Mar-30-07
 | | Tomlinsky: This game was one of three played in the Final of the BBC series The Master Game. The first two were draws. I have dug out the books from these series and thought the notes of this game may be of interest... Karpov: c4 like the first game.
1.c4
Miles: Oh dear, half an hour again, my fatal speed, that's why I got knocked out of the last two series. The first game wasn't bad, I'll play e6 again. 1...e6
Karpov: I haven't much time. I should play quick.
2.Nf3 Nf6
Karpov: He likes to repeat our first game. He got fine position, maybe I should play another way. 3.Nc3
Miles: Ah, a change. Normally I play b6 here but if he plays e4 after bishop b7 he's got the position he had about fifteen times as black against Korchnoi. He must know that backwards. Well, I havent got time to think of anything original and I don't want to defend a Queen's Gambit. 3...b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2
Miles: Now, avoid the main lines with d5, I've played that a few times before. Anything else he'll know much better than me. 5...d5
Karpov: Something unusual, d5 immediately. Now I should take. 6.cxd5
Miles: Don't want to take with a pawn because that blocks my bishop. 6...Nxd5
Karpov: Now I have to occupy the centre, but first castle. 7.0-0
Miles: Maybe I can play c5, stake a claim for the centre. But bishop e7 first, I should prepare to castle. 7..Be7
Karpov: Very safe, c5 was dangerous because I could play knight e5 and occupy the diagonal a4 to e8. Now, on with d4. 8.d4
Miles: Now castles or knight d7. I think knight d7's more accurate, sometimes I may want to bring it to f6 to control e4. Also it stops any knight e5's being nasty. 8...Nd7
Karpov: Now I can't play e4 because he takes on c3 and then I lose my e pawn. I should prepare, my rook will protect this pawn. If I instead change on d5, he takes back with bishop and then he plays knight f6 and equals. 9.Re1
Miles: Knight d7 to f6, maybe that stops e4 but then he has knight e5 and queen a4 check, that's not so pleasant. Castles, e4, I don't like that much. c5, no, need to castle first. How can I delay e4? Maybe take the knight and play bishop e4, looks interesting, certainly holds up for a while, if he moves his knight I exchange bishops, that's okay. Otherwise he has to play something laborious like bishop f1 and knight d2, that costs him time. Yes, I'll try that, that looks interesting. 9...Nxc3 10.bxc3 Be4
Karpov: Now his king is in the centre and I should use this situation. I can also play bishop f1 but he can take on f3 also and play c5. Queen a4 strong. 11.Qa4
Miles: Tricky. Now if I castle he want's to play knight e5 then bishop takes g2, knight takes d7 and he wins the exchange. Do I get any play on the white squares? Bishop b7, knight takes f8, queen d5 - Not really 'cause he can always play f3 and block everything. So I don't want to allow that. Knight e5's a nuisance. What should I play? Bishop f6 aybe, but then he can play bishop a3 and annoy me more. So, bishop d6. Why not? Then knight e5, I take on g2, take on e5 and I'm fine. 11...Bd6
Karpov: Now he is going to develop his pieces. He want's to play queen e7, I should play bishop g5. 12.Bg5
Miles: I don't want to play f6, that weakens the king side a bit. Maybe move the queen, c8 or b8. Well, b8 there's always knight e5 to worry about, so c8. I can always play the queen to b7 later, that's a good square for it. 12...Qc8
Karpov: Now I have to play very active. I have not much time, one or two moves and he is okay. |
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Mar-30-07
| | Tomlinsky: 13.c4
Miles: Now I want to watch out for c5, soon. Well, what about castles? Knight e5, I play bishop tkaes e5 and if bishop takes e4, bishop tkaes d4. I have the nice square on c5 for my knight. He takes a8, I take on a1...he recaptures and I can't take his bishop because my knight's loose, but I'd play knight c5 first. Then he takes a7, I take a8, he takes c7. I think I have some play then. His pawns are weak, my knight may be a good piece. I'm not sure, what else is there? h6? That doesn't seem to help, bishop e3 and c5's coming even more then. Looks a bit messy. No, I think castles should be best, play it quickly. 13...0-0 14.Ne5 Bxe5 15.Bxe4 Bxd4
Karpov: Now I have another possibility, perhaps I can play rook a1 to d1, in this case his only move is knight c5. I can take on h7 with check, he takes, I play queen c2 check, f5, rook takes d4, knight e4. Perhaps it's not so much, better win pawn. 16.Bxa8 Bxa1 17.Rxa1 Nc5 18.Qxa7 Qxa8 19.Qxc7
Miles: I feel this position should be okay for me. What can I do? I could play knight b3, that sticks the knight too far out of the way. Queen a6, he plays rook b1, or even d1, and he's on the way to d8. What to do - rook c8, queen takes b6, no - knight e4, bishop e3, knight c3, I don't know, time's getting short. I could play queen e4 and if he takes on b6 I have queen e5, that might get him late at night. But then there's always bishop e7, bishop e3 or almost anything. Let's try and get his knight active, I want to play against e2. If I can get the rook on an open file then the knight to c3 I get some play. Anything, knight e4, hurry up. 19...Ne4
Karpov: Best move, now he attacks my bishop on g5 and he is going to play knight c3 and attack my pawn on e2. I have two moves, bishop e7 and bishop f4, maybe bishop f4 is better. 20.Bf4
Miles: Yes, that's good unfortunately. Now knight c3, oh, he always has queen e5, that's not helpful. B pawn's attacked, what can I do? Oh dear, this is not so good, maybe I was wrong. g5 - no, that's too weakening. Well, no time, queen a6 and rook c8, tht'll do. 20...Qa6
Karpov: Now he attacks my pawn on c4. He's going to play with a rook, maybe a knight. But his king is weak. I should use this position. If I play rook d1, he takes on a2, I play rook d8 and then I threaten mate, he has no defence. Rook d1, he should play first his king's side paw. I'll try it. 21.Rd1
Miles: That's nasty, rook d8's very strong now. What can I do. Time...help. Queen takes a2, rook d8, that's horrible, getting mated. Move, a move, knight c3, nothing. Must make room for my king. g5? That looks much too weakening. What can I play? No time. g5, see what happens. 21...g5
Karpov: As I expected, he plays very risky now because his position is not so good. I have different moves here. Maybe the best, queen e5, I attack his knight, and if he takes on c4 I have rook d4. And I also attack his pawn on g5. Yes, must be good. 22.Qe5
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Mar-30-07
| | Tomlinsky: Miles: yea, that's very strong. What to play, what to play? Can't move the knight, take the bishop, looks horrible, takes some pawns maybe, queen takes c4, rook d4, queen takes a2, oh, I must be getting mated there. Oh, nothing else, play quickly. 22...Qxc4 23.Rd4
Miles: Must take a2, takes knight, take the bishop, don't like it. Keep playing. 23...Qxa2
Karpov: I didn't expect he can play this. Now I have two possibilities. I can take on g5 and also I can take on e4 with rook, and his king is very unhappy. Yes, I take knight. 24.Rxe4 gxf4
click for larger viewBoth player had by now almost exhausted their 30 minutes time available for the whole game. Karpov was down to about three minutes, Miles to two minutes, for all the remaining moves. The rest of the game now took place with moves made almost instantaneously as both sides strove to beat both the position and the clock. 25.Qg5+ Kh8 26.Qf6+ Kg8 27.Re5
Threatening Rg5 mate, and stopping the defence Qb1+ and Qg6 because Rg5 would then win the queen. 27...Ra8
The only square, otherwise a check on h8 will pick up the rook, or the rook will get in the way of the black king's escape. 28.Kg2
If at once 28.Rg5+ Kf8 29.Rg7 Qa1+ wins, another point of blacks 27th. 28...fxg3
Now if Qa1, simply Qxf4
29.Rg5+ Kf8 30.Rg7 Qd5+ 31.f3 e5 32.Rxh7 Ke8
Cool play; despite white's mating thrrats the black king can still run. 33.Kxg3 e4 34.fxe4
34 Rh8+ followed by exchanging rooks and Qxf7+ is a simpler win. 34...Ra3+ 35.Kf2 Qc5+ 36.Kg2 Qe7
click for larger viewBlack fights on. Now 37.Qxb6?? Qxe4+ would even lose for white. |
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Mar-30-07
| | Tomlinsky: 37. Qc6+ Qd7 38.Qxd7+ Kxd7 39.Rxf7+ Ke6 40.Rf3 Ra2 41.Kf2 b5 42.Rb3 Ra5 43.Kf3 Ke5
click for larger view44??
Karpov blunders - he should play 44.Ke3 first...
[Note: I'm not so sure it could be classed as a blunder given the position. 44.e3 is better maybe?] 44...Ke6??
...but Miles doesn't see it! Instead 44...Kd4! supports the pawn with the king, frees the rook, and should draw for black. [Note: Still not convinced.]
45.Kf4 Ra7 (if the king retreats, white will play e5 and Kf5) 46.Rxb5 Rf7+ 47.Rf5 Rh7 48.h5 Rb7 49.h6 Rh7 50.Rh5 Kf6 51.Kg4 Kg6 52.e5 Re7 53.h7 Rxh7 54.Rxh7 Kxh7 55.Kf5 Kg7 56.Ke6 Kg6 57.Kd7 Kf5 58.e6 Kf4 59.e7 Kg3 60.e8 Shouldn't the pawn on e8 be a queen? Well, no. Karpov was now down to less than a minute on his clock, Miles to only a few seconds. There was no queen to hand. So Karpov muttered 'Queen' and continued playing with the pawn moving like a queen. Miles or the tournament controller could have technically refused to allow it, but the play was such a rapid-fire rate that nobody reacted fast enough. The writer of the moves couldn't keep up with events. Karpov's king and 'queen' chased Miles's king down the board. During this sequence, Karpov, confused by his own piece, missed a mate in one, but the exact position of this happening couldn't be decided for the TV reconstruction so it was not shown. Miles managed to get his king behind the white pawn, and Karpov hesitated fractionally in deciding which was the pawn and which the 'queen'. With both flags aloft, the World Champion reached a mating position, and if you didn't know what had happened the final diagram would seem rather strange: a grandmaster game with a pawn on the first rank! In the TV reconstruction the pawn appeared as a queen as the players and spectators understood it to be. |
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| Apr-02-07 | | siggemannen: one of the best annotations ever! thanks man |
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| Jun-03-08 | | ToTheDeath: Great to see how Karpov thinks, he missed easier wins in time trouble but the time spent on the first 20 moves was obviously well spent. |
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