regarded as an extension of Soviet diplomacy. After
World War II, their chess masters were sent on goodwill tours of
neighboring states where Russia planned to increase her sphere of
influence. Team matches with Hungary and Czechoslovakia preceded the
actual takeovers of those nations. Where chess went, tanks followed.



Jürgen R. wrote:
[...]
Fischer sent him a cable congratulating
him on his defection in 1976.

And Korchnoi sent Fischer a cable congratulating him on
his defection in 1992.


In a statement to the press shortly after his defection, Korchnoi
expressed his pleasure in knowing the predicament Soviet authorities
will face when forced to report his results in the Candidates Matches
next year. That is the time, he noted, when the millions of Russian
chess players will learn of his defection."

Nonsense. Korchnoi's defection occurred while the Interzonal in Biel
was going on. I was there, playing in a side tournament, and
remember hearing the news, which spread like wild fire before it ever
hit the newspapers.
The Russian players Smyslov, Petrosian, Tal, Geller and Gulko and
the Russian crowd of seconds and functionaries heard of
the defection on the day it happened. Considering how efficiently
information spread by word of mouth in those days in the USSR,
every Russian chess player will have known about it the day
after all these people returned from Biel.