White: Gata Kamsky        0


Black: Anatoly Karpov     1





Played 16 June 96 in Elista, Kalmykia

1. e4   e5!

Please don't interpret the exclamation mark after 1...e5 as a sign that I like this move more than the Caro Kann. No, I consider 1...e5 in this game a great move solely for psychological reasons: Karpov's success with the Caro Kann in the fourth game was a clear indication that he might repeat it in the sixth, so I am sure that Kamsky prepared all day for 1...c6, trying to find an improvement over his previous performance, or at least choosing an different variation. By starting with 1...e5, Karpov has the advantage of taking Kamsky off his fresh prepared lines, and bringing him into more neutral territory. Further, this will make Kamsky's preparation for the following games a little harder, since he will have to be ready for both the Caro, and 1...e5.

2. Nf3   Nf6

2...Nf6 shows Karpov's intention to enter another one of his favorite openings: the Petroff, also called the Russian defense. Known to be a "drawing" defense, Karpov has often employed it in his matches against Kasparov. Black's idea is to show from the beginning that not having the first move, doesn't mean he should necessarily be defending. By playing Nf6, black is attacking the white e4 pawn instead of defending his own pawn on e5. White has the choice of defending his pawn with 3.Nc3, which usually leads to the Four Knights, or staying in the Petroff, where he can take on e5 or play 3.d4.

3. d4

And Kamsky chooses the latter. 3.d4 is the very popular Steinitz system, who many of the world's top players, including Kasparov, Anand, Timman and others often employ against the Petroff. Resembling the ideas of the Scottish, 3.d4 wants to gain immediate control of the center. Against 3...ed4 white is ready to push the e pawn to e5, starting to incommodate the knight on f6 and make it feel sorry to be there. Nonetheless, 3...ed4 is a popular move for black, but not Karpov's choice in this game...

3. ...   Ne4

Karpov chooses the other interesting alternative, 3...Ne4. A very popular variation lately, it has been subject to many interesting novelties, partly because of the intriguing positions that often result after this move.

4. Bd3   d5


5. Ne5   Nd7

Black doesn't like the white knight too much, so he is trying to get rid of it. Another often played move is 5...Bd6, with similar, but not as radical ideas. It seems Karpov is not too fond of symmetry right now, so he prefers to break it by playing Nd7.

6. Nd7   Bd7


7. 0-0   Bd6

All the moves played up to now have been played many times before. 7...Bd6, however, is not the main variation in this position. Black usually continues with the interesting 7...Qh4 followed by queen side castling and a quick offensive on the white king. The resulting positions are often very unclear, but several recent novelties have given white an edge. Karpov thus prefers to avoid them, entering the more passive positions after Bd6.

8. Nc3!?

Kamsky also chooses a more discrete move, as opposed to the popular 8.c4 which after 8...c6 9.cd5 cd5 10.Qh5 0-0 11.Qd5 Bc6 gives place to a very complicated position where black tries to obtain compensation for the pawn through his active bishop play.

You have probably noticed that in most of the games played until now, Kamsky and Karpov have avoided main variations, or those lines with plenty of games in chess magazines and books. While this might seem a little strange to the average player, who learns by heart the main variation in every opening and then plays it in tournaments, please understand that players such as Karpov and Kamsky often prefer to take one of these rare moves and spend long hours analyzing them. In this way they hope to reach positions that only they are familiar with, and their opponents have to think at the board instead of relying on games played by others. Of course this strategy also has its disadvantages, since these rare moves sometimes prove to be not as good as the main variations.

Since Kamsky knew the Petroff as one of Karpov's pet openings, I am sure he specifically prepared 8.Nc3 in the months before the match. Faced with this move, Karpov will have to decide whether to relpy according to what's been played before, or find something new. The fear of your opponent having prepared some special novelty is always an unpleasant feeling, but Karpov is used to it after so many matches...

The idea behind 8.Nc3 is to get the black knight out of the center and to get doubled pawns on the c file. Why would anyone want to get double pawns on purpose? Well, Kamsky hopes to achieve active play on the open b file, and then use the c3 pawn to attack black's central pawn on d5. The more attractive 8.Re1 is not good in this position and at this stage of the match, because it allows black to draw immediately with 8...Bh2 9.Kh2 Qh4 10.Kg1 Qf2 11.Kh1 Qh4, etc.

8. ...   Qh4!?

In two other games played last year in Europe, black chose the more conservative 8...Nc3 9.bc3 0-0, but after 10.Qh5 f5 11.Rb1 b6 12.c4 black's position is worse, and Karpov was apparently not satisfied, so he went for the more active 8...Qh4. This move has a double idea: it tries to weaken white's king side, and at the same time prevents the white queen from doing the similar maneuver Qd1-h5.

9. g3    Nc3

Black has to play this, if he wants to avoid losing a pawn. Even after 9...Qe7, white can still play 10.Ne4 de4 11.Be4, since black can't capture back with 11...Qe4 because of 12.Re1 winning the white queen. 9...Nc3 leaves the black queen en prise, but it attacks the white queen instead. In such situations it is of course important to make sure that the white queen can't just leave somewhere with tempo and than take black's queen, but in this case 10.Qe1+ is met by 10...Qe7, so black has nothing to worry about.

A good looking alternative here is the double piece sacrifice with 9...Ng3, but white is completely winning after 10.hg3 Bg3 11.Qe2+! Be6 12.fg3 Qg3 13.Qg2.

10. bc3   Qg4

Karpov is happy to trade queens, since his pawn structure is superior, and he would get rid of white's main attacking piece. He is also okay if Kamsky plays 11.f3, because then the white king would be sufficiently weak to make it a great target.

11. Re1   Kd8!

Of course, the better looking 11...Be6 is a huge blunder here, because then no one would be able to capture the queen back after 12.Qg4. 11...Be7 is also risky because of the dangerous pin on the e file.

In a game between Magem Badals and Illescas played earlier this year in Spain, black preferred to hide his king on f8. After 12.Be2 Qf5 13.c4 dc4 14.Bc4 white had the advantage, and black's rook spent a long time closed on h8. The square d8 seems at first glance much more dangerous for the black king, but it seems like Karpov's assessment of the position was very thorough, and revealed no concrete way for white to take advantage of his king's placement.

12. Be2   Qf5


13. Rb1   b6


14. c4

Kamsky followed the ideas of this line perfectly: first he avoided trading queens, then he took control of the b file and forced black to slightly weaken his queen side structure, and now he tries to get rid of his doubled pawns by opening the center, which is always a good idea if the opponent's king hasn't castled yet.

14. ...   dc4


15. Bc4   Re8

Karpov is still trying to trade pieces, since this is the fastest path to equality. In the endgame a king in the center can be an advantage, while now it certainly isn't. If white takes the rook, the king can take back and then move to the safer environment of f8, making place for the second rook on e8.

16. Be3   Bc6!

Why do I give an exclamation mark to such an obvious move? After all, the h1-a8 diagonale is clearly a great place for the bishop, and it doesn't take a GM to see that. Well, that's true, but just as obvious is that white will play 17.d5 closing the diagonale with tempo and chasing the bishop away. But that's exactly what Karpov wants! By making the pawn on d4 advance, he closes the diagonale of the bishop on c4, and also makes the central pawn duo a little less dangerous by getting a better grip on the c5 square.

17. d5   Bd7


18. Bf1

Kamsky has to find a new square for his light squared bishop and he chooses f1 in order to give his king a better defense and also to allow the c pawn to advance to c4 and then hopefully c5.

18. ...   h6!

Another typical Karpov move! While h7-h6 is usually played either as a waiting move or just to create an opening for the king, Karpov has very different reasons. He wants to make sure that the white bishop will not be able to gain control of the h4-d8 diagonale. You will understand better why this is so important as soon as you see what Karpov's plan is.

19. c4   Re7!

And here it is! I am pretty sure that Karpov envisioned this plan before he even played Kd8. His primary concern is still the safety of his king and getting the rook on a8 into play. He first tried to do that by trading pieces, but since Kamsky didn't seem too fond of the idea, Karpov switches to a B-plan. By pushing his rook to e7 he creates a wall of pieces that will protect the return of the king to the ideal king's side position. Then he will be able to bring his second rook to e8 and have doubled rooks on the e file. While this entire process is still much slower than castling, in this situation it's very effective.

20. Bd3?!   Qf6


21. Kg2

Kamsky decided that the bishop on f1 was too passive, so he moved it to the more active b1-d3 diagonale. This of course leaves the weak light squares around the king undefended, so he tries to use the king to defend them, and to stop moves such as Bh3. Unfortunately, letting the king defend himself is not the best possible defense...

21. ...   Ke8


22. Bc2

Kamsky is preparing a big welcome party for the black king. The idea of Bc2 is to leave the d3 square for the white queen, so that when the black king finally gets to the king side, the white queen will be waiting on h7. Black can not simply push g6 to stop the white queen, because then the pawn on h6 would remain undefended. But Karpov finds another way of doing the job...

22. ...   Qc3!

Amazing move! Karpov sends his queen alone on a mission to stop the white queen from getting to d3 and to attack the just weakened pawn on c4. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Kamsky underestimated this move - it is just the kind of move that you tend not to look at seriously once you become a GM. It is the kind of subtle move that at first glance looks awful, but when analyzed in depth reveals all its beauty. And very few players understand the positions as deep as Karpov usually does.

23. Bb3

Grave error in judgement and attitude. Kamsky should have understood that black has equalized the position and that he should finally trade the queens and enter a drawish endgame. Unfortunately, chess players always find it hard to admit they have made a mistake and remedy it. They often try to prove that a certain plan can still work, even when something unexpected happens. By playing Bb3, Kamsky hopes to chase the black queen and then go back to his original plan. But a short calculation should have showed him that these tempo losses will not go unpunished.

23. ...   Kf8

I think the black king was very relieved after this move. After trembling in the center for so many moves, he can finally feel the warmth provided by the pawns in front of him. The rook on a8 is probably pretty excited too. It looks like very soon he'll be able to go to e8 and start seeing a little more than the back of the a7 pawn.

24. Rc1   Qf6


25. Bc2   Rae8


26. Qd3   Bg4

It seems that Kamsky had a fixation on the Qd3 plan. After all, the simple Qd3 doesn't checkmate or win a queen, and while white lost so many tempos making it possible, black developed all his pieces on fabulous squares and began to threaten the white king. Now that the queen finally got to d3, Kamsky realizes how little she can do. For instance, if white tries to play now 27.Qh7, black can reply with 27...g5, and the black king is very safe thanks to queen on f6. The white queen, meanwhile, is almost trapped. If 28. Bd1 for example, trying to get control of the f3 square, 28...Bf5 does the job. And getting out of there is not so easy either, as 28.Qd3 runs into 28...Qf3 29.Kh1 Bh3 with a winning position.

Without even noticing, Kamsky has worsened his position considerably. The black rooks are now in control of the e file pinning the bishop on e3, threats like Qf3 followed by Bh3 make the king shiver, and the white pawn structure is clearly worse, if it ever gets to an endgame. Now Kamsky would give anything to trade the queens, but he can't... Nevertheless, Kamsky should have understood the gravity of the situation and tried to regain control of the light squares on the king side. Instead, he played

27. Bd2?

A grave blunder: Kamsky not only removes the last defender of the king, but this also allows the black rooks to directly enter the attack by infiltrating the 2nd rank. It is very hard to explain how a player of Kamsky's level can make such a mistake, but it must be reassuring for weaker players to see that even super GM's make blunders without being in time trouble. It seems like Kamsky left his sense of danger at home this afternoon... Letting black play Re2 is the worst thing that can happen to white's position, and the only way to explain Kamsky's move is that he might have overlooked 27...Re2.

27. ...   Re2

And of course, Karpov doesn't need a special invitation to take advantage of this unique opportunity. Now white is defenseless. Against 28.Be3 black has 28...Qf3 29.Kg1 Bh3, and 28.Rf1 runs into 28...Rd2 29.Qd2 Qf3 30.Kg1 Bh3. How much Kamsky wishes his light squared bishop would be closer to the king right now...

28. Re2   Re2


29. Rf1

If white tries 29.Bf4, black has 29...Bf4 30.gf4 Qf4 31.Rf1 Rc2 32.Qc2 Qf3 33.Kg1 Bh3. 29.Be1 doesn't help much either, because of 29...Bc5 followed by 30...Bf2. Another typical example how a move made by Karpov almost 15 moves ago, when he forced white to play d5, turns out to be so important now... White's last attempt is to play 29.Rf1 hoping that black won't see the easy combination that follows. But as I said before, even though Karpov is probably not as good a tactician as Kasparov, he still knows enough tactics to beat any player out there. So, of course he played

29. ...   Rd2

And Kamsky had no other choice than to resign, since 30.Qd2 is followed by 30...Qf3 31.Kg1 Bh3 and after the only 32.Be4 black wins easily with 32...Qe4 33.f3 Qf5 34.g4 Qf6.

I admit being very surprised by Kamsky's poor play in this game. His ambition to win made him lose this game that he could have easily drawn, if not more. After losing this game with the white pieces, he finds himself in a very difficult situation. Karpov now leads 4-2 and every draw brings him closer to the 10.5 points he needs. Nonetheless, I know Kamsky to be a soldier who after every defeat comes back and fights like nothing happened before. Which is why I expect him to continue to resist, and don't be surprised if he'll have a comeback. The seventh game is scheduled to begin Tuesday, 8 AM Eastern time, and you can follow it as usual live together with GM Bisguier's commentaries on this site.

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].