The greatest match that never was — when Fischer and Karpov didn’t meet

The history of chess is riddled with missed opportunities.

Owing to a combination of bad timing, bad faith and bad luck, such all-time greats as Poland’s Akiba Rubinstein and Estonia’s Paul Keres never got the shot at a world title match that their talent and results had earned them. Cuban star Jose Raoul Capablanca failed to secure the rematch he richly deserved after losing his world title in a stunning upset to Alexander Alekhine in 1927.

The very first American star, Paul Morphy, failed to secure the one-on-one match he craved with British champion Howard Staunton during his epic European tour in 1858 and 1859, although he did beat every other continental master he faced. A generation later, U.S. chess fans were denied a match between its two greatest players — Frank Marshall and Harry Nelson Pillsbury — when Pillsbury passed away in 1906 at the all-too-young age of 33.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of another epic might-have-been: the first title defense by American champion Bobby Fischer, against Anatoly Karpov, a slight, soft-spoken young Soviet star from the southern Ural town of Zlatoust. Fischer famously forfeited the match and his title in a dispute with chess authorities over the match format, handing the 23-year-old Karpov the crown.

Despite the asterisk accompanying his ascension to the throne, Karpov would go on to prove a worthy and legitimate successor, holding the title for nearly a decade, compiling one of the game’s best records of tournament success, and embarking on a string of matches with his own younger rival, Garry Kasparov, that are among the crown jewels of the game.

With Fischer out of the picture, Karpov and GM Viktor Korchnoi dueled ferociously throughout the 1970s for supremacy, a rivalry that grew even more heated when Korchnoi defected to the West in 1976. Karpov actually clinched the crown by defeating Korchnoi in their Candidates Finals match in 1974, barely holding on for a 3-2 victory with 19 draws.

The soon-to-be-champ broke on top with a fine win in Game 2, taking the fight to the famously aggressive Korchnoi from the White side of a Sicilian Dragon Yugoslav Attack. White’s readiness to sacrifice material to get at the Black king with 13. Bxc4 Rxc4 14. h5! (the slower 14. g4 gives Black an extra tempo to create mischief on the queenside) was relatively new at the time, and Korchnoi’s reaction was not the best.  

Karpov’s patience at the board is legendary, and here two nice finesses steadily improve White’s position: 16. Nde2! ( preparing to redeploy the knight while also bolstering the c3-knight against Black’s trademark exchange sacrifice) Qa5 17. Bh6 Bxh6 18. Qxh6 Rfc8 19. Rd3! — the game’s first real novelty, and a good one: All tricks on the c3-square are now off the table and White can turn his full attention to his kingside attack. Already there’s a threat of 20. g5 Nh5 21. Ng3 Qe5 22. Rxh5! gxh5 23. Nxh5, and White breaks through in lines such as 23…Bc6 24. a3 a6 25. f4 Qh8 26. Rg3 Rxc3 27. Rxc3 f6 28. Rg3 Kf7 29. gxf6 Rg8 30. Rg7+ Rxg7 31. fxg7 Qg8 32. f5.

After a long think, Korchnoi picks the wrong way to hold up the White g-pawn and pays a drastic price: 19…R4c5? (see diagram; it was later revealed that the humble pie-eating 19…Qd8! was the only way to hold the position, as on 20. Nd5 [Nf4 Qf8 21. Qh2 Qg7 also keeps Black in the game] Rxc2+ 21. Kb1 e6 22. Ndc3, Black has good chances of holding the defense) 20. g5!! (playing precisely the move Black thought he had stopped) Rxg5 21. Rd5!, taking advantage of the fact the Black knight dare not leave its post and the defense of the h7-pawn.

Karpov was known as a premier positional player, but he could attack with the best of them when the situation warranted. The finale is a marvel of combinational precision and power: 21…Rxd5 (Rc5 22. Qxg5 Nxd5 23. exd5 h5 24. Rxh5) 22. Nxd5 Re8 23. Nef4! (the other knight joins the party with devastating impact) Bc6 (Be6 24. Nxe6 fxe6 25. Nxf6+ exf6 26. Qxh7+ Kf8 27. Qxb7 Qg5+ 28. Kb1 Re7 29. Qb8+ Re8 30. Qxe6+ and wins) 24. e5!! (another disruptive tactical masterstroke, as 24…dxe5 is met by 25. Nxf6+ exf6 26. Nh5! gxh5 27. Rg1+ Kh8 28. Qg7 mate) Bxd5 25. exf6 exf6 26. Qxh7+ Kf8 27. Qh8+, and Black resigns as his rook is lost after 27…Ke7 28. Nxd5+ Qxd5 (Kd7 29. Nxf6+) 29. Re1+.

—-

Karpov and Kasparov will be forever linked by their unprecedented run of five hard-fought world championship matches between 1984 and 1990, but the first over-the-board meeting of the two great rivals also came 50 years ago this year, when a 12-year-old Kasparov faced off against the new world champion as part of a simultaneous exhibition featuring a group of the Soviet Union’s most promising junior players. Kasparov would last the longest against the champ, but eventually succumbed in a fascinating struggle.

The young Kasparov more than holds his own in the opening and early middlegame of this Sicilian Najdorf, with the engines giving Black a distinct positional advantage after 20. Be4 Rfe8 21. Bg1 g6, with no real weaknesses and several soft spots in the White camp to probe. White fights back after 22. a3 a5!? (Bg5! looks strong here; e.g. 23. b3 [Rf2 Be3 24. Rf6 Nd7] Bb5 24. Nxb5 axb5 25. Re2 bxa3, with a clear edge) 23. axb4 axb4 24. Rxa8 Rxa8 25. b3 Ba6 26. Nc6 Nxc6 27. bxc6, and the two rooks and two bishops give both sides chances.

Attack and defense are nicely balanced in the ensuing play before Black finally falters under the pressure: 30. Qf3 Bd4?! (Re7! 31. Qf4 Bb5 32. Qh4 Be5 [Bxc6 33. Bxc6 Qxc6?? 34. Qxe7] 33. Rd2 is equal) 31. Bxf7+ Kg7 32. Bc4 Rxg1+? (Bxf2+ 33. Qxf2 Bxc4 34. Qxe1 Bb5 would have made White work harder), misjudging the queen-and-pawn ending to come.

After 33. Kxg1 Bxf2+ 34. Kxf2 Bxc4 35. bxc4 Qa7+ 36. Ke2, White’s tripled c-pawns may look ugly, but his advanced pawn on c6 is well-defended and, more importantly, White has Black’s king bottled up on the wrong side of the board.

Kasparov struggles to the last, but White is remorseless: 37. Qd5 Qf6 (Qg4+ 38. Ke3 and the Black d-pawn is lost) 38. Qe4 b3! (fighting to the last, hoping to find salvation with queen checks) 39. cxb3 Qb2+ 40. Kf1 Qc1+ 41. Qe1 Qf4+ 42. Kg1 Qd4+ 43. Kh1 Qb6 44. Qe7+ Kh6 45.Qf8+, and Black, whose game has been on life-support for some time, packs it in. It’s terminal after 45…Kh5 46. Qxd6 Qf2 47. Qd1+ Kh6 48. c7 Qf8 49. h3, and a White pawn will soon push through to the eighth rank.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Karpov-Korchnoi, FIDE Candidates Final, Game 2, Moscow, September 1974

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 Nc6 8. Qd2 O-O 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. h4 Rc8 11. Bb3 Ne5 12. O-O-O Nc4 13. Bxc4 Rxc4 14. h5 Nxh5 15. g4 Nf6 16. Nde2 Qa5 17. Bh6 Bxh6 18. Qxh6 Rfc8 19. Rd3 R4c5 20. g5 Rxg5 21. Rd5 Rxd5 22. Nxd5 Re8 23. Nef4 Bc6 24. e5 Bxd5 25. exf6 exf6 26. Qxh7+ Kf8 27. Qh8+ Black resigns.

Karpov-Kasparov, Simultaneous Exhibition Game, Leningrad, 1975

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Bg5 Be6 9. f4 exf4 10. Bxf4 Nc6 11. O-O O-O 12. Kh1 b5 13. Bf3 Ne5 14. Nd4 Bc4 15. Rf2 b4 16. Nd5 Nxd5 17. exd5 Bf6 18. Rd2 Qb6 19. Be3 Qc7 20. Be4 Rfe8 21. Bg1 g6 22. a3 a5 23. axb4 axb4 24. Rxa8 Rxa8 25. b3 Ba6 26. Nc6 Nxc6 27. dxc6 Re8 28. Bd5 Bc3 29. Rf2 Re1 30. Qf3 Bd4 31. Bxf7+ Kg7 32. Bc4 Rxg1+ 33. Kxg1 Bxf2+ 34. Kxf2 Bxc4 35. bxc4 Qa7+ 36. Ke2 Qd4 37. Qd5 Qf6 38. Qe4 b3 39. cxb3 Qb2+ 40. Kf1 Qc1+ 41. Qe1 Qf4+ 42. Kg1 Qd4+ 43. Kh1 Qb6 44. Qe7+ Kh6 45. Qf8+ Black resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.