<This was a double-edged game, typical of Kasparov's inimitable style. The opening promised a complicated struggle, with Black's vulnerable dark squares balanced by White's wrecked pawn-structure and the closed nature of his position. Although, for example, Fischer has considered the Winawer to be fundamentally incorrect, upholding this verdict is no mean task and usually Black tends to hold his own. Even the provocative 7..Kf8!? has its logic - Black avoids creating any further weaknesses or opening the position for White's bishop-pair (practice has shown that after 7..0-0 Black is sooner or later forced to play the otherwise undesirable ..f5).

Kasparov reacted very aggressively and proceeded to sacrifice his whole pawn-centre to get at Black's king. Undoubtedly he also took into account two important practical considerations. Firstly, from move 15 onwards, Black is very often faced with multiple choices. One can notice that until move 26 we usually analyze only possible and often quite tempting alternatives for Black. White, on the other hand, makes natural attacking moves with the notable exception of 23.Qa4?!. While conducting an intuitive attack, one should try to engage as many pieces as possible in the onslaught, so it is no surprise that the variations prove 23.Rc1!? was better. Kasparov's second consideration was most probably even more subjective - his massive personal score against Nikolic. Sure enough, although Black managed to master the complications of the middlegame quite well, his insecurity led to serious time-trouble and finally to his downfall in a rather simple position.>

To the annotations:

7..Kf8!?

<Hardly anybody is currently interested in the debris of 7..Qc7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd4 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4 dxc3 12.Qd3, which works out well for White. After 7..0-0 White's most dangerous attacking attempt nowadays is 8.Bd3 Qa5 9.Ne2!? cxd4 10.Bg5 Nbc6 11.f4. Although practical material still remains meagre, Black's king is paradoxically more threatened on the kingside than in the centre. Naturally, the main drawback of 7..Kf8 is also obvious - the h8-rook remains inactive for a long time.>

9.Qd1!?

<Lesser mortals would probably rather give up the pawn on c2, e.g. after 9.Bd2, but Kasparov wants to free his forces by sacrificing his central bastion. This brave concept is not new in his practice; he came up with the idea two years earlier against Anand in a similar position.> (Probably referring to Kasparov vs Anand, 1992 )

13..b6

<Black's best. Approximately two months later Nikolic decided to test 13..Nbc6?! The retribution was swift: 14.h5! Nxe5 (14..h6 15.Rh4) 15.h6 gxh6 16.Bxh6+ Kg8 17.Rb1 N7g6 18.Rb4 Nxf3+ 19.gxf3 Qe5 20.f4 Qc3+ 21.Kf1 f5 22.Rb3 Qf6 23.c4 and Black's poorly developed forces couldn't stop the powerful white attack in Kasparov vs P Nikolic, 1994 .>

15.c4!?

<Black doesn't show his hand and for the time being keeps the position closed.> Stohl gives a lot of lines here, but for once I only give the main ones here, unlike later:

<15..Bxc4 16.Bxc4 dxc4> and now <17.Ng5 Qd3 18.Qh5 g6 19.Nxh7+ Kg8 20.Nf6+ Kg7 21.Bxh6+!? Rxh6 22.Ne8+ is a draw, as after 22..Kf8? 23.Qxh6 Kxe8 24.Qh8+ Black would lose his queen> or here instead <Black has some chances to fight for an advantage with 18..Qf5> giving <19.Rac1 Nd7!? 20.Rxc4 Nd5> as the main line <when the position remains tense and unclear>. Instead of 17.Ng5 White also has <the calmer 17.Bb4 Nc6 18.Bd6> with <compensation, as activating his sleepy rook will cost Black a lot of time and possibly even material.>

16..Qxe5

<Kasparov criticizes this move, but Black's main mistake only comes later on. The other possibility, 16..Qxh4!?, is certainly worth considering. 17.cxd5 (17.g3?! Qd4 only helps Black) 17..Bxe2 18.Qxe2 and now:

1) 18..Nxd5 19.Qf3 Nd8 20.Rfe1?! Qa4 21.Nxe6+ Nxe6 22.Qxd5 Rd8 23.Bb4+ doesn't look ideal; the numerous exchanges only underline the inactive h8-rook.

2) 18..exd5 is somewhat better. After 19.f4!? (not 19.e6?! Nd4) the position is still difficult to evaluate. Black has to be careful about his queen (19..h6? 20.Be1) and premature activity may only entangle his pieces (19..Nf5 20.Qd3 and now 20..Ng3? 21.Rfe1 or 20..Ncd4 21.Nf3!?; just as in line '1' it's not easy to activate the h8-rook once the position opens up). However, a patient approach like 19..Rd8 20.Rac1 also gives White compensation for the sacrificed pawns.

3) 18..Nd4 19.Qd1 (19.Qd3 Nxd5 20.g3 Qg4 gets White nowhere) 19..Nxd5 is tactically justified and probably best. Now after Kasparov's 20.Re1 (20.g3 is weak since after 20..Qh6, 21.Nxf7? fails to 21..Qxd2!) White threatens Re4, but Black can reply 20..Nf4! 21.Ne4 (21.Re4 Nde2+! favours Black) 21..Rd8, and then:

3a) 22.g3 Qh5 and now 23.Bxf4?! Nf3+ 24.Kg2 Rxd1 25.Rexd1 Nxe5!? gives Black a technically won position, while Black is clearly better after 23.gxf4 Nf3+ 24.Kg2 Qg4+ 25.Ng3 Nxe1+.

<Provocative and very risky. Nikolic decides to find out the knight's intentions, but as they are rather destructive, other moves must be examined:

1) 20..Kg7? is worse than the text-move in view of 21.Ne6+! fxe6 22.Rxe6 Be2 (queen moves are insufficient: 22..Qd4? 23.Rxe7+ Nxe7 24.Bh6+ wins for White, while 22..Qb2 23.Qe1 Kf7 24.Bc3 and 22..Qf7 23.Bc3+ d4 24.Bxd4+ Nxd4 25.Qxd4+ Kg8 26.Rf6 both give White a decisive attack) gives White a pleasant choice between playing for the attack with 23.Rxe2, or winning the queen with 23.Bh6+!? Kxh6 24.Qc1+.

2) 20..Rd8? also doesn't contribute greatly to the defence:

2a) 21.Be6 is tempting, but if Black keeps his cool with 21..Rd6! (after 21..fxe6?! 22.Rxe6! Qf5 23.g4 Qd3 24.Re3 Black must return a whole rook to save his king: 24..Qf1+ 25.Qxf1 Bxf1 26.Ne6+), he has every chance to beat off the attack after both 22.Bxf7 h6 and 22.Nxf7 Rxe6 23.Rxe6 Qxe6!? 24.Nxh8 Qf6.

2b) 21.Ne6+! fxe6 22.Rxe6 is thematic and much stronger:

2b1) 22..Qf7 23.Bh6+ Kg8 (after 23..Ke8? 24.Qa4 Bc8 25.Qxc6+ Bd7 26.Rxe7+ Qxe7 27.Bxd7+ Rxd7 28.Bg5 the attack nets White more material) 24.Rc1 Bb7 25.Qe1 is very dangerous to Black, since compared with the game he has even more problems with his rook trapped in the corner.

2b2) 22..Qg7 23.Qf3+ Nf5 (23..Kg8 24.Rxc6! Qxa1+ 25.Rc1 Qe5 26.Re1 leaves Black defenceless; he must give up his queen since 26..Rf8 loses on the spot to 27.Rxe5 Rxf3 28.Rxe7!; 23..Ke8 is better, although after 24.Rae1 White has a raging attack) 24.Rae1 Bb5 (24..Ncd4? 25.Bb4+ Kg8 26.Re8+ Rxe8 27.Rxe8+ Kf7 28.Re7+ Kf6 29.Qxd5! wins for White, as 29..Nxe7 30.Qg5+ leads to mate) 25.Bxf5 Nd4 26.Qc3! Nxf5 (26..Nxe6? 27.Bh6) 27.Qb4+ and white regains the piece with a continuing attack.

3) Black should have covered the sensitive e6-square with 20..Bc8! After 21.Rc1:

3a) 21..Bxg4 22.Qxg4 suits White; e.g., 22..h6 23.Nf3 Nf5? 24.Qa4! or 22..Nf5 23.Ne6+!? with compensation.

3b) Better is 21..h6!? and as 22.Bc3 d4 23.Ne4 Bxg4 24.Qxg4 Qf5 just costs White more material, he still has to justify his sacrificial concept.>

21.Ne6+!

22..Qf7

<Does Black really have to concede the long diagonal? 22..Qb2? 23.Qf3+ and Bc3 is simple, but 22..Qg7!? needs to be considered. Now 23.Qf3+ Kg8 24.Bc3 d4 25.Rxe7 Nxe7! 26.Qxa8+ Kh7 27.Qxa7 dxc3 28.Qxa6 c2 leads to a draw at most for White. A more dangerous try is 23.Rc1 Bb7 (23..Nd4 loses immediately to 24.Rxe7!) 24.Bb4!? Nxb4 25.Rc7 Nbc6 26.Rxb7 with a strong attack.>

23.Qa4?!

<23.Bc3? d4 24.Bxd4 Rd8 is a dead end for White, but Kasparov proposed the very dangerous alternative 23.Rc1!?. White's last inactive piece joins the fray; the following lines originate partly from Kasparov:

1) We already know about 23..Nd4? 24.Rxe7!. One of Black's problems is that if White achieves a more normal material balance without substantial simplification, his attack will in all probability be decisive.

2) After 23.. Bc8 24.Rexc6 Nxc6 25.Rxc6 Bxg4 26.Qxg4 Qf5 (26..Kg7? loses quickly due to 27.h5! g5 28.Bc3+ Kh7 29.Rf6) White doesn't have to continue attacking with speculative moves such as 27.Qd4 or 27.Qg3, but can reach a promising rook endgame by 27.Bxh6+!? Rxh6 (Black can't afford 27..Kf7? 28.Rc7+ Ke6 29.Qa4!) 28.Qxf5+ gxf5 29.Rxh6 Ke7 30.Kf1.

The conclusion seems to be that even after the tricky move 23.Rc1!? Black can hold his own.>

26..Kg7

<Another crucial moment. Black is understandably intent on tucking his king away, but White will still be able to create dangerous threats. The rook can't leave the back rank, but 26..Rd8!? is possible:

1) The point is 27.Be6 Bb5! After 28.Qxb5 (28.Qc3 d4 29.Qb3 Qf6 is similar) 28..Qxe6 29.Re1 Qd7 30.Bb4+ Kg8 White's compensation is insufficient.

2) Better is 27.Bb4+ Kg7 28.Bc3+ (28.Be6?! Bb5 29.Qxb5 Qxe6 30.Re1 Qc8 31.Re7+ Kg8 leaves White struggling) 28..Kh7 29.Be6, when Black can choose between:

2a) 29..Qe7 30.Re1 Rd6 31.Qa4!? b5 32.Qb4 (32.Bg8+ Kxg8 33.Rxe7 bxa4 34.Re8+ Kf7 35.Rxh8 is also roughly equal) 32..Qd8 33.Qc5 Qb6 34.Qxb6 axb6 35.Bxd5! Bxd5 36.Re7+ Bf7!? with a draw.

2b) Safer is 29..Bb5!? 30.Bxf7 (30.Qxb5 is weaker in view of 30..Qxe6) 30..Bxc6 31.Bxh8 Rxh8 32.Rc1 and again a draw is the logical result.>

28.h5!

<Kasparov ignores Black's rooks and attacks with his usual energy.>

32.Bd4

<The smoke has cleared for a while. Black has beaten off the first wave of the attack, but his weak king and the opposite-coloured bishops still complicate his defensive task. Moreover, Nikolic was already very short of time.>

33..Re4?!

<However, this mistake is much more serious, and probably decisive. The right move was 34..Re2! 35.f4 (White must also expose his king, because 35.Bg3 Qe7 leads only to further exchanges) 35..Qg6 36.Qc7+ Kg8 37.Qb8+ Kf7 38.Qxa7+ Kf8 39.Qb8+ Ke7 40.Qc7+ Ke8 41.Qc8+ Ke7 42.g4 Qe6!? 43.Qc7+ Ke8 44.Qg7 d4 and with White's rook still unable to penetrate, a draw seems a fair result.>

35..Rg6?!

<This is the final inaccuracy, which loses practically by force. However, even after the considerably stronger 35..h5!? 36.Rh3 (36.Qd8 Rg8 37. Rf3 Qg7!? gives White nothing) White has managed to activate his rook and retains a strong initiative; e.g., 36..Be2 37.Re3 Bc4 (37..Bf3? 38.Rc3! Rxg2+ 39.Kf1 Be4 40.Bg3! cuts off Black's rook; 37..Rg6 38.Qd8 Rg8 39.Qh4 Rg4 40.Qh3 Bd1 41. Rc3 is also dangerous for Black) 38.f3 (38.Bf4?! Qxf4 39.Re7+ Kh8 only leads to a draw, but 38.Bc3 Re4 39.Rh3!? is a possible alternative) 38..Rg6 39.Qd8 Rg8 40.Qh4.>

37.Qh4

<Now Kasparov has coordinated his pieces and Black is helpless against the dark-square concert. White's intention is 38.Rf3! Qe8 (38..Qxf3? 39.Qe7+) 39.Bc3, followed by an effective rook invasion with Re3-e7.>

39.Qd8 1-0