Anatoli Karpov-Veselin Topalov ( 1-0 ) , Linares 1994
One of Karpov's most brilliant games. The sacrifices in this game seem to be the work of
maybe Kasparov or Tal ... and not the stodgy player that Karpov is usually portrayed as.
A very sharp move, but not an unsound one.
at the center as quickly as possible.
aiming for a Nimzo-Indian.
aiming for a King's Indian Defense or even a Gruenfeld. ]
Karpov develops a piece, controls the center, and even prepares
King-side castling.
(But it is more normal for White to play d5 in this position.)
the game a type of symmetrical English where White breaks
with an early d4.
2...Nf6; 3.d4, etc.)
in a Sicilian Defense.
set in stone. After the moves:
3.d5 e6; 4.Nc3 exd5; 5.cxd5 d6;
we have reached the pawn structure of a Modern Benoni.
(Black will almost always follow with a fianchetto of his King's Bishop.)
a forced win. ]
3...cxd4!?; 4.Nxd4 e6;
7.Be2, "+/=" {Diagram?}
{White has a VERY small edge - in this position.}
we transpose to a Maroczy-Bind Sicilian type of set-up.
which includes 1.c4, 1.d4, and of course 1.e4.) ]
Some (older) books say the correct line here is Nc3, but this is highly
debatable.
development of his King's Bishop. The slight drawback to this line
is that White's c-pawn can be seen as a little under-protected.
7...Ne5!?; "~"
and Black has good counterplay.
has been nearly 350 games in this line. The earliest example was:
GM M. Taimanov - GM E. Geller; 22nd USSR Championship;
Moscow, (RUS); 1955. (1-0, 44m)
GM G. Zaichik - S. Kriventsov; R. Aronow Mem. Tourn; 2002. (62)
(White took a nice game, although it took over sixty moves to win.) ]
5...Nc6; ('!?')
This - a simple developing move - is perfectly playable.
(Sometimes in the modern main line, Black often develops
this Knight to d7 ... which is sometimes seen as a more
flexible square.)
5...Qc7; 6.Nc3 a6; 7.Bg5 Be7; 8.Rc1 d6; 9.Bg2,
9...Nbd7; {Diagram?}
The normal move. (And the end of the column.)
MCO calls this position even, I would say that White
has a tiny edge here. ("+/=")
(mainly column # 105 here); and see also (mainly) note # (j.). ] ]
Standard development.
Black decides to remove the troublesome White Bishop.
(This does not seem to a grossly unreasonable plan, nor is there
any dramatic change in the evaluations of most programs.)
sacrifice, viz: 10...Na5!?; 11.Nxa5 Qxa5; 12.Bxd6 Rd8;
13.Bxe7 Rxd1; 14.Raxd1, "+/=" (Maybe - '±') {Diagram?}
with a nice positional superiority. - GM A. Karpov.
A nice move, and rather unusual too.
(The natural move is to retreat the Bishop and safe-guard
White's control of the dark-squares.)
prior to this one in any database. {A.J.G.}
11.Be3, "+/=" {Diagram?}
and White maintains a modest advantage in this line.
- GM John Emms. ]
Black captures, there is no reason for him not to.
(His Knight was being attacked by the Queen.)
White captures AWAY from the center - a violation of most
conventional wisdom.
and try to use the g-file for the attack.
The remarkable thing about this game is how quickly he manages
to convert this into tangible assets.
Black develops, he will have to mobilize his Queen-side sooner
or later.
with the positional threat of doubling White's c-pawns.
>/= 12...Na5!?; - I. Damsky.
(This move fails to impress me much, White retains
a large advantage after Qd3. {A.J.G.} ) ]
pieces on the d-file.
Black must defend d6 somehow.
(Of course ...Qc7? immediately, runs into Nb5.)
- GM John Emms.
.
(Seirawan questions this move, but analysis does not justify his conclusions.)
but White probably maintains a very small advantage ...
no matter what Black plays here. ]
This is easily one of the best moves (and deepest!) of the game.
It is not at all clear even what future - if any! - the Rook will have here.
heavy piece on a half-open file, and you would be correct. But in modern
GM practice such generalities, (without a concrete follow-up or plan); are
rarely good enough to defeat the very best players in the world! 'Nuff said?
and White has a solid edge. ]
{in these types of positions}; to re-deploy the dark-squared defender to
the g7-square ... where it is usually much more effective than e7.
14...g6!?; {Diagram?}
Black's lack of space makes it difficult to come up with a really effective
plan in this position.
but White seems to keep a fairly substantial edge no matter
what Black tries here. ]
and also weakens Black's King-side.
The best move, and also given an exclam by several other annotators here.
This could be best here, ...h5 (?!) looks like it weakens Black's King-side
far too much.
- GM A. Karpov. ]
An excellent move ... several authors have said that Nd5 here might have
been better here. (Its definitely not!)
Nunn labels this as an error.
(Ftacnik calls in dubious. GM Y. Seirawan gives it no mark at all.)
for material considerations. I think that Black thought he would get
adequate play by this move ...
and a subsequent sacrifice of an exchange. But Karpov crosses
him up ... and does not take the bait!
A nice move ... and a surprise for the Bulgarian super-star.
(He was probably expecting White to capture on b5, but this line
would give Black a lot of counterplay on the light squares.)
'!' - GM John Emms.
18.cxb5 axb5; 19.Nd4!?, "+/=" {Diagram?}
when the first player seems to have a very clear advantage.
(But Black had planned to sacrifice the exchange to generate
much-needed counterplay.) ]
Topalov said after the game that he felt this was forced.
20...axb5; 21.Nxb5 d5; 22.Rec1, '±'
but White is clearly better here, and Black's compensation for
the pawn is highly questionable.
I think this is best.
23.Qe3!? Qc8!?; 24.Bxc6, '±' (Maybe "+/-") {Diagram?}
- GM A. Karpov.
{Some of these moves are not clearly forced or best.} )
What choice does Black have?
White is better ... and Black has almost zero counterplay here. ]
This looks to be forced.
I.e. 19...Re8??; 20.Bxc6, "+/-"
with a decisive edge for White. ]
CLEARLY argued that Karpov's play has been incredibly non-routine
and VERY inventive. (!!!)
a VERY long way off.
sacrificial sequence." - FM Graham Burgess.
An extremely brilliant and well thought out sacrifice that is far from
being obvious.
(Several Masters, that I showed this game to, did NOT seriously
consider this sacrifice. NOTE: AFTER posting this game, I got
like 7 e-mails, & they all said basically the same thing:
"White wins a free piece on c6." WRONG!!)
(other) elements here is probably unique.
20.cxb5 axb5; 21.Bxc6 Ra7; 22.Qd3 Rxc6; 23.Nxb5, "+/="
on c6 here?" Well ... (I offer just one line, based on the moves that
this particular chess fan suggested.)
23...Rc8; 24.bxa6!? Qxb2; 25.Rab1 Qa3; "=/+" 26.Re3?!, ('?')
26...Bc5; "/+"
and both ChessMaster8000 and Fritz agree Black is clearly better.
(The pawn on a6 is doomed, there is no rush to capture it.) ]
This is clearly is the best defense.
23.Be4, '±' (Maybe "+/-") {Diagram?}
White is clearly better.
23.Bxc6, "±" (Maybe "+/-") ]
This is clearly the best ... and is also clearly planned in advance by Karpov.
This is forced.
(Other moves look like they will allow Black to be mated.)
This could be forced as well.
(Karpov gives it a "box" symbol.)
(White is winning.)
and, again ... White is winning; and rather easily too.
- FM G. Burgess. ]
----> But Topalov is always dangerous!
This centralized Knight is worth its weight in gold.
(And is probably better than both of Black's Rooks put together!!)
This looks like Black's only chance in this position.
This is very good ... and of course, it wins.
was a better continuation ... but Karpov has something VERY
specific in mind here.
was/is {also} worth a look.
26.Qg4!?, "+/="
and seems to lead to a win for White as well. ]
This is close to being forced for Black ...
the capture on b2 was probably too risky.
out of play - was the variation:
26...Qxb2!?; ('?!') 27.Re1, '±'
(I think I have worked out a pretty much forced win, but it is
very long and banal - - - so I will skip it here.)
26...Rxa6?; 27.Qe7+ Kh8; 28.Ng5 Ra7; 29.Nf7+ Kg7;
30.Qxd8 Qxb2; 31.Qh8+ Kxf7; 32.Bd5+ Ke7; 33.Re1+ Kd6;
34.Qd8+ Rd7; 35.Re6+ Kxd5; 36.Qxd7+, ("+/-")
... "and White finally wins." - GM John Emms. ]
Black defends as best he can.
27...Qxb2!?; 28.Bb7, '±' (Maybe "+/-")
28.Rxd4!!,
Super-brilliant, especially if you stop to consider there were much
simpler ways to proceed from this position.
(The third Rook offer in only nine moves of this game. White has
also managed to sacrifice TWO!! exchanges, another rare motif
for high-level, GM chess.)
Black's position together, so White naturally removes it.
seen two Exchange sacrifices in the same game, and an
interweaving of the initiative with incremental positional pluses.
Classic Karpov. >> - GM Yasser Seirawan.
(Who gave White's 28th move only one exclamation point.)
over-the-board; was the continuation:
28.Nxc5! Qb6; 29.Rxd4 Rxd4; 30.Qe5+ Kh7; 31.Qxd4 Qxc6;
32.Ne4! Ra8; 33.a3, "+/-" {Diagram?}
and White has FOUR pawns; a good, centralized Knight;
{for a Rook}; and a vastly superior (winning) game. ]
This (also) appears forced.
31...Qxc6; 32.Qxd4+, ("+/-") ]
This was forced to avoid a quick mate. (Damsky)
The best line ... among many different and attractive moves.
35.Qg5+ Kh7; 36.Be4+ Kh8; 37.Qe5+! Kg8; 38.Qb8+ Kg7;
39.Qxa7+, ("+/-") {Diagram?} and White wins.
{White gives mate ... and ALL his moves are with check! ...
in like nine or ten moves.} ]
This seems to be forced.
(Virtually all the annotators agree on this.)
34.Be8+ Kg7; {Diagram?} This has got to be forced.
and White will mate in like 10 - 12 moves from this position ...
and win just about all of Black's pieces along the way.
(This appears to be forced.)
and Black loses his Queen ... or gets mated. )
transposing to the above line. ]
This is/was (very) good, but there may have been other ways to win.
method of deciding the game to be the most attractive.
Once again ... Black's choices are very limited.
34...Kg7?!; ('?') 35.Nd7+ Kg8; 36.Qg5+ Kh8; 37.Qh5+ Kg7;
38.Qf7+ Kh6; 39.Qf8+ Kh7; 40.Nf6+ Qxf6; 41.Qxf6, "+/-" {Diag?}
and White is winning. - GM John Emms. ]
White has no fear here.
Maybe the only move.
38.Kh3, {Diagram?} The correct move.
and White is winning.
42.fxg3, ("=") {Diagram?} and Black is STALEMATED.
(By the rules of chess, its only a draw.) ) ]
37.Bh5 Rd2; 38.b3 Rb2; 39.Kg2, ("+/-") {Diagram?}
Black Resigns. (1-0)
(It is also a very sharp and scintillating game ... with as many sacrifices
and difficult, complex positions as one could ask for.)
It was also the top game - picked by a distinguished panel of judges -
for the Informant.
it came during one of the very best tournament performances that he ...
(or anyone!!) ever had.
(He scored 11/13 ... vastly out-distancing a field that included all the best players,
including some guy named Garry Kasparov! It was also the highest category
tourney {18} ever held up to this point in history.)
- GM Yasser Seirawan.
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