A roundup of the week Sept. 23-29

CHESS—After six games in their match in Moscow to determine the challenger for the world championship, ANATOLY KARPOV led his opponent, Viktor Korchnoi, 2-0. The other four games were draws, which do not count in the scoring.

PRO FOOTBALL—NFL: The New England Patriots found themselves in a strange and wonderful place last week—first in the AFC East. They upset Los Angeles 20-14 with a tight defense and a surging offense directed by Jim Plunkett, who passed for two touchdowns. Field goals of 39 and 23 yards by John Smith gave the Patriots the winning margin. Another new power, St. Louis, dumped Cleveland 29-7 to remain unbeaten with a 3-0 record. The Cardinals exploded for 22 points in the third quarter, starting with a 94-yard kickoff return by Terry Metcalf for a touchdown. The New York Giants won their first game, upsetting Dallas 14-6. Cowboy Quarterback Roger Staubach was sacked six times and intercepted three times by an exultant Giant defense that also picked up two of three Dallas fumbles. Minnesota squeaked by Chicago 11-7 in a game that saw Viking Quarterback Fran Tarkenton throw his 250th career touchdown pass, while Miami needed a touchdown with 15 seconds remaining to beat improving San Diego 28-21. Jim Kiick scored the winning points on a five-yard squirt up the middle. Oakland surprised Pittsburgh, winning 17-0 and holding Joe Gilliam to 106 yards in the air. The Raiders intercepted Gilliam three times, twice shutting off key Steeler scoring attempts. Recovering from a scoreless first half, Kansas City dropped Houston 17-7, and Cincinnati had little trouble beating San Francisco 21-3. Chester Marcol kicked four field goals for Green Bay as the Packers edged Detroit 21-19. Lion Kicker Errol Mann fell short on an attempted 47-yard field goal with 18 seconds left. Philadelphia found its offense and victimized Baltimore 30-10 as Roman Gabriel completed 17 of 25 passes for 206 yards. New Orleans and Atlanta exchanged turnovers before the Saints nipped the Falcons 14-13. Buffalo scored a 16-12 victory over the Jets in a 40-mph wind, with Jim Braxton scoring the winning touchdown of an all but passless game on a 21-yard run in the fourth quarter.

WFL: In the face of increasing financial trouble the WFL completed its 13th week (page 98) and, except for an upset or two, the shake-ups had little effect on the field action. The biggest surprise was Portland's 26-21 win over Birmingham. The Storm got off to an 18-7 lead, but George Mira came off the bench at the half to rally the Americans, who gained a 21-18 edge late in the last period. Then Portland Quarterback Pete Beathard took charge, hitting Bob Christiansen on a 16-yard pass to score with 35 seconds left. The win gave Portland a 4-8-1 record, while the loss put Birmingham, 11-2, into a tie with Memphis for the Central Division lead. The Southmen, playing a new Shreveport Steamer that looked remarkably like the old Houston Texans, cut Shreveport off 17-3, as backup Quarterback Danny White, in for the injured John Huarte, passed for 170 yards and one touchdown. The Southmen also got points from Willie Spencer, on a two-yard spurt into the end zone, and Bob Etter, who kicked a 41-yard field goal. Charlotte was still being called New York when it overwhelmed the hapless Detroit Wheels 37-7. Star Don Highsmith scored two touchdowns and rushed for 122 yards in 19 carries as New York-Charlotte piled up 277 rushing yards. The Wheels could not get rolling. Quarterback Bubba Wyche had five passes intercepted and completed only seven of 23 attempts for a gain of 42 yards. On the ground the Wheels were not much more effective, totaling 67 yards. Southern California, running away with the Western Division, massacred the Jacksonville Sharks 57-7 as Sun rookie Tony Adams ran 26 yards for a touchdown and threw to James McAllister and Ike Harris for two more. Bob Davis passed for 297 yards as the Florida Blazers raged 29-0 against the Chicago Fire. Davis threw for three touchdowns and was 18 for 25 in the win that gave Florida a one-game lead over New York-Charlotte in the Eastern Division. Philadelphia, in third place behind the Stars, got two fourth-quarter field goals from Gerry Warren as the Bell defeated the Hawaiians 21-16. A healthier Bell defense snapped up four Hawaiian passes before Norris Weese took over for the islanders and led them 76 yards in 14 plays for a score on a seven-yard pass to John Kelsey. The Hawaiians were left with a 4-9 record, only one-half game ahead of Shreveport in the Western Division.

GOLF—Scoring a third-round hole in one for good measure, JOHNNY MILLER won his eighth tournament of the year, an eight-stroke victory in the $150,000 Kaiser International Open at Silverado Country Club in Napa, Calif. The $30,000 first prize lifted Miller's 1974 earnings to $346,933, which broke Jack Nicklaus' record for a single season.

Joanne Carner won the $35,000 Portland Open with a 54-hole total of 211 over the par-73 Columbia-Edgewater Country Club. The $5,000 winner's share boosted her season's earnings to $84,019, highest ever for a woman pro golfer.

Dale Morey, of High Point, N.C. won the USGA Senior Amateur Championship, defeating Lew Oehmig 4 and 2 at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (page 94).

HARNESS RACING—KEYSTONE PRESTO, driven by Peter Haughton, paced the mile in 1:58[2/5] to finish two lengths ahead of King Henry in the final of the $48,370 Tattersalls Stake for 3-year-olds at the Red Mile, in Lexington, Ky.

HORSE RACING—FOREGO ($6.60), ridden by Heliodoro Gustines, exploded in the stretch of the 1½-mile Woodward Stakes, at Belmont Park, to win by a neck over Arbees Boy in 2:27[2/5] over a fast track, at even weights.

Molly Ballantine ($11.40), Laffit Pincay Jr. up, covered the mile in 1:37 to beat Copernica by 6½ lengths in the $111,900 Frizette for 2-year-old fillies at Belmont Park. Prerace favorite Ruffian was scratched because of a high temperature.

Jacinto Vasquez guided FOOLISH PLEASURE ($3.80) to a 6-length victory over Our Talisman in the $60,300 Cowdin Stakes for 2-year-olds at Belmont Park. The winning time was 1:22[3/5] for seven furlongs.

MOTOR SPORTS—Averaging 66.23 mph in a Chevrolet, EARL ROSS won the Old Dominion 500 Grand National stock-car race, at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, finishing a lap in front of Buddy Baker, who drove a Ford. Ross, the first rookie in 13 years to take a major NASCAR event, collected $14,300 for the win.

SHOOTING—The U.S. swept the individual and team medals in the men's 300-meter three-position standard-rifle competition at the world championships in Thun, Switzerland. DAVID KIMES, of Huntington Beach, Calif., set a world record of 575 points to take the gold, ahead of fellow Americans Lones Wigger and John Foster. The U.S. also won the men's 300-meter three-position free rifle, the standing sport shooting and the three-position small-bore rifle, to finish with 13 gold medals, still well behind the 23 golds won by the U.S.S.R. in the two-week competition.

TENNIS—EVONNE GOOLAGONG repeated her semifinal victory at Forest Hills by defeating Chris Evert 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in the final of the $50,000 Virginia Slims tournament in Denver.

WEIGHT LIFTING—Russia's VASILY ALEXEYEV retained his superheavyweight crown with a world-record total lift of 947 pounds at the world championships in Manila. Bulgaria took the overall team title with 78 points. The Soviet Union, with 74, was second.

MILEPOSTS—FIRED: HOWARD SCHNELLEN-BERGER, head coach of the Baltimore Colts, by Owner Robert Irsay, immediately after the team lost its third straight game of the season. Under Schnellenberger, who was in the second year of a three-year contract, the Colts were 4-10 last year. Irsay named Vice-President and General Manager JOE THOMAS to replace him.

NAMED: The Most Valuable Player in World Team Tennis, BILLIE JEAN KING, player-coach of the Philadelphia Freedoms, who lost to the Denver Racquets in the championship finals. King was the league's leading singles (44-6) and doubles (33-5) player.

NAMED: ALEX PEROLLI, 53, to coach the NASL's new expansion team, the San Antonio Thunder. Perolli directed the Los Angeles Aztecs to the 1974 soccer league championship and had coached the Rochester Lancers to the title in 1970.

RETIRED: WILT CHAMBERLAIN, 38, from every phase of competitive basketball (page 36).

DIED: VAN PATRICK, 58, familiar voice of the Detroit Lions and Tigers and Notre Dame football for more than 20 years; of cancer; in South Bend.

DIED: HARRY HARTZ, 78, auto race driver who finished second three times (1922, 1923 and 1926) in the Indianapolis 500 and later built two winning Indy cars (1930 and 1932); in Indianapolis.