KASPAROV won his 1983 candidates quarter-final against Alexander Beliavsky by the score of +4=4-1.
His next event, five months later, was a tournament in Yugoslavia, where in round one he was drawn against the Damascus-born American grandmaster Yasser Seirawan.
Seirawan (2600) - Kasparov (2690)
Nikšić 19831.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5
Not everyone always wants to challenge Black in the main lines - even such greats as Karpov, Kasparov and Carlsen are among those who have played 4.e3. The most popular continuation then is 4...Nf6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.a3!? a6!? 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.b4 Ba7 9.Bb2 0-0, reaching a position that the analysis engines Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01 reckon slightly favours White.
Another popular choice is 4.Nf3, although this usually transposes to the game continuation via 4...Nc6 5.cxd5 exd5.
4...exd5 5.Nf3
White can grab a pawn with the somewhat underrated 5.dxc5!?, but then comes 5...d4 6.Na4!? (this is much less popular than 6.Ne4 in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database, but scores 15 percentage points better) b5!? (this sharp response is the only move stopping White from getting an advantage, according to the engines) 7.cxb6 axb6 8.b3, and now the engines reckon the little-played 8...b5!? 9.Nb2 Bb4+ gives Black a slight edge, despite being a pawn down. A possible improvement for White is 8.e3!? (marked as a blunder in Play The Tarrasch by Shamkovich & Schiller) Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 (Shamkowich & Schiller may have missed that this recapture is possible) Rxa4 11.Bb5+ Bd7 12.Bxa4 Bxa4 with an unclear position that the engines reckon is dynamically balanced.
Instead of grabbing a pawn, White can sacrifice one with Frank Marshall's 5.e4!?, when the main continuation is 5...dxe4 6.d5 (Marshall first played 6.Bb5+!? but later switched to 6.d5) Nf6 7.Bg5 Be7 8.Bb5+. Black then usually plays 8...Kf8?!, but White has tremendous compensation for a pawn. The engines prefer 8...Bd7 9.d6!? (fear of this move seems to account for the popularity of 8...Kf8?!) Bxb5! 10.Nxb5 (10.dxe7 Qxd1+ 11.Rxd1 Bd3!) Qa5+ 11.Nc3 h6 12.Bh4 Bd8, when Stockfish12 prefers Black but Komodo11.01 reckons White has full compensation for a pawn. Instead of 6...Nf6, Black can try Dawid Janowski's 6...f5!?, which is recommended by Shamkowich & Schiller. The commonest continuation is 7.Bf4 Bd6, when White's best may be 8.Nh3, but 8...Nf6!? (better than Tarrasch's 8...a6, according to the engines) seems to leave White with not enough compensation for a pawn.
Although 5.Nf3 is overwhelmingly the most popular move, some of these other continuations illustrate how sharp the Tarrasch Defence can become at an early stage.
5...Nc6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Bxf6!?
This "does not make much sense," according to Shamkowich & Schiller, but has been played by Efim Geller and Oleg Romanishin, as well as by Seirawan (three times in 1983).
11...Bxf6 12.Nb3!?
Two other continuations are more popular, but neither 12.e3 Nxd4 13.exd4 Be6 nor 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.Rc1 Re8 seems to give White anything.
12...d4
Pushing the d pawn is thematic in IQP positions, but it is not the only move here.
The earlier game Seirawan (2600) - Murray Chandler (2500), OHRA (Netherlands) 1983, saw 12...Be6!? 13.Rc1 (13.Nxd5 Bxb2 14.Rb1 Ba3 is roughly equal, according to the engines) Rc8!? 14.Nc5 Qe7 15.Nd3 Rfd8 16.Nf4 with maybe a slight edge for White, according to the engines (½–½, 68 moves).
At the same tournament, Seirawan (2600) - Eric Lobron (2515) went 12...Bg4!? 13.Bxd5 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Qf6 15.Qc2 Rac8, when the engines reckon Black does not quite have enough compensation for a pawn (but 0-1, 24 moves).
13.Ne4 Be7 14.Rc1 Qb6 15.Nec5 Rfd8 16.Rc4
The engines prefer 16.Qd3 Bxc5!? 17.Nxc5!? Qxb2 18.Rb1 Qxa2 19.Nxb7 Bxb7 20.Rxb7 Rac8, when they reckon White has compensation for a pawn, but no more.
16...Bxc5
The engines reckon 16...a5 gives Black a slight edge.
17.Nxc5
17.Rxc5 Be6 is slightly better for Black.
17...Qxb2 18.Qc2 Qxc2 19.Rxc2
White is a pawn down but his pressure against Black's queenside gives him equal chances, according to Komodo11.01, although Stockfish12 prefers Black.
19...Rb8 20.Rb2
Milorad Knežević (2425) - Milan Draško (2460), Yugoslav Championship (Budva) 1986, went 20.Nxb7 Bxb7 21.Bxc6 Bxc6 22.Rxc6 Rb2 with a slight edge to Black.20...Rd6 21.Rd1 b6 22.Nb3 Bb7 23.Rbd2 Rbd8 24.Kf1 Ba6 25.Bxc6 Rxc6 26.Nxd4 Rc5 27.Nb3 Rxd2 28.Rxd2 Rc7
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| How would you assess this ending? |
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Black has bishop versus knight on an open board with rival pawn-majorities, a queenside pawn-majority and the better minor piece for cooperating with a rook ... but the position is almost dead-equal, according to the engines.
29.Rd8+ Kh7 30.Ke1 Bc4 31.Kd2 g6!? 32.Nc1 Kg7 33.a3 Kf6 34.e3!?
Kasparov called this dubious but it seems it is OK if followed up correctly. However, White has an easier time of it after the engines' 34.Nd3.
34...Ke7 35.Rd4 Rd7!?
Although rook and bishop usually work together better than rook and knight, and there is no reason to think this position is an exception, Kasparov decides bishop-versus-knight with rival pawn-majorities (and no rooks) gives better winning chances.
36.Kc3 Rxd4 37.Kxd4 b5
The bishop is maintained on c4, from where it dominates the knight.
38.Nd3!?
This is Stockfish12's choice, but Komodo11.01 reckons it is the losing move.
38...Bxd3!?
Although a bishop is usually better than a knight on an open board with rival pawn-majorities, and there is no reason to think this position is an exception, Kasparov decides he has better winning chances in the pawn ending.
What makes this ending remarkable is that Kasparov goes against accepted wisdom on two major occasions - i) swopping rooks, ii) swopping minor pieces - in order to win, although it has to be said he gets a big assist from his opponent.
39.Kxd3 Kd6 40.e4?
Kasparov called this a blunder, and it does seem this is the real losing move. Drawing, according to Stockfish12, is 40.Kd4, which conforms with first world correspondence champion Cecil Purdy's rule-of-thumb that in an ending you should get your pieces to their best possible squares before advancing pawns. Komodo11.01, however, reckons for a long time that 40.Kd4 is also losing. But after the engines' joint-continuation 40...f5 41.e4 fxe4 42.Kxe4 Kc5 43.g4 a5 44.f4 they agree the ending is drawn.
40...g5!?
Kasparov gave this an exclamation mark, but the engines reckon 40...Kc5 also wins.
41.f4 gxf4 42.gxf4 Kc5 43.Kc3 a5 44.Kd3
If 44.e5 then 44...Kd5.
44...h5
Also winning is 44...b4.
45.h4 b4 46.a4
Equally hopeless is 46.axb4+ axb4, eg 46.f5 f6 47.e5 fxe5 48.f6 Kd6 49.Kc4 Ke6 50.Kxb4 Kxf6 51.Kc4 Kf5 52.Kd3 Kg4 53.Ke4 Kxh4 54.Kxe5 Kg3 etc.
46...f6 47.f5 Kc6 48.Kc4 Kc7 49.Kd3
Or 49.Kd4 Kd6.
49...Kd7
Black takes the distant opposition.
50.Ke3
Or 50.Kc4 Kc6, which is the same position as after 48.Kc4 but with White to move rather than Black.
50...Kc6 51.Kd3
If 51.Kd4 then 51...Kd6 52.Kd3 Ke5 53.Ke3 b3 etc.
51...Kc5 52.Ke3
Or 52.e5 fxe5 53.f6 Kd6.
52...b3 53.Kd3 Kb4 54.e5 Ka3 0-1
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