CHESS

Gary glitters

Raymond Keene

Gary Kasparov, by drawing the 22nd game of the world championship match in Lyon, reached the critical mass of 12 points which guaranteed his retention of the title against his perpetual challenger Anatoly Karpov. Although the match fell into two quite distinct geographical halves, the waves of fortune throughout this lengthy contest resulted in a considerably greater number of clearly identifiable segments.

From games 1 to 6 in New York it appeared that Kasparov fully intended to overwhelm his opponent. He bravely de- fended with the King's Indian in game 1, ripped Karpov apart with a violent Ruy Lopez in game 2 and even sacrificed his queen in the opening as Black in game 3. Karpov's fine defensive sense nearly top- pled Kasparov's over-optimistic attack in game 4 but, given the extreme complexity of the play and the fact that this game could have gone either way, the eventual draw was not a totally unfair outcome. In game 5 Karpov could make nothing of the white pieces while for game 6 Kasparov's Ruy Lopez again brought Karpov to the brink of ruin, though Karpov's eel-like defence once again resisted being pushed over the edge. Thus, the first phase of the match ended with a slight success to the defending champion, but Kasparov had probably hoped for more and might well have been suffering from disappointment.

Over the next six games roles reversed with Kasparov unrecognisable. Indeed, this section witnessed some feeble play with both players' spirits seemingly weighed down, unable to develop any kind of fantasy. In game 7 Kasparov lost like a child, having committed a blunder known to be terminal ever since the Fischer- Spassky match of 1972. For game 8 Kas- parov completely mishandled a winning attack to find himself in a lost endgame. From this he was only saved by Karpov's addiction to time trouble, which proved the former champion's bugbear in so many games from this match. For game 9 Karpov returned the compliment of game 7 by blundering away a critical pawn in an advantageous position while in game 10 Kasparov could make absolutely no head- way against Karpov's one-off use of the Petroff Defence. It is a mystery, given his success in this game and the difficulties he generally experienced against 1 e4, that Karpov did not resort to the Petroff more frequently. Game 11 was an elegant draw, well played by both sides, while game 12 virtually repeated the pattern of game 8 when a mishandled offensive by Kasparov almost left him with an inferior endgame. Thus, at the mid-way stage, the score was level, Kasparov's recent performance had been lacklustre and many experts were predicting that Karpov was about to regain the world title. On transferring to Lyon, a sudden trans- formation affected the champion's play. True, he could not avoid further draws from games 13 to 15 but in game 14 he had introduced a new element by exhuming that nearly forgotten 19th-century weapon, the Scotch. If anything, Karpov had the better of these three draws but at least decisive results were in the air.

The final phase of the match, in which Karpov collapsed, was ushered in with game 16, a back-breaking marathon and another Scotch, in which Karpov was ground into the dust after 102 moves. Karpov struck back in the very next game, but now the carefully maintained balance of draws had evaporated and Kasparov broke through again and again with the Ruy Lopez in games 18 and 20 to crush Karpov's resistance. The attack in the latter of these was possibly the most brilliant ever played between these two.

Once the sporting interest had evapo- rated by Kasparov's retention of the title after game 22, game 23 and 24 should probably not have been played. Kasparov played hideously in game 23 while Karpov returned the compliment in game 24. Nevertheless, in a winning positioin Kas- parov sportingly offered a draw to clinch the trophy and the lion's share of the $3 million prize fund.

In spite of the errors in the second half of New York, the overall standard of this match has been outstanding, probably the best of the five matches they have con- tested. Kasparov has won but Karpov went down with all guns blazing to an honour- able defeat. I confidently expect him to be the challenger again in 1993.

Karpov — Kasparov: World Cham- pionship Final; Lyon, Game 21.

In this position Karpov had to seal his 41st move over which he spent 28 minutes. The most immediately critical line is 41 Ne7 Ral+ 42 Kc2 Ncl 43 Nxg6+ Kh7 44 Kd2! when Black cannot capture the knight 44 . . Kxg6 45 Qf5+ Kh6 46 g4 and thus must content himself with 44 . . . Nb3+ and a draw by repetition. Although 41

Ne7 looks dangerous for Black the counter- attack given here puts the onus on White to prove equality. Karpov's sealed move turns out to be much stronger. 41 b5 Ral+ 42 Kc2 Nc5 43 Rxg7 Kxg7 44 Qxd4+ Qe5 45 Qxe5 + dxe5 46 b6 Rgl Only by counter-attacking against White's kingside pawns can Black hope to achieve enough counterplay to hold the draw. 47 Ne3 Rel 48 Nc4 A better chance is 48 b4. 48 . . . Rgl 49 Ne3 Rel 50 Nc4 Rgl 51 b4 Rxg2+ 52 Kc3 Na4+ 53 Kb3 Nxb6 54 Nxb6 Rg3 55 Kc3 Rxh3 56 b5 Here 56 Nd7 is a superior try. 56 . . . h4 57 Nc4 Rxd3+ Completing a remarkable defensive sequence which permits Black to draw. 58 Kxd3 h3 59 b6 h2 60 b7 h1Q 61 b8Q Qfl+ 62 Kc3 Qcl + 63 Kb3 Qdl+ 64 Ka2 Qa4+ 65 Na3 Qxe4. This is a draw but Karpov flogged a very dead horse until move 86 before acquiescing.

Kasparov — Karpov: World Cham- pionship Final; Lyon, Game 22.

18 . . BxdS 19 Ne4 Bf7 20 axb5 Not 20 Nxd6 Rxel+ 21 Nxel Ne5 when the pin on the 'd' file gains Black a piece. 20 . . . d5 21 Nc3 Rxel+ 22 Nxel d4 23 Nat White has to be careful. Unless he can gain some compensation in another part of the board then Black's phalanx of central and queenside pawns will grant him an overwhelm- ing advantage. Here, for example, 23 Ne4 axb5 24 f6 g6! leaves Black's king's flank solid while Black will inevitably round up the pawn on f6 in the future. 23 . . . Nxa2 24 Bxa2 c4 Black is obliged to sacrifice another pawn for if 24 . . . axb5 25 Bxf7+ Kxf7 26 Rxa8 Qxa8 27 Qb3+ . Nevertheless, theposition Black soon constructs offers quite sufficient compensation for the material sacrificed. 25 Rxa6 Nc5 26 Rxa8 Qxa8 27 Bbl d3 28 Be3 Qa5 29 b3! The only way to undermine Black's wedge of pawns. White must sacrifice a piece but in exchange he acquires three pawns and a virtually unbreathable posi- tion. 29 . . . Nxb3 30 Nxd3 cxd3 31 Bxd3 Nc5 Surely it is more important to trade dark- squared bishops, while for White it is correspon- dingly significant to exchange the light-squared bishops. Hence Karpov should have played 31 . . . Bc5 and if 32 Bc2 Qc3. Even then, though, it is doubtful that Black could have obtained serious winning prospects. Now White gains the upper hand. 32 Bfl Qc7 33 Qg4 Kh7 34 Bc4 Bxc4 35 Qxc4 Qe5 36 Q17 Bd6 37 g3 Qe7 38 Qg6+ Kh8 39 Bd4 This forces a draw, a realistic decision in view of the match situation. Had a win been necessary 39 b6! would, according, to Kasparov, have kept White's prospects of victory alive. 39 . . . Be5 40 BxcS Qxc5 41 Qe8+ Kh7 42 Qg6+ Kh8 43 Qe8+ Draw agreed.

Scores: New York leg: Kasparov 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 Karpov 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2

Lyons leg:

Kasparov 1'h 1/2 1 0 1

1/2 1 1/2 14 0 1/2 121/2 Karpov 1/21/2 1/2 0 1 0 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 111/2