Anatoly Karpov vs Anthony Miles (1980) "The 'Incorrect' Opening"

Anatoly Karpov vs Anthony Miles
"The 'Incorrect' Opening" (game of the day Nov-04-04)
01, EU-chT Skara ;EU-chT 1980 · St. George Defense: General (B00) · 0-1

[Event "01, EU-chT Skara ;EU-chT"]
[Site "01, EU-chT Skara ;EU-chT"]
[Date "1980.??.??"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Anatoly Karpov"]
[Black "Anthony Miles"]
[ECO "B00"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "92"]

1. e4 { Notes by Tony Miles, edited by Ray Keene. } a6 {!
After a few moments hesitation. I watched Karpov's face as he
returned to the board - there was no reaction at all. The
audience, though, was another matter. Conditions for
spectators were not wonderful so at first only a few noticed,
but after some nudging and pointing a general hushed
sniggering broke out. Mutters of "I thought the Skara Schools
Championship was not until next week..." I tried to look
serious. Miles is the only grandmaster to have espoused this
weird defence in a serious game. This extraordinary move is
hardly ever played since it does little to challenge White's
domination of the centre. Miles chose it primarily to sidestep
the then world champion's superior knowledge of opening
theory.} 2. d4 {If White is prepared to admit taking this
opening seriously than 2 c4 comes into consideration.} 2...b5
{Several atrocities have also been committed at this
point. Whilst they may find their way into the general heading
of 1...a6 they certainly do not qualify as the "Birmingham
Defence". However, since this is supposed to be a theoretical
magazine, a brief survey: (a) For historical interest 2...d5?
3 exd5 Qxd5 4 Nc3 Qa5 5 Nf3 e6 6 Bd3 c6 (it would seem more
consistent to allow the queen to retreat via b6 to a7) 7 O-O
+/- Rubinstein-Gunsberg, St. Petersburg 1914. (b) 2...g6 3 g3
d5!? 4 Nc3 dxe4 5 Nxe4 Bg7 6 Be3 Nc6 7 c3 e5 8 d5 Nce7 with an
excellent position for Black (a distinct improvement on
Gunsberg's play). Patterson + Williams - Keene + Eales,
consultation game 1969, continued 9 d6 Nf5 10 Bc5 cxd6 11
Nxd6+ Nxd6 12 Bxd6 Ne7 13 Qa4+? Bd7 14 Qa3 Bc6 15 f3 Nf5 16
O-O-0 Bh6+ 17 Kb1 Bf8 18 c4 Nxd6 19 c5 Ne4! 20 Rxd8+ Rxd8 21
Nh3 Bxc5 22 b4 Be7 23 Bg2 Rd4 0-1. (c) Several games have
continued with 2...d6 or 2...g6 leading to a Modern Defence,
where 1...a6 has little more than psychological value. One of
slight independent value: 2...d6 3 f4 g6 4 Nf3 Bg7 5 c3 d5 6
e5 h5 7 Qb3 Nh6 8 c4?! dxc4 9 Bxc4 b5 10 Bd5 c6 11 Be4 Be6 12
Qc2 Nf5 with a good position, Bellin-Keene, Norwich
1969. Oddly enough, when I consulted the relevant reference
works after the game to discover the official refutation, I
could discover no lines that conferred a tangible White
advantage. The game Rubinstein-Gunsberg, St. Petersburg 1914,
continued instead 2...d5 3 exd5 Qxd5 4 Nc3 Qa5 5 Nf3 e6 6 Bd3
c6 7 O-O with evidently better chances for White. The Miles
strategem of expanding on the queenside is considerably more
rational.} 3. Nf3 {As far as I know, the only person to play
1...a6 (or 1 d4 b5 2 e4 a6) with the same idea as myself is
Michael Basman (not completely surprising as we both
'invented' the idea as an improvement on 1...b6). However, I
only have the score of one game, Chandler-Basman, London 1979,
which went 3 a4(?!) Bb7 4 axb5 axb5!? (simple and good is
4...Bxe4 5 bxa6 Bb7 or even 5...Nxa6) 5 Rxa8 Bxa8 6 Nd2 e6!? 7
Bxb5 f5 8 Qe2 (8 Qh5+ g6 9 Qe2 seems preferable) 8...Nf6 9 Bd3
c5 10 Ngf3 c4! 11 Bxc4 fxe4 12 Ne5 Bd6 with good compensation
for the pawn. Black soon had an excellent position but later
went astray. White could try 3 f3 when ...Bb7 would reach a
position which has seen before via the move order 1 d4 b5 2 e4
Bb7 3 f3 a6, e.g. 4 Be3 e6 (or 4...Nf6 5 Nh3 e6 6 Nd2 d5 7 e5
Nfd7 8 Bd3 c5 9 c3 Nc6 with a decent position,
Tatai-Ljubojevic, Palma de Mallorca 1971) 5 Nd2 d5 6 Bd3 Nf6 7
e5 Nfd7 8 f4 += Portisch-Ljubojevic, Vrsac 1971. These games
illustrate the possibility of transposing to a French type
set-up, but if Black wishes, he might well defer ...d5.}
3...Bb7 4. Bd3 {Murray Chandler has suggested the odd-looking
4 e5!? (gaining space and preventing ...Nf6) 4...e6 5 c4 bxc4
(Basman would doubtless gambit this pawn) 6 Bxc4 Bb4+ 7 Nc3
striving for control of d5, though after 7...Ne7 Black's
position looks OK.} 4...Nf6 {Attacking e4 before White has the
chance to defend with Re1. ECO mentions (by transposition)
4...e6 5 Nbd2 c5 6 dxc5 Bxc5 7 Nb3 Bb6 8 a4 +=
Spielmann-Hartingsvelt, 1914. Remarkably similar to the
present game!} 5. Qe2 e6 6. a4 {!? Premature perhaps? Of
course normal moves - O-O, Bg5, Nbd2 - are playable.} 6...c5
{!? A sharp reaction, but the natural 6...b4 is quite a
reasonable alternative. Note that White was threatening to win
a pawn by 7 e5. The text still offers the pawn, but only in
return for the bishop pair and an initiative. While playing
...c5 I felt sure Karpov would avoid such tactical lines.}
7. dxc5 {After 5 minutes thought. If 7 axb5 axb5 8 Rxa8 Bxa8 9
e5 c4 and now: (a) 10 exf6 cxd3 11 fxg7 Bxg7 12 Qxd3 when with
such an open position the bishop pair, particularly the one
lurking on a8, give excellent value for the pawn. Black might
continue quietly with 12...Qb6, or maybe 12...Qa5+!?, for
example 13 Bd2 Qa1 14 Qxb5!? Qxb1+ 15 Ke2 Bxf3+ 16 gxf3 Nc6!
17 Qxc6 Qxh1! and the black king runs to safety. (b) 10 Bxc4
bxc4 11 exf6 gxf6(!) and if 12 Qxc4 Rg8 with a fierce
initiative. 7 c3 looks more vigorous.} 7...Bxc5 {7...b4!?.}
8. Nbd2 {Again choosing the quietest path. 8 e5 was certainly
worth considering. If 8...Nd5 just 9 axb5 and 8...Ng4 9 O-O
leaves Black a bit out on a limb, e.g. 9...b4 10 h3 h5!? 11
Nbd2 followed by Ne4 or Be4. White reinforces his pawn on e4
which would be undefended after a series of captures on b5.}
8...b4 9. e5 {Less critical now as the knight can safely go to
d5.} 9...Nd5 10. Ne4 Be7 11. O-O {After this, yet another
peaceful move, Black's position is very comfortable. The last
chance to try for an advantage was 11 Bg5. Then 11...f6?! 12
exf6 gxf6?? would lose disastrously to 13 Ne5! and 12...Nxf6
is also uncomfortable. I intended 11...O-O and if 12 Nd6 Bc6
when 13 Qe4 is met by ...f5 and White must look after the
N(d6). Probably White is a little better, but Black has
chances for counterplay based on the a8-h1 diagonal, the f4
square and the break ...f6. More active is 11 Bg5.} 11...Nc6
{! Much more accurate than 11...O-O. Now if 12 Bg5 f6! 13 exf6
gxf6! followed by ...Qc7 and ...O-O-0 with a tremendously
active position and automatic kingside attack.} 12. Bd2 Qc7
13. c4 {As expected, still playing quiet moves. The only
alternative to defend the d-pawn was 13 Ng3 when Black could
either challenge in the centre with ...d6 (simplest) or ...f6
(sharper), or as his king is still uncommitted, even consider
...h5!?.} 13...bxc3 14. Nxc3 Nxc3 15. Bxc3 Nb4 {! Opening the
long diagonal and putting the knight on its best
circuit. Black has comfortably equalised.} 16. Bxb4
{Understandably, White did not want to part with his
light-squared bishop, and since 16 Bb1 is scarcely palatable,
this was the only move. Karpov later regrets his decision to
part with the bishop pair, but after 16 Be4 White would have
no means of challenging the future impregnable establishment
of a black knight on d5.} 16...Bxb4 17. Rac1 Qb6 18. Be4 {To
counteract Black's powerful queen's bishop.} 18...O-O {!}
19. Ng5 {!? After half an hour's thought. 19 Bxh7+ was
interesting - though again I was sure that Karpov wouldn't
play it! On 19...Kxh7 20 Ng5+ of course not 20...Kg8?? because
of 21 Qh5, but 20...Kh6 also fails to 21 Rc4! threatening Rh4+
and if 21...g6 22 Qg4 and Black loses the B(b4). Correct is
20...Kg6 and if 21 Qg4 either 21...f5 22 Qg3 (22 exf6 Kxf6)
22...Qd4!? to block on g4 (23 h3? Kh5! winning) or even
21...f6!?. Afterwards it was established that 19 Bxh7+ is
quite dangerous but Miles was confident that Karpov would
regard it as speculative and avoid it. The commencement of an
artificial manoeuvre which ultimately loses the game for
White. The simple 19 Bxb7 Qxb7 20 Rfd1 is perfectly adequate
for equality, whilst a further superior alternative to the
text is the complicated attacking variation 19 Bxh7+ Kxh7 20
Ng5+ Kg6 21 Qg4 f5 22 Qg3 when Black's king is in considerable
danger. NOTE: checking with the computer - 19. Bxh7+ Kxh7
20. Ng5+ Kg6 21. Qg4 f5 (21...f6 looks inferior, and 21. Qd3+
f5 22. Qg3 avoids it anyway) 22. Qg3 and now: (a) 22...Kh5 is
Fritz's first choice (intending 23 Rc4 f4!), but give it White
and it soon comes up with 23 Nh3! which looks to win,
e.g. 23...Bd2 (only move) 24 Rc4 g5 25 Qd3 g4 26 Qxd2 gxh3 27
Qxd7 Kg6 28 Rc3, while 25...Bxg2!? (Fritz) 26 Kxg2 Qb7+ 27 Kg1
g4 28 Qxd2 gxh3 fails to 29 Rh4+!. (b) Fritz's second choice
is 22...Rg8, but it then finds the very attractive 23 Rc7! Bc6
24 Nxe6+ Kf7 25 Qb3! and if 25...Ke7 26 Ng5 Qxc7 27 Qf7+ wins
- capture Rg8 and Pg7, play Qf6+ ...Ke8, Rd1 with the decisive
threat Qf7+ ...Kd8, Nf7+. (c) Miles' 22...Qd4 (Fritz's fifth
choice) probably deserves "!". White seems to have nothing
better than 23 Nxe6+ (23 h3 f4! 24 Qg4 Kh6 25 Qh4+ Kg6 is a
draw) 23...Qg4 24 Qxg4+ fxg4 25 Nxf8+ Bxf8 and Black is fine,
e.g. 26 Rfd1 Bc6 27 e6 Ra7! 28 Re1 Kf6 29 Rc4 g5/Bd6.} 19...h6
20. Bh7+ {?! Distinctly artificial. I expected 20 Bxb7 Qxb7 21
Qe4 though Black is certainly not worse in the resulting
ending. I suspect the text was rather due to the psychological
effect of 1...a6. Karpov, having got nowhere from the opening,
felt he should be doing something forceful. This is too
optimistic and White should prefer the simple 20 Bxb7.}
20...Kh8 21. Bb1 Be7 {Of course not 21...hxg5? 22 Qh5+.}
22. Ne4 {Or 22 Qd3 g6 =+.} 22...Rac8 23. Qd3 {?? A ridiculous
oversight, though Karpov played it very quickly. However,
Black's bishops already give him the edge. The battery looks
dangerous, but it never gets the chance to operate. This looks
dangerous since White is lining up his queen and bishop as a
battery against the black king. However, Miles was never one
to be scared of phantoms and he demonstrates that White's
threats are in fact hollow.} 23...Rxc1 24. Rxc1 Qxb2 {Gullibly
taking the pawn(s). White's back rank weaknesses prevents any
serious counterplay.} 25. Re1 {? This doesn't help. On 25 Rc7
Black has a pleasant choice between ...Rc8, ...g6 and ...Bc6,
and on 25 Rd1 g6 26 Qxd7 is impossible because of 26...Rd8.}
25...Qxe5 {Pinning the knight against the rook. White has
nothing to do but take back one pawn, but the game is over.}
26. Qxd7 Bb4 27. Re3 Qd5 {Simplest. It is obvious after this
move that any vestiges of a white attack have totally
evaporated and that the world champion faces a hopeless
ending, where he is material down and his pieces lack
coordination.} 28. Qxd5 Bxd5 29. Nc3 Rc8 {The liquidation has
left the world champion with a hopeless position. He is a pawn
down, his a-pawn remains weak, his opponent possesses the
bishop pair in an open situation and, to cap it all, White has
problems with his own back rank. The remainder of the game is
a mere technical exercise for one of Miles' strength.} 30. Ne2
g5 31. h4 Kg7 32. hxg5 hxg5 33. Bd3 a5 34. Rg3 Kf6 35. Rg4 Bd6
36. Kf1 Be5 37. Ke1 Rh8 38. f4 gxf4 39. Nxf4 Bc6 40. Ne2 Rh1+
41. Kd2 Rh2 42. g3 Bf3 43. Rg8 Rg2 44. Ke1 Bxe2 45. Bxe2 Rxg3
46. Ra8 {I now sealed ...Bc7} 46...Bc7 {but Karpov resigned
without resumption.} 0-1

To move:

Last move:

Given 33 times; par: 80 [what's this?]

Annotations by Anthony Miles.

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Feb-01-09		WhiteRook48: so to win a champion, you must push the a pawn in the opening

Feb-01-09		WhiteRook48: just a joke

Aug-09-09		MarkThornton: In June 2008, I honoured this game in the dedication to this problem: click for larger view The problem is a Proof Game. The solver needs to find the unique sequence of moves that leads to the position shown, which arises after Black's 11th move. It was published in The Problemist, in September 2009. For the solution, follow this link: http://www.softdecc.com/pdb/search....

Oct-23-09		Qb6: I think Karpov was annoyed because of 1. ... a6, you don't order pizza when the King visits you for dinner.

Apr-25-10		RandomVisitor: After 17...Qb6: click for larger view Rybka 3: [+0.20] d=17 18.Ng5 Be7 [+0.15] d=16 18.Rfd1 Be7 19.h3

Apr-25-10		RandomVisitor: After the sugegested improvement 5.e5 Nd5 (what else?): click for larger view Rybka 3: [+0.59] d=21 6.a4 Nc6 7.0-0 b4 8.Ng5 [+0.56] d=21 6.0-0 e6 7.a4 b4 8.Nbd2

Apr-26-10		RandomVisitor: After 3...Bb7: click for larger view Rybka 3: [+0.59] d=21 4.Bd3 Nf6 [+0.58] d=21 4.Nbd2 Nf6 [+0.57] d=21 4.a4 Bxe4 5.Nc3

Jan-06-11		jkromero05: Karpov may have felt to confident

Jan-06-11		keypusher: <Kingdumb: This is a perfect example of how you can psych someone out of his game. By playing this opening against Karpov, Miles laughs in the man's face and does to him what you would only expect to happen to a 5 year old child who takes a tantrum because you called him a cootie. Karpov should have known better than to let this defense get to him and crush Miles like an egg as any GM worth his salt would have done playing against a defense of this nature. Just goes to show you how human even the best of us are.> Miles tried this approach several times with Karpov. Usually it didn't work. Karpov vs Miles, 1977 Karpov vs Miles, 1992 Karpov vs Miles, 1978

Feb-24-11		chesswatcher1: This is so wrong

Apr-24-11		Tigranny: This has gotta be one of the world's greatest chess games.

Jun-25-11		SamAtoms1980: <Qb6: I think Karpov was annoyed because of 1. ... a6, you don't order pizza when the King visits you for dinner.> Tim Krabbe also made this remark in 2000: http://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/tour/br... I don't know. It's St. George, not Di Giorno.

Jun-25-11		OhioChessFan: Team White vs Team Black, 2006 A team game where Black <votes> to play 1...a6

Oct-03-11		Cemoblanca: 1...a6!!! The "Lord of the Apes" opening! :D

Oct-03-11		Cemoblanca: <SamAtoms1980: I don't know. It's St. George, not Di Giorno.> I know only "Buon Giorno". ;0) ...and in this sense... have a nice day peeps. It's late here in europe! ;0)

May-19-12		Qb6: <SamAtoms1980> Indeed - I remembered seeing that comment somewhere and quoted it, but couldn't find it (it was on an entry talking about 4.xe5 in the Four Knights', not 1.e4 a6).

Jul-15-12		SetNoEscapeOn: One of very few moments of joy for Karpov's opponents during his 10 year "iron fist" reign of terror of the chess world.

Sep-07-12		Travis Bickle: Typical Russkie, his opponent outplayed "The World Champion" by throwing opening preparation out the window and Karpov complains that he didn't play the correct opening. LOL! P.S. I guess nobody from The Kremlin told Karpov all's fair in love and war! ; P

Sep-07-12		Travis Bickle: <SetNoEscapeOn: One of very few moments of joy for Karpov's opponents during his 10 year "iron fist" reign of terror of the chess world.> Here's another joyous moment in that iron fisted reign of terror. ; P P.S. I wonder if Fischer would have lost to Larry Christiansen so quickly? lol Christiansen vs Karpov, 1993

Sep-07-12		keypusher: <P.S. I wonder if Fischer would have lost to Larry Christiansen so quickly? lol> Coward wouldn't have showed up. So, yeah. Zero moves. Quicker.

Sep-07-12		keypusher: <Travis Bickle: Typical Russkie, his opponent outplayed "The World Champion" by throwing opening preparation out the window and Karpov complains that he didn't play the correct opening. LOL!> Typical jingo fanatic. If you scroll down the page, you will learn that Miles regularly "threw opening preparation out the window" with Black against Karpov, and regularly got crushed doing it.

Sep-07-12		perfidious: Karpov could have avoided the ignominy of posters ragging him to this day by playing on as Black did in this game (Nunn vs Kiril Georgiev, 1988) after move ten, though Nunn, in his best games collection, wryly noted-and I'm paraphrasing-'....If Black's motive in playing on was to make the game less publishable, it didn't work, as some magazines had Black resigning at move ten!'.

Nov-29-12		jancotianno: I just faced this opening two days ago :P i didn't blow my opponent away but managed to win fairly comfortably.

Jan-30-13		x1134x: @AW1988: If you played: 1. e4 a6 2. d4 b5 3. c4 Bb7 4. Nc3 d6 then you made the first mistake missing 4. .. b4! Black wins the e pawn! (If Nd5, e6 boots it and lets the bishop defend b4) and then the Bishop at b7 gets the white e pawn for free. Its a classic St George trap, comes up in many of its configurations.

Mar-22-13		engmaged: a6 is pure psychological move. It is main purpose to distract the opponent's mind and makes him wonder "Is he taking me easy? How disrespectful of him! what if i lost with such an opening with white? to me it is not pure fair play!

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