<Even positions heavily investigated by spectators often spawn surprises. When the crucial twenty-second game of the 1986 world championship match was adjourned, virtually all of the high-Elo commentators said the issue was still in doubt, "on-the-one-hand-this-but-on-the-other-hand-that."

The next day, Garry Kasparov's 41. Nd7! came out of the envelope and forced Anatoly Karpov's resignation in a few moves. (Kasparov, incidentally, has said the most beautiful combination he ever played came to him as he sealed his forty-first move in a game from the 1981 World Youth Team Championship.)>

Yes - in combination with the way Black's pieces are tied to the K-side, to defend against White's mate threats. If Black tries (after 44.axb4) 44...f6, to activate the bishop, White simply exchanges all four pieces on g6 and queens the b-pawn (note that the white king is just in time to catch Black's d-pawn). A nice line is 43...Rxb4 44.axb4 d4 45.b5 d3 46.b6 d2 47.b7 d1=Q 48.b8=Q:

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Both sides have queened, but Black is completely lost, since he would have to give up a queen to avoid mate after Nxg6 (or be mated immediately after 48...Bh7 49.Qbf4+).

Does anyone know where to find a list of 64's Games Of The Year online?

But if White plays 36.Rc7 he keeps big advantage (36...Re1 37.Nxg6 fxg6 38.Qf6 and mate). 36...Qe6 seems to be better. 37.Qf4 Qf6 38.Qxf6 gxf6 39.Nxf7 Fxf7 40.Rxf7+ Kg6 41.Ra7 but Black can hold the endgame.

"On the day of game twenty-two it had rained incessantly, but when we drove to the hotel it suddenly stopped. Getting out of the car I looked up, and there in the sky above the Leningrad Hotel was the brightest and most beautiful rainbow I had ever seen. To my romantic and slightly superstitious mind, it was a sign from above.

In a Queen's Gambit Declined I managed to seize the initiative. Putting on the pressure, White gained the advantage and won a pawn a few moves before the time control: but in exchange, Karpov succeeded in bringing his pieces into highly active play. The position at the adjournment looked like a draw. At the press centre, the pieces on the board were spiritedly shifted this way and that, but no decisive continuation was found. No wonder many of the next day's papers predicted a draw.

I saw the move at once d7!!. It was a moment of inspiration. I worked out the various implications for a few minutes, which gave me enormous aesthetic enjoyment, then I wrote down my forty-first move. After a a while I wrote something again. People thought I had changed my mind, but I hadn't. I simply wrote the same move again, making it more clear and checking to make sure there was no mistake. There is a photocopy of the scoresheet to prove it, which was published in Literaturnaya Gazeta.

Instead of 18...Nd7, 18...Qd7! begins the plan of ...Be6 and ...Nd5 with perhaps some advantage for Black.

The purpose of 41 Nd7!! appears to be to play Nf8+ and then in reply to ..Kh6 to place White's Queen with check on the c1-h6 diagonal when Black has no answer to the check.

Black appears to have no way to get his Queen on to the c1-h6 diagonal so as to answer this threat.

With the move 43..Rc4 Karpov attempts to support the move...Qf4 but then 44 Rb4 attacks the point f4 a second time.