LET’S GO!!! – Anatoly Karpov vs Garry Kasparov – World Chess Championship 1984 Game 3

Karpov vs Kasparov, 1984-85
The Aborted Match
From the age of 12, the chess genius from Azerbaijan Garry Kasparov was setting new standards. After becoming the youngest player to win the USSR Junior Championship he went on to win the World Junior Championship at age 16. His style was aggressive and dynamic. On his seventeenth birthday he achieved the grandmaster title.

After defeating Beliavsky, Korchnoi, and Smyslov in the candidates matches, Kasparov earned the right to challenge Anatoly Karpov for the title. The match was held in Moscow. Once again, the format was the first to 6 wins, draws not counting.

Karpov secured quick lead in the match, winning games 3, 6, 7, and 9 to establish a dominating score of 4-0. However, due an incredible series of draws, it wasn’t until game 27 when Karpov claimed his 5th point. With the score 5-0, Karpov’s victory appeared imminent, but this marathon struggle was outlasting everybody’s expectations. Finally, on the 32nd game, Kasparov beat Karpov for the first time. After another long series of draws, Kasparov won game 47 and game 48, making the score 5 to 3.

At this stage, FIDE President Florencio Campomanes made a most unexpected and controversial decision: he called the match off.

At the press conference at which he announced his decision, Campomanes cited the health of the two players, which had been put under strain by the length of the match, despite that both Karpov and Kasparov stated that they would prefer the match to continue. Karpov had lost 10kg (22lb) over the course of the match. Kasparov, however, was in excellent health and extremely resentful of Campomanes’ decision, asking him why he was abandoning the match if both players wanted to continue. It would appear that Kasparov, who had won the last two games before the suspension, felt the same way as some commentators: that he was now the favorite to win the match despite his 5-3 deficit. He appeared to be physically stronger than his opponent, and in the later games seemed to have been playing the better chess.[1]

The match lasted from September 10, 1984 to February 8, 1985. It was aborted after 48 games, making Karpov the de facto winner. A new match was scheduled to take place later in 1985.

PGN OF THE GAME:

[Event “Karpov – Kasparov World Championship Match 1984/85”]
[Site “Moscow URS”]
[Date “1984.09.17”]
[EventDate “?”]
[Round “3”]
[Result “1-0”]
[White “Anatoly Karpov”]
[Black “Garry Kasparov”]
[ECO “B44”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[PlyCount “61”]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Nf6 7.N1c3
a6 8.Na3 Be7 9.Be2 O-O 10.O-O b6 11.Be3 Bb7 12.Qb3 Na5 13.Qxb6
Nxe4 14.Nxe4 Bxe4 15.Qxd8 Bxd8 16.Rad1 d5 17.f3 Bf5 18.cxd5
exd5 19.Rxd5 Be6 20.Rd6 Bxa2 21.Rxa6 Rb8 22.Bc5 Re8 23.Bb5 Re6
24.b4 Nb7 25.Bf2 Be7 26.Nc2 Bd5 27.Rd1 Bb3 28.Rd7 Rd8 29.Rxe6
Rxd7 30.Re1 Rc7 31.Bb6 1-0