Piatigorsky Cup, Santa Monica 1966

Spassky won ahead of Fischer in the second Piatigorsky Cup. The tournament is remembered as one of the most glamorous events in chess history, held at the Miramar Hotel with Hollywood celebrities in attendance.

The Glamour Event

The Piatigorsky Cup tournaments (1963 and 1966) were the brainchild of Gregory Piatigorsky, the renowned cellist, and his wife Jacqueline, a strong chess player who had competed in the U.S. Women's Championship. The tournaments brought together the world's best players in a setting of extraordinary luxury, with lavish parties, celebrity guests, and unprecedented prize funds.

The 1966 edition featured Spassky, Fischer, Larsen, Unzicker, Ivkov, Reshevsky, Portisch, and others. Spassky won with 11.5/18, half a point ahead of Fischer. The tournament is notable for Fischer's game against Reshevsky (a dramatic time-scramble victory) and for the cultural moment it represented: chess as high society entertainment in 1960s America.