White: Anatoly Karpov     0.5


Black: Gata Kamsky        0.5





Played 14 June 96 in Elista, Kalmykia

1. d4

I predict we will see this first move almost every time Karpov will have the white pieces. Not only is it his favorite, but it supposedly leads to more closed, strategical positions, and that's exactly where Karpov's superiority lies.

1. ...   Nf6


2. c4    g6


3. Nc3

Interesting moment. Is Kamsky going to play the King's Indian? Or is he going back to the Grunfeld? Karpov was certainly thinking about this waiting for Kamsky to make his next move. To tell you the truth, I was expecting the King's Indian, since Kamsky is one point behind, and he's trying to catch up. But maybe that is his secret weapon and we won't get to see it until the second part of the match... On the other hand, Karpov is known to play rather well against the King's Indian, but what is he not playing well against?

3. ...   d5

And it's the Grunfeld again! Surprising choice having in view the heavy loss suffered by Kamsky in the first game, but of course, that was just a variation, and if he is changing it, the game should change as well.

4. Nf3   Bg7


5. Qb3

It's Karpov's turn to respect the "Don't fix it if it ain't broken" principle. Just like Kamsky did yesterday, Karpov chooses to play the same system as in the first game of the match, waiting to see where black's improvement will come.

5. ...   dc4


6. Qc4   0-0


7. e4    a6

And here it is! Kamsky switches from the rare 7...Nc6 played in the first game to the popular Hungarian system with 7...a6. I tried to find games played by Kamsky as black or Karpov as white in this system, but I wasn't able to. Karpov had to battle 7...Na6 in his 1987 Seville match against Kasparov, and Kamsky too used 7...Na6 before, but it seems neither has played recently this variation. Does that mean they are not familiar with the positions of the system? I am sure Kamsky is very familiar with them if he played it, as to Karpov that remains to be seen.

The idea of 7...a6 is interesting: black tries to profit from the exposed position of the white queen, by getting ready to play b7-b5 followed by Bb7 and c7-c5. So even if for the moment black is not attacking the center, like in the 7...Nc6 system, he is defintely preparing it!

8. e5

Aggresive move, 8.e5 tries to punish black for giving up control of the center. In the process it weakens the d5 square, but white hopes that black won't be able to install his knight there. For instance after 8...Be6, white prefers to give up his queen with 9.ef6 Bc4 10.fg7 Kh7 11.Bc4 and actually obtains a position where his two bishops and knight are stronger than the queen. Since this fact was proven a long time ago, Kamsky avoids this variation and prefers another way of chasing the white queen.

8. ...   b5


9. Qb3   Nfd7

One of the main positions of the 7...a6 variation, it is often reached in a slightly different move order: 8.Qb3 b5 9.e5 Nfd7. If black still tries to gain control of the d5 square with 9...Be6, white continues to sacrifice his queen, this time with 10.ef6 Bb3 11.fg6 Kg7 12.ab3 and once again the three white pieces are better than the black queen.

Instead of 9...Nfd7 black could also try to send his knight on a scouting mission in enemy territory with 9...Ng4. But after 10.h3 Nh6 white has the nice move 11.Bd3 with the following 12.Be4. By placing the bishop on the h1-a8 diagonale white manages to keep an important positional advantage.

10. e6!?

Very surprising choice by Karpov. 10.e6 is of course no novelty, it has been played many times before. It is also a very logical move: white tries to disturb black's king's side structure and takes advantage of black's lack of development on the queen's side. So why do I consider it a surprise? Because it is not the kind of move you would expect Karpov to make. Leading to sharp play, 10.e6 is hardly a move that promises the quiet game with a slight advantage that the FIDE world champion is so good at. I am not trying to imply that Karpov is not good at tactics, on the contrary he could beat many of the world's best players at combinations too. But, it is still clear that like any other player Karpov has strenghts and weaknesses. Well, there is no doubt that Karpov's strength lies in his outstanding positional play, so why get into these complications, that can only favor Kamsky and his young age, especially when Karpov is ahead in the score?

The more popular alternative in this position is 10.Be3, developing the bishop and controlling the c5 square. A game between GM Bareev and GM Leko played last year in Wijk aan Zee continued with 10...Nb6 11.a4 Be6 12.Qd1 c6 13.Bd3 f6 14.0-0 N8d7 15.Be4 Nd5 16.ab5 ab5 17.Nd5 and white achieved small advantage, which I am sure Karpov would have enjoyed. Of course, black has some improvements over this game, which Karpov might have wanted to avoid, but 10.e6 still remains a surprising choice in my opinion.

10. ...   fe6


11. Qe6   Kh8


12. Qe4

The most tempting move would have been of course 12.Ng5 with the threat 13.Nf7+. Unfortunately, white's queen is not in a great position to pose threats, since she is on the diagonale of the black bishop. Black can take advantage of that and play 13...Ne5!. After 14.Qd5 Qd5 15.Nd5 Nec6 white can capture the c7 pawn with 16.Nc7 but after 16...Ra7 17.Nce6 black has the nice move 17...Nd4, winning back the pawn in a better position.

12.Qe4 removes the queen from the dangerous diagonale, attacks the rook on a8, and prepares her deployment on the safer h4 square.

12. ...   Nb6


13. Qh4

So the queen has a nice attacking position now. But please stop for a moment and count how many moves this queen has made so far: 6 moves out of 13 total! This should be a little too much even for Karpov...

 


13. ...   Nc6


14. Bd3!?

This is the much awaited novelty. When I first saw the game, I thought that was the reason why Karpov had played 10.e6: because he had prepared this novelty. A little later when I saw the thinking times, however, I observed that Karpov spent much more time than his opponent in the opening, which is hardly an indication of a home preparation... I guess we'll never know exactly what happened unless Karpov tells us.

The other move played before was 14.Bh6. In a recent game played by veteran David Bronstein against Malcolm Pein in Great Britain, black continued 14...e5 and after 15.Qd8 Rd8 16.Bg7 Kg7 18.0-0-0 Bb7 19.f3 c5 the two players agreed on a draw. Did Karpov know this game and he tried to get more? Very possible...

14. ...   Rf3!

Great move by Kamsky, which Karpov might have underestimated. White is behind a lot in development, and the king hasn't even castled yet. By sacrificing an exchange, Kamsky gets rid of the white knight who is a great defender and attacker at the same time. The moment the knight is gone, black will be able to capture the d4 pawn and develop the rest of his pieces on very good squares, achieving more than enough compensation for the exchange.

At first glance, 14...Rf3 looks like a terrible mistake because of 15.Bg6 threatening mate. But black has the nice variation 15...Qg8 16.gf3 Bf6! and he also wins the white bishop, getting a very good position.

15. gf3   Nd4


16. Be4   Bf5!

Please don't think that Kamsky hates his rooks. On the contrary I am sure he likes them very much, but in this game he just doesn't get the chance to show it... Kamsky is sacrificing a second exchange by playing the very good move 16...Bf5, based on the idea that after 17.Ba8 Qa8 all his threats including Nc2, Nf3, Qf3 and others will be very hard to defend for white.

17. Be3

Karpov is once again becoming annoyed by the central black knight, so he tries to get it out of there. He also prepares a possible 0-0-0, since castling on the king side seems a little awkward after the sacrifice on f3.

17. ...   c5!

Kamsky wants to make sure that castling on the queen's side is also awkward, so he starts the attack even before Karpov castles. Black also defends the knight on d4, so that if Karpov takes it, a just as annoying pawn replaces it. At this point it certainly looks like Kamsky's play has paid off: his pieces have the best possible positions, his pawn structure is much superior, and white's king can't even decide where to go to... Of course, he is down material, but an exchange can be often compensated by an increased activity such as in this case. In any case, I don't think Karpov was enjoying his position so much...

18. Bd4!?

Fed up with the knight on d4 and all its threats, Karpov decides to take it. This leaves black with a very strong dark squared bishop on g7, and a strong pawn on d4, so it's not such a bad deal for black after all...

18. ...   cd4


19. Rd1!

White gives up the idea of queen's side castling, but still plays Rd1 pinning the black pawn. It is a good way of holding on to the knight on c3, so that maybe black will let it jump to e4 or d5 in the near future.

19. ...   Rc8

Kamsky finally decides to give his rook a break and places it on a nice open diagonale, far from the white bishop on e4.

20. Rg1!?

It seems like Karpov has abandoned the idea of castling alltogether, so he is trying to make the best out of his rooks. By gaining control of the g file, white starts threatening different combinations such as Rg6 based on the pin of the h7 pawn. On the other hand, an interesting alternative would have been taking first on f5 and playing then Rg1, thus getting control of an open file and making the black bishop on g7 a little uncomfortable.

It seems to me though like Karpov already dislikes his position and would be pleased with a draw. 20.Rg1 allows black to draw with the Bg7-f6-f7 repetition, and Karpov might have done it on purpose. After all, this position doesn't seem better for white, who also had less time left than his opponent, so a draw is not that bad.

20. ...   Bf6


21. Qh6   Bg7


22. Qh4

White can not really try anything here. For instance 22.Qf4 runs into 22...e5 followed by 23...Nc4 which gives black a great attacking position. Far too risky...

22. ...   Bf6

So why doesn't Kamsky do something? Well it is not so easy... The position is very unclear and even though my personal opinion is that black has the initiative after a move such as 22...Nc4, it would take long hours of analysis to establish whether black is actually much better. At the same time, please take the psychological factors into consideration: Kamsky is an exchange down and he knows that Karpov will put up a tough defense, and that if he is not careful he could end up in a worse endgame. He is also a point behind in the match, and another defeat would be a real tragedy. On the other hand, a draw with the black pieces is not so bad. It would give him more time to rest and to prepare for the sixth game where he once again will have the white pieces. These thoughts and many more must have gone thorough Gata's head before he eventually played 22...Bf6 and after

23. Qh6   Bg7

While I, like everybody else, was disappointed that the two players didn't continue the fight in this fascinating position, please understand the fatigue and stress under which such a match is being played. After five games both players are looking for a break, Karpov because he's a point ahead and doesn't want to risk the lead in such an unclear position, Kamsky because he hopes in a victory with the white pieces on Sunday.

It is still my opinion that Karpov should have avoided this variation. Every time the game became combinative in this match, Kamsky did reasonably well. The games Karpov managed to win were clear positional masterpieces, so that's what he should concentrate on! But I am still glad the excitement of the match continues to grow and I can't wait to see what Kamsky prepares against Karpov's solid Caro Kann for the next game. And there is only one way to find out: join us on Sunday morning for the live coverage of the sixth game!

GM Schwartzman has been playing chess since he was two years old, and started playing tournaments at the age of four. He received his first international invitation by the time he was eight. Since then Gabriel has been invited to events in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Israel, Canada, as well as the USA.

In 1988 he became vice-world champion of the Under 12 years section, and in 1990 he won the bronze medal at the Youth World championship in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Currently 19 years old, Gabriel is the top ranked junior (under the age of 21) player in the United States.

GM Schwartzman is multi-talented, speaking Romanian, English, German and French very well. He also gets by in Russian and Spanish. Gabriel is also an accomplished Internet publisher - his Internet Chess Academy can be found at http://www.yourmove.com

You can send email to Gabriel at [email protected].