Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
"The world is his chess board, his moves are from Russia to Rome, to Barcelona to London, to Paris, to Germany, to Yugoslavia, to any country where there are worthy opponents in this sublimated war."
Sixty-four squares and a million threats - chess is the oldest and still the best war game. The present world champion is a 26-year-old Russian genius called Anatoly Karpov. Tonight he talks about the qualities needed by a great chess player. Paul Jennings follows in the footsteps of the world champion, and examines the game claimed by some to be the most intellectually demanding exercise known to man.
Also appearing are the former chess world champion and current President of the World Chess Federation, Dr Max Euwe, British grandmaster Tony Miles, the Filipino grandmaster Eugenio Torre and Argentine grandmaster Miguel Ángel Quinteros and their wives Benjie Quinteros and Marilin Torre, Dutch grandmaster Jan Hein Donner, cognitive psychologist Dr Peter Cathcart Wason, the philosopher Professor George Steiner and the international master and chess author, William Hartston.
Clip taken from Where Kasparov is King, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 11 July, 1977.
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"The world is his chess board, his moves are from Russia to Rome, to Barcelona to London, to Paris, to Germany, to Yugoslavia, to any country where there are worthy opponents in this sublimated war."
Sixty-four squares and a million threats - chess is the oldest and still the best war game. The present world champion is a 26-year-old Russian genius called Anatoly Karpov. Tonight he talks about the qualities needed by a great chess player. Paul Jennings follows in the footsteps of the world champion, and examines the game claimed by some to be the most intellectually demanding exercise known to man.
Also appearing are the former chess world champion and current President of the World Chess Federation, Dr Max Euwe, British grandmaster Tony Miles, the Filipino grandmaster Eugenio Torre and Argentine grandmaster Miguel Ángel Quinteros and their wives Benjie Quinteros and Marilin Torre, Dutch grandmaster Jan Hein Donner, cognitive psychologist Dr Peter Cathcart Wason, the philosopher Professor George Steiner and the international master and chess author, William Hartston.
Clip taken from Where Kasparov is King, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 11 July, 1977.
You have now entered the BBC Archive, a time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of TV to educate, entertain and enlighten you with classic clips from the BBC vaults.
Make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a single stop on our amazing journey through the BBC Archive - youtube.com/c/BBCArchive?sub_confirmation=1
You can also dive into plenty more BBC Archive on our website - bbc.co.uk/archive
