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Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov
Karpov - Kasparov World Championship Match (1984/85), Moscow URS, rd 46, Jan-28
Spanish Game: Closed Variations. Flohr System (C92)  ·  1/2-1/2

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
May-25-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Does Kasparov miss a win with Bxh6 at some point? Perhaps 35 or 38.Bxh6?
May-25-04  Cyphelium: In both cases, what's your idea after gxh6?
May-25-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Nxe6 - something like that.
May-25-04  Cyphelium: I guess you mean Nxd6...anyway, if black just takes that knight, then what? 35. Bxh6 gxh6 36. Nexd6 Nxd6 37. Nxd6 Rxd6 and white is losing as he is two pieces down.
May-26-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Sorry for being so vague - I have the line in a book somewhere but I can't find the book. I am going to look for it.
May-26-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Right! I think I have it! Here is the incredible Fantasy Win. It might have meant three wins in a row for Kasparov! After 26...Qa8, we go 27.Bxh6, gxh6 28.Rxd6 Bxd6 29.Nxh6+ Kh8 30.Nxf7+ etc etc. Can anyone give evaluations or variations?
I must say it looks like a most spectacular sacrificial attack!
Aug-27-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Kasparov did indeed miss a beautiful win here. This was the 46th game and, since he subsequently won the 47th & 48th - and the 1st game of the next match - it *might* have meant Kasparov winning four games in a row. This would have been a record - both players at one point won three games in a row. I really don't think Kasparov would have missed the win two years later. It is possible that the miss was down partly to lack of experience against Karpov's Spanish, and partly - as Karpov puts it - that both players were 'smitten with the drawing bug'.

So, after 26...♕a8, we have
27.♗xh6 gxh6 28.♖xd6 ♕b7

(this seems to be the best move.
If instead 28...♗xd6 29.♘xh6+ ♔g7 30.♕xf7+ ♔h8 31.♘gf5 ♖g8 32.♘xg8 ♕xg8 33.♕xg8+ ♔xg8 34.♗xe6+ ♔f8 35.♘xd6 and white is four pawns up)

29.♘f5 ♗xe4 30.♕g3 ♔h8 31.♘gxh6 ♗xh6 32.♘xh6, white is two pawns ahead with a better position.

That would have been superb!

Sep-29-04  antonym: IT seems black's best defense after your 27.Bxh6 is ...Qa3. Completely rejecting the bishop and losing a pawn. Still i suppose this line must be better than Bd5 and drawing.
Aug-30-05  Hesam7: @ offramp

I was looking at Euwe vs Smyslov, 1948 Then I saw your comment regarding this game. So again I analyzed it with my engine (Fruit 2.1), I post the main line:

27 Bxh6 Qa3 28 Bd5 Bxd5 29 exd5 Nc7 30 Be3 Qb3 31 Bb6 e4 32 Nxe4 Rxe4 33 Bxc7 Rc4 34 Bb6 Rxc3 35 Ne3 Nf6 36 Bd4 (eval: +1.23)

Depth: 18/60
3.761M nodes
203K nodes/sec

Dec-20-05  Joesoap29: Sorry I am not a strong player but I would like to begin to understand the middle game themes in the Ruy Lopez. Can someone explain to me why Kasparov plays 12 a4. Seems to me that after 13 axb4...axb4 that Black's connected rooks give him the upper hand wrt the 'a' file. (or is axb4 not the idea?)
Dec-20-05  RookFile: Rook files may come and go (no pun
intended), but the pawn are forever.
The idea is to weaken the b5 pawn, that can be pressured in the middle game and the endgame.
Jun-22-06  spirit: a miss...?
Apr-07-07  Fisheremon: Indeed this is 46th game, cos' <chessgames.com> missed 45th game in the database. Again not high quality game. After 26...Qa8? White missed both 27.Bxh6 and 27.Ne3 (the second one's a typical move for Ruy Lopez). In between some inaccuracies until 33...Qc8? White again missed 34.Bb6!
Apr-13-08  Knight13: 44…Nf8 draws. Taking the knight on f6 or letting it take on h7 is suicide. Black can try to invade with ….Qa7 or double on the a-file and invade. …Rc4 to …Rf4 (or just leave the rook on c4 and play …Qc7) is also a good idea, but white can easily defend. White could move the queen and play f4, but doesn’t do much on that part either. It’s dead draw!!! Of course!! :-p
May-10-15  ToTheDeath: The last draw of the match. Even here the cracks in Karpov's game were showing. As pointed out Garry had a win with the beautiful 27.Bxh6! gxh6 28.Rxd6!! with a crushing attack.
Apr-18-20  Chesgambit: 27. Bxh6 wins
Apr-18-20  Chesgambit: 27. Bxh6 wins
but karpov miss

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