At the September 1982 Interzonal in Moscow, which he won with a score of 10pts out of 13 (1.5pts clear of the field), putting him on the road to the world championship, Kasparov faced 1.d4 three times, always replying 1...Nf6.
At the Olympiad the following month in Luzern, he again faced 1.d4 three times and again always replied 1...Nf6.
Then came game two of his Candidates' quarter-final match against Alexander Beliavsky.
Beliavsky (2570) - Kasparov (2690)
Candidates Quarter-Final (Moscow) Game 2 1983
1.d4 d5!?
The first time, at least in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, that Kasparov met 1.d4 with 1...d5. If nothing else, it must have rendered Beliavsky's preparation for the white pieces null and void.
2.c4 e6 3.Nc3
So we reach the starting point of what this series is about - what to do if you are a 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 player as Black but do not want to face the QGD Exchange when White is not committed to playing Nf3.
Kasparov's style with the black pieces, as several commentators have noted, is one in which he would rather have an unbalanced position with counterplay than a theoretically more-or-less equal position, but one in which White has the initiative.
So continuing 3...Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 would be alien to Kasparov's style. Indeed, throughout his career he never met 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 with 3...Nf6.
Instead, in this, his first ever 1.d4 d5 game as Black, Kasparov revived the Tarrasch Defence.
3...c5!?
Statistically, this is an improvement on 3...Nf6. The latter scores a miserable 39% in Mega21, while 3...c5 scores 45%, which is about average for Black in large databases.
4.cxd5
This is played 72% of the time in Mega21.
4...exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6
Shamkovich & Schiller in Play The Tarrasch (Pergamon 1984) state: "When heading for the Tarrasch it is important to remember the dictum that knights should be developed in alphabetical order!" Actually, there seems nothing wrong with 5...Nf6, but the text is a lot more popular.
6.g3
This move was introduced by Carl Schlecter at Prague 1908 and quickly became White's main weapon against the Tarrasch.
6...Nf6 7.Bg2 Be7
Other moves are possible, eg 7...Be6, but according to Shamkovich & Schiller "it is much too early to commit the (queen's) bishop to a particular post."
8.0-0
Black can be said to have lost a tempo after 8.dxc5 Bxc5, which is indeed the continuation favoured by the analysis engines Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01 In practice, games usually transpose to one of the main lines after the further moves 9.0-0 0-0 (more on this later).
8...0-0 9.Bg5
9.dxc5 Bxc5 would transpose to the previous note, although Black has the added option of 9...d4!? The text is the absolute main line in Mega21.
Shamkovich & Schiller comment: "White eschews subtlety in favour of a direct attack on the black centre. He threatens Bxf6 followed by Nxd5."
9...cxd4
The main alternative, 9...c4!?, is preferred by the engines.
A solid alternative, liked by Komodo11.01 but not by Stockfish12, is 9...Be6!?, when 10.Rc1 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Rc8? 12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.Bh3 gave White a large advantage in Burak Akguc (unrated) - Spanton (2065), Hastings Challengers 1997-98 (but ½–½, 53 moves). Black can improve with 11...Nxd4, but White can probably improve before that with 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.Rc1.
10.Nxd4 h6
We are still very much in theory - there are almost 4,000 games with this move in Mega21.
11.Be3
I will cover the important alternative 11.Bxf6 in part four.
11...Re8
 |
| Decision time for White |
This is possibly the first point at which either player needed a serious think.
*****
*****
*****
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*****
12.Qa4
White's important alternatives will be covered later.
12...Bd7!? 13.Rad1
White can win a pawn with 13.Nxd5!? Nxd5 14.Bxd5, but then comes the forcing 14...Nb4 15.Qb3 Nxd5 16.Qxd5 Bh3 17.Qxd8 Raxd8, when Black is considered by theory (and the engines) to have enough compensation for a pawn.
13...Nb4 14.Qb3 a5
"Black must play aggressively on the queenside to offset White's central pressure," according to Shamkovich & Schiller.
15.Rd2!?
This move has been widely criticised, but it is the choice of the engines.
The main line runs 15.a4 Rc8 16.Ndb5 Be6 17.Bd4 Bc5 with what the engines reckon is an even position (White can hardly play 18.Bxf6?! Qxf6 19.Bxd5 Bxd5 20.Nxd5 Nxd5 21.Qxd5 because Black equalises the material and gains an initiative with 21...Rxe2).
Note that the d pawn was shown to be immune in Rafael Vaganian - Borislav Ivkov, USSR-Yugoslavia Match (Odessa) 1975, which saw 15.Nxd5? Nbxd5 16.Bxd5 Nxd5 17.Qxd5 Bh3, when 18.Qxd8 fails to 18...Raxd8 19.Rfe1 Bb4.
15...a4 16.Qd1 a3 17.Qb1
The engines like 17.Qb3!? Qa5 18.bxa3 Qxa3 19.Nxd5 Nfxd5 20.Bxd5 Nxd5 21.Qxd5, when White is a pawn up but Black's bishop-pair and White's kingside light-square weaknesses give obvious compensation.
17...Bf8 18.bxa3
This is Komodo11.1's choice.
Stockfish12 prefers 18.Nb3, which was played in Vitaly Kunin (2494) - Ernst Weinzetti (2327), Oberwart (Austria) 2006, which continued 18...Qc8 19.Rc1 Bf5 20.Qa1 axb2 21.Qxb2 Rxe3!? 22.fxe3 Qe6, when Black had full compensation for the exchange, according to the engines (but 1-0, 34 moves).
18...Rxa3 19.Qb2 Qa8 20.Nb3!?
Unblockading an IQP is not a decision to be taken lightly, although the move is Stockfish12's choice. Kasparov called the move dubious, suggesting 20.Ndb5 (Komodo11.01's choice) Bxb5 21.Nxb5 Rxa2 22.Qb3, which he and the engines call equal. One possible continuation runs 22...Rxd2 23.Bxd2 Qa5 24.Nd4, re-establishing the blockade, when Black is a pawn up but has two weak pawns, and White has a pair of bishops on an open board - still equal, according to the engines.
20...Bc6 21.Bd4
This is Beliavsky's idea - the dark-square bishop becomes the blockader, indirectly adding pressure against d5.
21...Ne4 22.Nxe4
The engines prefer 22.Bxe4!? dxe4 23.Be3, claiming equality.
22...dxe4 23.Ra1
Kasparov in Mega21 gives as better 23.Nc5!? e3!? 24.Bxc6 exf2+ 25.Bxf2 Nxc6 with a slight edge for Black.
23...Bd5 24.Qb1?
The engines reckon White needs to block the e4 pawn with 24.e3, the point being Black cannot reply, as in the game, by occupying the newly created outpost at d3 as 24...Nd3? loses to 25.Rxd3! If Black tries to set up ...Nd3 with 24...b6, similar to what happens in the game, White has 25.Nc1 and is only a little worse.
24...b6
Now Black is threatening to play ...e3.
25.e3 Nd3 26.Rd1
The engines prefer 26.Nc1, which Kasparov said can be met by 26...Ne1, when one line given by the engines runs 27.Qxb6 Nf3+ 28.Bxf3 exf3 - White is a pawn up but Black is better, according to the engines.
As Kasparov points out, 26.Bxb6? loses to 26...Bb4 27.Rc2 (stopping ...Bc3) Bxb3.
26...b5 27.Bf1 b4 28.Bxd3!?
This gets rid of the strong knight but opens the h1-a8 diagonal, which may be a greater evil.
28...exd3 29.Qxd3 Rxa2 30.Rxa2 Qxa2 31.Nc5
Not 31.Rb1? Be4.
After the text, material is level but White is positionally lost - it is just a question of whether Black will win by pushing the b pawn or by exploiting the weak light squares around the white king.
The game finished:
31...Bf3 32.Ra1 Qd5 33.Qb3 Qh5 34.Nd3 Bd6 35.Ne1 Bb7 36.Rc1 Qf5 37.Rd1 Bf8 38.Qb1 0-1
White lost on time as he made his 38th move. Kasparov gives a likely continuation as 38...Be4 39.Qb3 h5, when Black has a large advantage.
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