1972 the first game of the world chess championship 1972 between 07 11
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1972 54 years ago Historical Events July 11 3 sources

The first game of the World Chess Championship 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky starts.

On July 11, in the year 1972, The first game of the World Chess Championship 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky starts. This event is recorded as a Historical Events event in the history of July 11, one of 432 recorded events on this date across all of history.

The World Chess Championship 1972 was a match for the World Chess Championship between challenger Bobby Fischer of the United States and defending champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union. The match took place in the Laugardalshöll in Reykjavík, Iceland, and has been dubbed the Match of the Century. Fischer became the first US-born player to win the world title. Fischer's win also ended, for a short time, 24 years of Soviet domination of the World Championship.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on July 11, 1972 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Historical Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 3 Wikipedia articles.
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 10 July 2026.

On This Date in History 432

Type Year Date Event
Notable Deaths 2025 Jul 11 Martin Cruz Smith, American author and screenwriter (born 1942)
Notable Deaths 2024 Jul 11 Shelley Duvall, American actress (born 1949)
Notable Deaths 2024 Jul 11 Monte Kiffin, American football coach (born 1940)
Notable Deaths 2024 Jul 11 Stanley Tshabalala, South African soccer player and coach (born 1949)
Notable Deaths 2023 Jul 11 Milan Kundera, Czech-French writer (born 1929)
Historical Events 2021 Jul 11 Virgin Galactic launches its founder, Richard Branson, into space, the first company ever to do so.
Notable Deaths 2021 Jul 11 Charlie Robinson, American actor (born 1945)
Notable Deaths 2021 Jul 11 Renée Simonot, French actress (born 1911)
Notable Deaths 2020 Jul 11 Marc Angelucci, American attorney and men's rights activist, Vice-president of the National Coalition for Men (born…
Notable Deaths 2020 Jul 11 Frank Bolling, American baseball second baseman (born 1931)
Notable Deaths 2017 Jul 11 Jim Wong-Chu, Canadian poet (born 1949)
Historical Events 2015 Jul 11 Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán escapes from the maximum security Altiplano prison in Mexico, his second escape.
Notable Deaths 2015 Jul 11 Giacomo Biffi, Italian cardinal (born 1928)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jul 11 Satoru Iwata, Japanese game programmer and businessman (born 1959)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jul 11 André Leysen, Belgian businessman (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 11 Charlie Haden, American bassist and composer (born 1937)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 11 Carin Mannheimer, Swedish author and screenwriter (born 1934)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 11 Bill McGill, American basketball player (born 1939)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 11 Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-American drummer and producer (born 1949)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 11 John Seigenthaler, American journalist and academic (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 11 Randall Stout, American architect, designed the Taubman Museum of Art (born 1958)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jul 11 Emik Avakian, Iranian-American inventor (born 1923)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jul 11 Egbert Brieskorn, German mathematician and academic (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jul 11 Eugene P. Wilkinson, American admiral (born 1918)
Historical Events 2011 Jul 11 Ninety-eight containers of explosives self-detonate killing 13 people in Zygi, Cyprus.
Selected Events 2011 Jul 11 An explosion at the Evangelos Florakis Naval Base killed 13 people, including the head of the Cyprus Navy.
Historical Events 2010 Jul 11 The Islamist militia group Al-Shabaab carries out multiple suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, killing 74 people and…
Historical Events 2010 Jul 11 In Johannesburg, Spain defeat the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time to win their first FIFA World Cup title.
Selected Events 2010 Jul 11 The Islamist militia group Al-Shabaab carried out multiple suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, killing 74 people and…
Selected Events 2010 Jul 11 Spain defeated the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time to win their first FIFA World Cup title (pictured lifting the…
Notable Deaths 2009 Jul 11 Reg Fleming, Canadian-American ice hockey player (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2009 Jul 11 Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (born 1972)
Notable Deaths 2009 Jul 11 Ji Xianlin, Chinese linguist and paleographer (born 1911)
Notable Deaths 2008 Jul 11 Michael E. DeBakey, American surgeon and educator (born 1908)
Historical Events 2007 Jul 11 The Siege of Lal Masjid in Islamabad, Pakistan, ends after the Pakistan Army storms the mosque which had been occupied…
Notable Deaths 2007 Jul 11 Glenda Adams, Australian author and academic (born 1939)
Notable Deaths 2007 Jul 11 Lady Bird Johnson, American beautification activist; 43rd First Lady of the United States (born 1912)
Notable Deaths 2007 Jul 11 Alfonso López Michelsen, Colombian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Colombia (born 1913)
Notable Deaths 2007 Jul 11 Ed Mirvish, American-Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded Honest Ed's (born 1914)
Historical Events 2006 Jul 11 Mumbai train bombings: 209 people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai, India.
Notable Deaths 2006 Jul 11 Barnard Hughes, American actor (born 1915)
Notable Deaths 2006 Jul 11 Bronwyn Oliver, Australian sculptor (born 1959)
Notable Deaths 2006 Jul 11 John Spencer, English snooker player and sportscaster (born 1935)
Notable Deaths 2005 Jul 11 Gretchen Franklin, English actress and dancer (born 1911)
Notable Deaths 2005 Jul 11 Shinya Hashimoto, Japanese professional wrestler (born 1965)
Notable Deaths 2005 Jul 11 Jesús Iglesias, Argentinian racing driver (born 1922)
Notable Deaths 2005 Jul 11 Frances Langford, American actress and singer (born 1913)
Notable Deaths 2004 Jul 11 Laurance Rockefeller, American financier and philanthropist (born 1910)
Notable Deaths 2004 Jul 11 Renée Saint-Cyr, French actress and producer (born 1904)
Notable Deaths 2003 Jul 11 Zahra Kazemi, Iranian-Canadian freelance photographer (born 1948)

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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