The 1972 World Chess Championship

During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in almost every arena: space, sports, and of course the military. Everything they competed in was designed to show the superiority of their respective systems. In 1972, one of the greatest cold war rivalries came to a head in Reykjavík, Iceland. It didn’t take place at a sporting event or on a battlefield. Rather, it took place over a period of two months on a chessboard.

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