Now that we have examined all the individual trees in this game between Viktor Kortschnoj and Anatoly Karpov from 1978, what is our view of the forest? Move after move, Kortschnoj made optimal choices, never lessening the tension. Most decisive endings are won after a gross blunder, but it took 46 years to find where Black finally stumbled. As GM Alex Fishbein noted, in this ending, Kortschnoj made "many nonstandard decisions," "made no mistakes and played brilliantly, one of the best endings ever played."
Our thanks to GM Fishbein for bringing this great game to our attention. He first looked at some of these questions in the American Chess Magazine in 2022, then returned to the ending in 2025. He was not then familiar with "Korchnoi Year by Year" by Hans Renette and Tibor Karolyi (Elk and Ruby Publishing 2024) in which Black's final error was first revealed.
Here are the answers to the questions we asked:
A) Black's 24th move: As Kasparov says, "this move was generally condemned." Timman defended the move (24...Qe5), but Kasparov, in the 2021 Russian edition of "My Great Predecessors," identifies it as the "likely" game-losing error. Dvoretsky thought 24...Bf8 offered drawing chances and Kasparov2021 thought 24...Be7 would hold. What's the best move?
Answer: Stockfish quickly assesses 24...Be7 as "equal" then says 24...Bf8 is "equal" after a couple of minutes and, as we shall see, even 24...Qe5 is not a losing proposition.
B) Black's 30th move: Alex Fishbein thought that 30...axb5 was not only playable, but a draw. Is he right?
Answer: Yes, and Renette and Karolyi mention this also.
C) White's 31st move: Conventional wisdom was that Larsen's suggested 31.b6 probably would be a winning endgame. Fishbein thinks it is a draw. What do you think?
Answer: The computer says draw.
D) White's 35th move: Dvoretsky, without providing any proof, says that 35.Ra7+ was the best move. Do you agree with this?
Answer: NO, the computers cannot find a win for White.
E) Black's 38th move: Early commentators thought 38...Rb4 gave good drawing chances, but both Kasparov2021 and Fishbein think White still wins. Do you agree?
Answer: YES, Kasparov in 2021 correctly stated that White's endgame is winning.
F) Black's 40th move: How do you evaluate Müller's variation?
Answer: White wins after the surprising 45.Kf1 [see full annotation below]
G) White's 45th move: After 45.Rd8 Ke7 46.Rd7+ Ke8 47.e4 Rb5, do you prefer Timman's 48.Rd5 variation or Kasparov2021's 48.exf5 recommendation?
Answer: Timman's 48.Rd5[!] wins, but Dvoretsky/Kasparov's variation 48.exf5[?] leads to a draw.
H) Black's 46th move: Does Black have a chance of saving the game after 46...Rb5?
Answer: NO. The computer thinks Müller's 46...Rf1+ is "best" but Black still loses.
I) What was Black's fatal error? Was it Black's 24th move or Black's 46th move, or something in between?
Answer: In 2024, Renette and Karolyi found that 36...Ke6 holds, if Black finds a whole slew of only-moves.
As Alberto Oggero gave the first deeper analysis with the right conclusions, Karsten Müller has decided to make him co-winner. Alberto is from Turin, Italy, a chess player (Elo 1800) passionate about the chess engine world in particular. A few years ago he wrote a Montecarlo analysis tool program downloadable here (the program works only on old Win XP). He also participated in the online freestyle tournament with Rybka under the nickname Albitex. Carlos often publishes articles and reviews on the Italian forum for chess engines (Albitex nickname).
At the beginning of this game, Karpov led four victories to one, with six victories needed. Here are the notes on game 21, with full engine-supported replay (click the notation).
XXX
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