AFTER Anatoly Karpov's success against Kasparov's Tarrasch Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined in games seven and nine of their match, you might think he would be keen to take it on again.
But for the rest of the 1984 world championship, which lasted 48 games before being halted prematurely, Karpov never played 1.d4.
This is hard to explain.
In some ways, it became a moot point in that Kasparov, as far as I can discover, never again played the Tarrasch Defence.
It would seem Karpov was not convinced he was getting much out of the opening against Kasparov, while the latter presumably concluded the Tarrasch Defence did not, despite his previous successes with it, suit his style.
Whatever the truth, the Tarrasch Defence is still a viable weapon, especially at club level, and particularly these days when it is not in fashion and so is something of a surprise weapon.
One advantage of playing the Tarrasch Defence at club level is that it gives Black a repertoire against a London System/Colle/Torre set-up (1.d4.d5 2.Nf3) and against the New London (1.d4 d5 2.Bf4).
You may recall from this series that Kasparov in his Tarrasch Defence days was happy to meet 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 with 2...c5, and the same move can be played against the New London.
Another point to note is that the Tarrasch Defence could easily have been called the Tarrasch Counterattack. It owes more to the spirit of the Albin Countergambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5) than to the Orthodox Defence of the Queen's Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6).
It should suit players who like to get their pieces out early to engage in tactical hand-to-hand combat. I hope this series has given some ideas on how Black should go about this.
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