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Anatoly Karpov vs Garry Kasparov
"Passed Perfect" (game of the day Mar-21-2017)
Karpov - Kasparov World Championship Match (1984/85), Moscow URS, rd 27, Nov-23
Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation. General (D37)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 4 OF 4 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Apr-17-15  kevin86: Surely this one is over: 5-0 Karpov! OR is it?
Apr-17-15  MagnusVerMagnus: Yet after this debacle it was Karpov that made FIDE cancel the match after 0 more wins and 3 loses when he was about De-evolve into a lizard as Everyone called him then.
Mar-21-17  ajile: I never liked these Black pawn positions after 8..c5. They always seem to end up leaving Black with either a weak central pawn or a busted up q-side. Black allows White to open the position while Black still has a problem LSB stuck on c8. Maybe not a big problem against weaker opposition but against a guy like Karpov? Probably not a good idea.
Mar-21-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  al wazir: Wouldn't 55. Rd8 also have won?

A) If 55...Be4, then simply 56. Bxe4 or 56. Rxh8.

B) If 55...Rxd8, then 56. cxd8=Q Be4 57. Bxe4.

C) If 55...Rh6, then 56. g5 Rg6 (56. h1=Q gxh6, and 57. c8=Q cannot be prevented) 57. Rh8 Be4 58. c8=Q h1=Q 59. Rxh1 Bxh1 60. Qh3+.

Mar-21-17  PeterPringle: I'd bet anything Fischer analyzed every K vs K game ever, and what I wouldn't give for his analysis! Then again, didn't Fischer once claim these games were pre-arranged?!
Mar-21-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  Troller: <Feb-19-10 Billy Ray Valentine: I'm surprised this has never been a Game Of The Day.>

Well, all good comes to those who wait.

17.Rfc1! is vintage Karpov. In his own analysis I think he mentions he did not calculate everything, but he felt that this plan would win the pawn.

Mar-21-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: I wonder if software programs have found where Kasparov erred earlier in the game, to draw this position?

I think Kasparov stopped playing the QGA, at least in the next match. he was getting bad pawn structures--not a good thing, against Karpov.

Mar-21-17  Ironmanth: A real gem; tremendous instruction in the endgame! Thanks for this wonderful clash.
Mar-21-17  eaglewing: How to proceed as White against 35. ... e5? I think, this move has strategically defensive merits, but maybe there is a direct tactical disadvantage? Letting the rook switch to the kingside with RxPg5 is something I would like to avoid.
Mar-21-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  mjmorri: This was game 27 which followed a very long series of draws. After the Queens came off, most observers at the time expected another quick draw, and Kasparov appear to offer one. Karpov, however, simply made another move and continued.
Mar-21-17  DPLeo: <eaglewing: How to proceed as White against 35. ... e5? I think, this move has strategically defensive merits, but maybe there is a direct tactical disadvantage? ...>

According to Stockfish 8, 35... e5 is not much worse than Bxe4 played by Kasparov but it is not any better so the result should be the same.

The level of chess these guys played in 1984 over the board is amazing.

After 35. fxe4


click for larger view

Stockfish_8_x64_popcnt:

1) d=33   +1.71   35. ... Bxe4 36.Rxg5 Bf5 37.g3 Rh7 38.Ke3

2) d=33   +1.79   35. ... e5 36.Ke3 Rc7 37.g3 Rd7 38.h4

3) d=33   +2.11   35. ... h4 36.Ke3 e5 37.c5+ Ke7 38.Bd5

Mar-21-17  ChessHigherCat: If 23. Nd3 blacks forces the trade of rooks with Ra4, that much I get. But what's wrong with 26. Nxc5, winning a pawn + a tempo, since after Nxc5 27. Rxc5 black's bishop is hanging on c6. I just saw that Karpov did actually play that combination one move later, so the question is why did he have to play Bb3 first?
Mar-21-17  ChessHigherCat: I think I may have answered my own question. If 26. Nxc5 Rb2 with a potential strong attack
Mar-21-17  morfishine: Yes, Karpov's handling of the rooks was exquisite, very nice

*****

Mar-21-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <al wazir: Wouldn't 55. Rd8 also have won?> <If 55...Rh6, then 56. g5 Rg6>

Actually, instead of Rg6, 55...Rxc6+ and black wins.

But instead of 56.g5, I think 56.Rd1 and white still wins.

Mar-22-17  Saniyat24: Impressive defensive skills shown by Karpov, after Kasparov plays 45...Rh2...!
Dec-11-18  Albion 1959: A superb technical achievement by Karpov. Squeeze play of the very highest order! Where exactly did Kasparov play his losing move? At 5-0 up Karpov was just one win away from retaining his title, but as we all know, he never got there. I can only guess and speculate as how the future of chess would have gone, had Karpov won this match and seen Kasparov off for another three years. My own view is that Kasparov would have worked his way through the next candidates series and go on to defeat Karpov in the next match in 1987. And that a Karpov win in 1984, would have allowed him to remain champion for another three years, before it was Kasparov's time to claim the title:
Dec-21-18  carpovius: unreal chess
Dec-22-18  cunctatorg: Only Anatoly Karpov's error (in fact a fatal mistake) during his tremendous campaign at the 1984 World Chess Championship was that he tried to humiliate and exhaust Garry Kasparov, to make his feel much inferior to him, instead to make a great effort in order to achieve six wins asap, that is before himself been exhausted.

The true miracle is that he continued to play continuously superb chess for almost fifteen years! Despite his failure then and despite his exhaustion back then...

Jul-19-20  Ulhumbrus: After 16...c5 White's potential threat of Rb1-b5-a5 becomes very powerful and in the end Black's c5 pawn falls. One alternative is 16...Rfd8
Jul-20-20  carpovius: <cunctatorg: Only Anatoly Karpov's error (in fact a fatal mistake) during his tremendous campaign at the 1984 World Chess Championship was that he tried to humiliate and exhaust Garry Kasparov... >

I think facts contradict your opinion. Kasparov's tactics was to exhaust older Karpov after 0:5 first by long serie of drawish games and then scoring 3:5 after 48 games. Thus, it was Karpov extremely tired and exhausted.

Nov-28-20  fisayo123: Maybe 45...Rb2 was a more tenacious defense but its hard to imagine black can ever hold this endgame
Feb-19-21  tbontb: A very difficult ending for both players and analysts ! Karpov wins a clear pawn in typical fashion (first retreating all his pieces to the back rank) but misses the best continuation (37. h4) near the time control and has to work hard at adjournment to capitalise on his advantage. 43. Rg7 is presumably the fruit of overnight analysis (Rh4 also looks good) but allows Kasparov dangerous counterplay. However, his 45. ..Rxh2 loses so 45. ..Rb2 is the critical test, Karpov later claiming a winning advantage after a long variation beginning 46. c5+ with many precise moves to follow. In the game, Karpov is always winning as his c pawn continually advances with tempo and ultimately proves unstoppable.
Mar-23-21  thelegendisback: This is very surprising but the newest analysis shows this endgame was in fact a draw with best play: https://en.chessbase.com/post/endga...
Oct-04-21  Gaito:


click for larger view

BLACK TO MOVE
This position was critical. Kasparov captured the h2-pawn and lost the ending. The question is still open as to whether Black could have saved the game with 45...Rb2. Efim Geller annotated this game in Chess informant No.38, and he furnished some analysis intended to prove that even after 45...Rb2 White should have won in all variations. Nevertheless, the engine (SF14) does not quite agree with Geller's analysis. The evaluation of the computer after 45...Rb2 is 0.00 (total equality). So it would be interesting to check Geller's analysis and compare it with Stockfish's analysis with a view to disclosing the truth.

Is the position of the diagram won for White or is it a draw?

A likely continuation might have been 45...Rb2 46.c5+ Kc6 47.Ra6+ Kc7 48.Kc4 Rxh2!

(Geller only considered 48...Bc2 49.Bxc2 Rxc2+ 50.Kd5 Rxh2, and gave a long analysis of this variation, concluding that White should have won, but he did not consider 48...Rxh2, which is the move recommended by the engine)

49.Kd5 Rb2 50.Bc4 e4 51.Ra7+ Kb8 52.Rh7 e3! 53.Rxh3 e2 54.Rh1 Rd2+ 55.Ke5 Bd3 56.Bxd3 Rxd3 57.Rb1+ Kc8 58.Re1 Rxg3 59.a4 Ra3 60.Rxe2 Kd7! 61.Kd5 Rxa4 and the ending should be a draw. See diagram below:


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