[Event "World Championship Match (1985) Moscow URS Round 4"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/fvoU9LSX/d3MKSYF3"] [Result "1-0"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D31"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Declined: Charousek Variation"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/KinoKing"] [UTCDate "2022.04.24"] [UTCTime "21:37:13"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/fvoU9LSX/d3MKSYF3"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 { Queen's Gambit Declined by Kasparov. Considering his reputation as a sharp player with deep opening preparation, this likely doesn't suit his kind of play. After this game, he made it a point to avoid positional grinds against Karpov at all costs. } 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. e3 O-O 8. Qc2 Na6 9. Rd1 c5 10. dxc5 Qa5 11. cxd5 Nxc5 12. Qd2 { Already the players are having a dialogue. Kasparov says "I am willing to give my e-pawn for activity", and Karpov says "no thank you". } (12. dxe6 Bxe6 13. Nd4 Rac8 14. Be2 Bd5 15. O-O Ne4 16. Rd3 { White's pieces are clumsy and fighting over the same squares. Meanwhile Black is applying pressure on the entire queenside, clearly worth the pawn. } { [%cal Gf6d4,Gd5a2,Ge4c3,Ga5c3,Gc8c3,Gd8d4,Gf8d8] }) 12... Rd8 13. Nd4 exd5 { Kasparov is forced into an isolated queen's pawn position, which is a structural concession, but it also gives more squares for piece activity suited to Kasparov's style. } 14. Be2 Qb6 15. O-O Ne4 16. Qc2 Nxc3 17. Qxc3 { Of course Karpov chooses to keep his pawn structure intact. Taking with the b-pawn is possible, but it leaves two isolated weaknesses long term and is inaccurate. } (17. bxc3?! { [%csl Gc3,Ga2] } 17... Qc5 18. Bf3 b6 { White would have to babysit the c-pawn for quite awhile, as black will easily apply pressure with rooks on the c-file. Still, the engine calls this equal so it should still be hold-able. }) 17... Be6?! { Bf5 was more active and to Kasparov's point. This doesn't seem like an obvious mistake, but not controlling the b1-h7 diagonal proves to give Black some headaches. } (17... Bf5 18. Qd2 Bg6 $13 { Black has the worse pawn structure with the IQP, but the bishop pair is menacing. Both sides can trade off on the c-file at will. Black has comfortably equalized. }) 18. Qc2 Rac8 19. Qb1 Rc7 20. Rd2 Rdc8 21. Nxe6!! { The beginning of the white key symphony! From here until move 39, all of white's moves will be on light squares. Prior to this game, this would never be a move I would consider. Firstly, I would think White's main trump is the isolated d-pawn. Secondly, Black's light squared bishop wasn't exactly doing anything to threaten the white position from e6, while the knight was centralized and blockading. Thirdly, doing this just opened the dark squared bishop on f6. Despite all this, Karpov says that the weakened light squares f7-g6-h7 will be a more important factor than all of the above. } 21... fxe6 { [%csl Gf7,Gg6,Gh7][%cal Gb1h7,Ge2g4,Ge2d3] } (21... Qxe6 { If black takes with the queen, than the d-pawn will be a much easier target for white to pick up as there is no pawn to support it. White has easy pressure with Bf3 and Rfd1. } { [%csl Gd1][%cal Ge2f3,Gf1d1,Gf3d5,Gd2d5] }) 22. Bg4 Rc4 23. h3 Qc6 24. Qd3 Kh8 25. Rfd1 a5 26. b3 { Removing the weakness of b2 from the f6's bishop's scope. } 26... Rc3 27. Qe2 Rf8 { Black is struggling to find a sensible target. White's structure is too solid. } 28. Bh5 b5 29. Bg6 Bd8 30. Bd3 { Targeting b5, somewhat forcing Black forward to b4. } { [%cal Gd3b5,Ge2b5] } 30... b4 31. Qg4 Qe8 32. e4 { Breaking in the center, hoping to use the e4 or f5 squares for mayhem. } 32... Bg5 33. Rc2 { Karpov decides that he needs to remove one of Black's active pieces to free up some squares for his bishop and queen. } 33... Rxc2 34. Bxc2 Qc6 35. Qe2 Qc5 { Black is threatening Rxf2! so Karpov must pacify his rook temporarily. If he plays something naïve like Bf1: } 36. Rf1 (36. Bb1?? Rxf2! 37. Qxf2 Be3 $19 { Black is suddenly winning. }) 36... Qc3 37. exd5 exd5 38. Bb1 Qd2 39. Qe5 { He didn't need to play Qe5, but this technically is the end of White's light square streak thus far. } 39... Rd8 40. Qf5 { After a fair amount of shuffling, White now has a concrete threat. Qh7 is mate, Black's response is forced, and his King must venture into the open. White's uncontested light squared bishop, as well as black's kingside pawns being on dark squares, ensures a tangible advantage. } { [%csl Gh7][%cal Gf5h7] } 40... Kg8 41. Qe6+ Kh8 42. Qg6 Kg8 43. Qe6+ { There's a Russian chess school of thought to repeat once if you can while your opponent can't deviate, to assert some kind of psychological dominance over your opponent. Not sure if I buy it, but it helps to get to time controls sometimes. } 43... Kh8 44. Bf5 Qc3 45. Qg6 Kg8 46. Be6+ Kh8 47. Bf5 { Karpov was a good Russian schoolboy. } 47... Kg8 48. g3 { Creating more luft, and hinting at h4 to boot the bishop from g5 when timed right. } 48... Kf8 49. Kg2 Qf6 50. Qh7! { It's important to keep the queens on. Black's king is being forced into the open and having the queen will keep the attack potent. } 50... Qf7 51. h4 Bd2 52. Rd1! { Activating the last piece. It is picturesque that all of white's pieces are on light squares as well. } 52... Bc3 53. Rd3 { [%cal Gd3f3] } 53... Rd6 54. Rf3 Ke7 55. Qh8 { Swinging the queen over to a more active role, on h7 it was not doing much. } 55... d4 56. Qc8 Rf6 57. Qc5+ { Depriving the f8 retreat square, Black's king is fatally vulnerable. } { [%csl Gf8][%cal Gc5f8] } 57... Ke8 58. Rf4 { Slowly but surely creeping the rook to the e file. } { [%csl Ge4][%cal Gf4e4,Ge4e8] } 58... Qb7+ 59. Re4+ Kf7 60. Qc4+ { Taking the g8 square away from black's king. } { [%csl Gg8][%cal Gc4g8] } 60... Kf8 61. Bh7! { The bishop is doing two jobs aptly: defending the rook on e4 whilst supporting a mate threat on g8. } { [%csl Gg8][%cal Gh7g8,Gc4g8,Gh7e4] } 61... Rf7 (61... Qa8?? { [%csl Ga8] } 62. Qg8#) 62. Qe6 { Threatening Qe8 mate. } 62... Qd7 63. Qe5 { Black resigns here, due to the unavoidable mate to follow: } (63. Qxd7?? { Trading queens here would be a tragedy! Immediately Black's position would breathe and White's attack would stop. Black would even retain some winning chances with that passed d-pawn, but White should pull the breaks with a light squared blockade on d3 and acquiesce to a draw. } 63... Rxd7 64. Bg6 Rd8 65. Rf4+ Ke7 66. Rf7+ Ke6 67. Rf3 (67. Rxg7?? Kf6 $19 { [%csl Gf6][%cal Gf6g7,Gf6g6] }) 67... Ke7 $10 { [%csl Ge7] }) 63... Qd8 64. Qc5+ Re7 65. Bg6 Ba1 (65... d3 66. Rxe7 Qxe7 67. Qc8+ Qd8 68. Qxd8#) 66. Rxe7 Kg8 67. Qc6 Qxe7 68. Qc4+ Kf8 69. Qc8+ Qd8 70. Qxd8# 1-0