Place the contents of the chess box in a hat, shake them up vigorously, pour them on the board from a height of two feet, and you get the style of Steinitz.
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[Event "World Championship, 24th game"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1985.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Karpov, Anatoly GM"]
[Black "Kasparov, Garry GM 2"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Hayes, David"]
[BlackElo "2700"]
[ECO "B85"]
[TimeControl "0"]
[WhiteElo "2700"]
{ Some of you readers have expressed an opinion that this, Kasparov's 24 and
last game in the 1985 World Championship is his best. Kasparov believes his
16th game in that same match was his best. We present both on these pages for
you to decide.|The ill-fated first match for the world championship in
1984 had a simple format; the winner would be the first to win 6 games. Draws
counted for nothing. It was halted after 6 grueling months with a score of
Karpov 5 - Kasparov 3 because neither player seemed able to win the necessary
6 games.|GM Kasparov sculpted this masterpiece in the second match for the
world championship in 1985. The match's rules stipulated a traditional
24-game limit. This is the 24th and last game of the match. Kasparov needed
only a draw to win, but played for and got the full point.|It should be
noted that GM Anatoly Karpov had won more than 80 world-class chess
tournaments. He was a worthy world champion despite having come by that title
by default when Bobby Fischer refused to play in 1975.|Kasparov's win by
two points made him the youngest World Champion in history at the age of 22. } 1. e4 { B85: Sicilian Scheveningen: 6 Be2 a6, lines with early Be3 } 1... c5 { Kasparov required only a draw to win the world championship, but plays a
sharp asymmetrical defense. The Sicilian Defense is a two-edged sword that
can cut both ways. The lesson here is, if you want a draw, then play for the
win. } 2. Nf3 d6 { Prevents intrusion on e5. } 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 { Prevents a timely knight or bishop to b5 move. } 6. Be2 e6 { Covers d5 and f5
while permitting black to complete the development of his king side. } 7. O-O Be7 8. f4 O-O 9. Kh1 Qc7 10. a4 Nc6 11. Be3 Re8 12. Bf3 Rb8 13. Qd2 Bd7 14. Nb3 b6 { Prevents intrusion on a5 and c5. } 15. g4 { Karpov makes an
uncharacteristically aggressive departure from a previous position obtained
in this match. Karpov is playing to win. The move weakens his own king side
in an effort to storm black's castled position. } 15... Bc8 { Making room for... } 16. g5 { White gains space on the King side to build an attack. } 16... Nd7 17. Qf2 { As a
testament to the speed of modern information flow, this whole line of play
was tested just days before this game in the Montpellier Candidates'
tournament. In that game, white tried 17. Bg2 which was met by 17... Na5.
Karpov departs from this line of play in an effort to improve on white's
attack. } 17... Bf8 18. Bg2 Bb7 19. Rad1 g6 20. Bc1 Rbc8 21. Rd3 { White's plans are
clear as he assembles an attack. The attack is dangerous despite its
obviousness. } 21... Nb4 22. Rh3 Bg7 { This position is white's high water mark; that
point where white's winning chances are greatest. The question is how should
white proceed? Let's consider the most obvious 23. Qh4 where black could
play 23... Nf8 bringing white's attack to a halt. The sharpest line of
attack is an immediate 23. f5 where black cannot allow the pawn to push on to
f6. Thus, 23. f5 breaks up the protective pawn structure around black's
king. That in turn enables many attacking plans. } 23. Be3 { No attacking plan
seems decisive, because white's knights are too far from the king side.
Therefore, Karpov allows black the time to better prepare his defense. } 23... Re7 24. Kg1 Rce8 { Now the thematic f5 push is discouraged by the odd massing of
black rooks on the closed e-file. f5 would be met by exf5 releasing the
counter attacking energy of the rooks. } 25. Rd1 f5 { This effectively puts an
end to white's attacking hopes. } 26. gxf6 Nxf6 { Black launches an attack of
his own which involves the sacrifice of his b-pawn. } 27. Rg3 { To prevent
Ng4. } 27... Rf7 { Kasparov resists passive defensive move like the retreat 27...
Nd7. } 28. Bxb6 Qb8 29. Be3 Nh5 30. Rg4 Nf6 31. Rh4 g5 $1 { Destabilizing and
decisive. Black now has the initiative as he plays for a win against white
who is in desperate time trouble. } 32. fxg5 Ng4 { Now 33. Rxg4 is not quite
enough after 33... Rxf2 34. Bxf2. } 33. Qd2 Nxe3 34. Qxe3 Nxc2 35. Qb6 Ba8 36. Rxd6 $2 { 36. Qxb8 is the best way to fight back 36... Rxb8 37. Bh3 Rxb3 38.
Bxe6 Rxb2 39. Rf1 Bxc3 40. Rxf7 Nd4 41. Ra7+ Nxe6 42. Rxa8+ Kg7 43. Ra7+ Kg6
44. Rxa6 Nxg5 45. Rxd6+ Kf7. However, white does not have the time to
explore such complications. } 36... Rb7 37. Qxa6 Rxb3 { Both players are now in a
time scramble. Now Kasparov grabs the piece which is good for the win, but
he missed the crushing 37... Nb4. } 38. Rxe6 Rxb2 39. Qc4 { Threatening mate by
Re8. } 39... Kh8 40. e5 $2 { A weak move made in time trouble. 40. g6 is stronger,
but still not enough to turn the tide. } 40... Qa7+ 41. Kh1 Bxg2+ 42. Kxg2 Ne3+ { As
they say in tennis, "Game, Set, Match." White resigned the game, match, and
championship here despite the considerable complexity that remained after 43.
Kg3... } 43. Kg3 Nf5+ 44. Kg4 Rf8 45. Qf4 Qg1+ 46. Kh5 Rf2 47. Re8 Rxf4 48. Rxf8+ Bxf8 49. Rxf4 Qg2 50. h4 Ng7+ 51. Kh6 Qc6+ 52. Rf6 Nf5+ 53. Kh5 Qf3# 0-1