KASPAROV challenged Anatoly Karpov for the world title in Moscow in 1984.
The champion won game three on the white side of a Sicilian and game six on the black side of a Queen's Indian.
Then came game seven:
Karpov (2700) - Kasparov (2710)
QGD Tarrasch
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3!?
Karpov avoids 3.Nc3. This was not normal for him. In his career with the white pieces, after the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6, he played 3.Nc3 twice as often as 3.Nf3, and scored a much higher percentage with it (80% for 3.Nc3, 67% for 3.Nf3, according to ChessBase's 2021 Mega database). I have speculated earlier in this series on possible reasons for choosing 3.Nf3, but only Karpov knows for sure why he played this way.
3...c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.g3 Nf6 6.Bg2 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Be3 Re8 12.Qb3!?
This seems to have been first played by Viktor Korchnoi in a 1970 win over Borislav Ivkov. The queen adds immediate pressure against d5, frees d1 for a rook and pressurises b7.
12...Na5 13.Qc2
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| Position after 13.Qc2 |
This position was also reached in the Beliavsky-Kasparov quarter-final match, except there the queen went to c2 on move 12, meaning the black queen's knight was still at c6. Is the knight at a5 an improvement for White or for Black? I guess it depends on the coming moves. If the knight finds useful employment at c4, Black has gained by the manoeuvre. But if the knight has to fall back to c6, Black has lost time.
13...Bg4
The immediate 13...Nc4 has been played by grandmasters, but seems well met by 14.Bf4.
14.Nf5
Previous games had mostly seen 14.h3, until Lajos Portisch played the text earlier in 1984, beating Michael Wilder at New York and drawing with Murray Chandler at Amsterdam. 14.Nf5 is now the main move.
14...Rc8!?
A novelty. Wilder and Chandler preferred 14...Bb4, which is more popular in Mega21.
15.Nxe7+
15.Bxa7?! b6 is problematic for White.
15...Rxe7 16.Rad1 Qe8
16...Be6?! is the type of defensive retreat Black wants to avoid.
17.h3 Bh5
It is too late for 16...Be6? as now 17.Bxa7 works, so Kasparov keeps the light-square bishop pressurising e2.
18.Bxd5!?
This may be too greedy. My main analysis engines Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01 reckon White should increase the tension with 18.Bd4, eg 18...Ne4 19.Rfe1 Bg6 20.Qc1 Rd7, when Stockfish12 gives White the upper hand after 21.Qf4, but Komodo11.01 rates 21...Nc6 as an equaliser. For practical purposes, the position after move 17 should probably be rated as unclear.
18...Bg6 19.Qc1 Nxd5 20.Rxd5 Nc4 21.Bd4
Almost certainly not 21.Bxa7?! b6 22.b3 Ne3! 23.fxe3 Rxa7, when White is two pawns up but White's multiple weaknesses and Black's more-active pieces give the latter an edge, according to the engines.
21...Rec7 22.b3 Nb6 23.Re5 Qd7 24.Qe3 f6 25.Rc5 Rxc5 26.Bxc5 Qxh3
Black has regained his pawn, and the game is equal, according to the engines.
27.Rd1 h5
The engines prefer 27...Be8!?, which both covers the d7 entry point and plans redeployment at c6.
28.Rd4 Nd7!? 29.Bd6
The pawn-grab 29.Bxa7 is probably playable but looks risky after 29...Ne5.
29...Bf7 30.Nd5 Bxd5 31.Rxd5 a6 32.Bf4 Nf8 33.Qd3 Qg4?!
Consistent with previous play are the engines' suggestions of 33...h4 and 33...Ne6.
34.f3
It seems Karpov could have gained an advantage with the engines' 34.Rd6!, the point being to threaten 34.Qd5+, forking king and b7 pawn. The engines reckon best play then goes 34...Qg6 35.Qf3 Qf7, when White has an initiative but there does not seem to be anything immediately decisive.
34...Qg6 35.Kf2 Rc2?!
Kasparov has the slightly more-exposed king, so logical here is 35...Qxd3 36.Rxd3 Rc2 with a likely draw, but he pushes for more and quickly runs into trouble.
36.Qe3!
Threatening to win with 37.Rd8. There is only one defence.
36...Rc8 37.Qe7 b5?
Black had to give up the h pawn by 37...Qf7 38.Qxf7+ Kxf7 39.Rxh5, after which the engines reckon 39...g5 40.Bd6 Ne6 gives drawing chances.
38.Rd8 Rxd8 39.Qxd8 Qf7 40.Bd6 g5 41.Qa8 Kg7 42.Qxa6 1-0
White will win the b5 pawn as well, rendering Black's game hopeless.
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