Riddle solved: Kasparov could have drawn

by Karsten Müller
3/23/2021 – Karsten Müller once again asked our readers for help to solve an endgame riddle. This time, he looked at the 27th game of the first World Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. Was Kasparov right when he claimed that the endgame contains a number of mistakes? Turns out he was as, after all, he could have held the draw!

ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024 ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024

It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.

More...

A legendary rivalry is born

Garry KasparovThe first World Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov began on 10 September 1984 and ended on 13 February 1985. After only nine games Karpov was already leading 4-0 and the match seemed to be decided. However, then followed a series of 17 draws, some of them very short and boring — until Karpov finally managed to win the 27th game, which gave him a 5-0 lead.

The 27th game is not only memorable because it was Karpov’s last victory in the match, but also because Karpov seemed to demonstrate his great technical skills. After surprising Kasparov in the opening, Karpov managed to outplay his opponent in a seemingly equal and rather harmless position and eventually gained material. Particularly stunning was Karpov’s paradoxical 17th move, 17.Rfc1:

 

White put his rook on the c-file, where it seemed to be blocked by a white pawn on c3. On first sight this rook move appeared to be senseless, but it soon turned out to be quite dangerous.

After winning the pawn, Karpov seemed to convert his advantage smoothly. But, as Jan Timman reveals in his fine book The Longest Game, Kasparov did not think that Karpov handled the technical phase of this famous game particularly well.


We took a close look at this encounter, with the help of ChessBase readers who joined the search for the truth. It turns out Kasparov could have drawn after the time control. The readers made the new discovery that Karpov’s 40.a3? was a mistake.

As usual, Zoran Petronijevic  sent in the best solution. His main conclusions are:

  1. The initial position is lost.
  2. 37.Ke3?! is not precise and makes the win very deep and difficult. 37.h4, which was also mentioned by Karpov, is better.
  3. 40.a3? was a mistake, after which the position is drawn. Only 40.c5+! wins. This is a new discovery. Probably the 7-men tablebases were needed for the engines to be sure here.
  4. The last mistake was the greedy 45...Rxh2? as 45...Rb2! defends.
 

Master Class Vol.6: Anatoly Karpov

On this DVD a team of experts looks closely at the secrets of Karpov's games. In more than 7 hours of video, the authors examine four essential aspects of Karpov's superb play.


Links


Karsten Müller is considered to be one of the greatest endgame experts in the world. His books on the endgame - among them "Fundamentals of Chess Endings", co-authored with Frank Lamprecht, that helped to improve Magnus Carlsen's endgame knowledge - and his endgame columns for the ChessCafe website and the ChessBase Magazine helped to establish and to confirm this reputation. Karsten's Fritztrainer DVDs on the endgame are bestsellers. The mathematician with a PhD lives in Hamburg, and for more than 25 years he has been scoring points for the Hamburger Schachklub (HSK) in the Bundesliga.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register