1987 World Chess Championship (24 games)

★★★ INTRO ★★★

The 1987 World Chess Championship was between 24 year old defending champion Garry Kasparov of the Soviet Union and 36 year old challenger Anatoly Karpov also of the Soviet Union.

★★★ QUALIFICATIONS ★★★

After 3 consecutive Kasparov-Karpov matches, in order for it to continue, Karpov would win a qualifying match.

First, three interzonal tournaments were held with now the top 4 players advancing (two more than previously).

The first tournament was held in Tunis (see Game Collection: 0 for games). The players advancing were Artur Yusupov (with 11.5/16), Alexander Beliavsky (with 11/16), Lajos Portisch (with 10.5/16) and Alexander Chernin (with 9.5/16, edging out Viktor Gavrikov on tiebreaks).

The second tournament was held in Taxco, Mexico (see Game Collection: Taxco Interzonal 1985 for games and more info). Advancing were Jan Timman (12/15), Jesus Nogueiras (10.5/15), Mikhail Tal (10/15) and Kevin Spraggett (9/15).

The third and last tournament was held in Biel (see Game Collection: Biel Interzonal 1985 for games and more info). Emerging victorious in Biel was Rafael Vaganian (12.5/17), Yasser Seirawan (11.5/17), Ivan Sokolov (11/17) and Nigel Short (10.5/17, edging out John van der Wiel and Eugenio Torre on tiebreaks).

The 12 players from the interzonal tournaments were joined by Vasily Smyslov, Viktor Korchnoi and Zoltan Ribli (#2-4 from the last candidates tournament) and Boris Spassky (wild card) to compete in a 16 player single round robin. The top four would advance to the knock-out phrase. The four finalists were Yusupov, Vaganian, Sokolov (all with 9/15) and Timman (8.5/15, edging out Tal on tiebreaks) (see Game Collection: Montpellier Candidates 1985 for games and more info).

The first round was a best of 10 (first to 5 1/2 wins). Sokolov beat Vaganian 6-2 while Yusupov downed Timman 6-3. Sokolov met Yusupov in the final (see: Game Collection: WCC Index (Sokolov-Yusupov 1986) for games and more info). It was a really close match, but Sokolov edged Yusupov 7 1/2-6 1/2. However, Sokolov had to face one more opponent before facing Kasparov; Karpov due to rights from the 1984, 1985 and 1986 WCC. Karpov downed Sokolov 7 1/2-3 1/2 to be involved in the WCC for the 7th time in a row (see Game Collection: WCC Index (Karpov-Sokolov 1987) for games and more info).

★★★ CONDITIONS ★★★

The match took place in Seville (Spain). The match conditions were the same as last time, with a best of 24 (first player to 12 1/2 points wins). If the match ended 12-12, Kasparov (the defending champion) would retain his title. The first round was played on October 12th, 1987. The last round was played on December 19th, 1987.

★★★ FINAL ★★★

The last round (24) was played on December 19th, 1987. Entering the round, Kasparov was down 12-11 but had the white pieces. Kasparov managed to win a pawn in the endgame but the game eventually was adjourned, and it seemed like it would take forever. However, Karpov resigned before play, meaning Kasparov retained his title, with a 12-12 tie.

★★★ MINI TABLE ★★★

Kasparov 1/2 0 1/2 1 0 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 1 (4 wins, 16 draws, 4 losses) <50% score>

Karpov 1/2 1 1/2 0 1 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 0 (4 wins, 16 draws, 4 losses) <50% score>

★★★ OTHER LINKS ★★★

See also: Kasparov - Karpov World Championship Match (1987)

Head to Head Match up Prior to 1987: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (13 wins, 82 losses and 13 losses for both players)

Previous World Championship: Game Collection: 1986 World Chess Championship

Next World Championship: Game Collection: 1990 World Chess Championship