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The rivalry between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov is perhaps the greatest in chess history. After all, they fought in no less than 5 World Championship matches against each other – a record.
This game comes from their final match which took place in New York (games 1-12) then Lyon, France (games 13-24). This, game 17, sees an incredible demonstration of positional play, with Anatoly Karpov (White) using subtle tactics to achieve his strategic aims.
Anatoly Karpov Garry Kasparov 1990GM Susan Polgar starts her coverage of this game after Black’s 22nd move. The main feature of this position is White’s control of the c-file. Kasparov’s last move (…Qb7) does a few things – not least getting the Queen out of harm’s way – but the main idea is, after some preparation, to play …Rc8 and exchange rooks.
Now White does something very strange: he pushes d4-d5. This pawn move doesn’t attack anything, it actually reduces the number of central squares controlled and it opens up the diagonal for Black’s fianchettoed bishop, making it more active. Why did Anatoly Karpov, considered one of the greatest positional players of all-time, make such a move?
There is, of course, method to his madness. A method that only becomes apparent several moves later.
Anatoly Karpov Garry Kasparov 1990 Rc6Kasparov brings his knight to c4 and it’s soon exchanged. Then Garry gets in his …Rc8 move. If the rooks are exchanged, the position is level and we can expect a draw. But what if White had 2 moves? He would be able to move his rook along the c-file then place his Queen behind it, maintaining control.
Anatoly Karpov finds a neat tactical way to achieve exactly this with 26.Rc6! Kasparov cannot take the rook as 26…Rxc6 27.bxc6 Qxc6 (or leave a passed pawn on the 6th rank – guaranteed to promote soon) 28.Qd8+ Bf8 29.Bh6 winning.
This ‘free move’ allows White the time and space he needs to bring his Queen to the c-file too.
What’s really impressive is how Anatoly Karpov increases the pressure on Kasparov with a long series of moves that completely tie Black up. GM Susan Polgar explains the ideas behind each of these moves in her usual clear manner so you can use similar techniques in your own games.
Enjoy this video and, if you want to improve your positional chess with more brilliant ideas like this one, check out Susan’s The Polgar Method for Positional Play.