As losing finalist in 1966, Spassky was automatically seeded into the next Candidates' cycle. In 1968, he faced Geller again, this time at Sukhumi, and won by the same margin as in 1965 (5½–2½, +3−0=5). He next met Bent Larsen at Malmö, and again won by the score of 5½–2½ after winning the first three games. The final was against his Leningrad rival Korchnoi at Kiev, and Spassky triumphed (+4−1=5), which earned him another match with Petrosian. Spassky's final tournament appearance before the match came at Palma, where he shared second place (+10−1=6) with Larsen, a point behind Korchnoi. Spassky's flexibility of style was the key to victory over Petrosian, by 12½–10½, with the site again being Moscow.