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When this book appeared a few years ago, it was dismissed offhand as a
pointless exercise by Jonathan Rowson, reviewer for New in Chess
Magazine. In true mandarin style this critic declared that the author*
was not qualified for the job. So who should write a book on
Kasparov’s games?
Ideally Kasparov’s greatest
games should be analysed by the man himself, and I hope we can look
forward to that happening in due course…
 Rowson
and men of his persuasion would have us believe that soon Kasparov would be
writing a book of his best games. They should spare a thought for
Garry. He is still involved in a fierce political battle against the
present rulers of Russia.
As of now, he has only come up
with a new account of his first two matches with Karpov: Garry Kasparov
on Modern Chess, Part 2: Kasparov vs Karpov, 1975-1985. But that is about all.
There is no prospect of seeing a book by Garry on his entire career in the
immediate future.
If not Garry, who else?
Rowson decreed,
Until then, the role of
guiding us through his greatest games should go to somebody who has known
him throughout his life, played against him frequently, or analysed with
him extensively (ideally all three).
Now the only person who has
known Garry all his life is his mother, Klara Kasparova. Should she be
writing this book?
And who are the players who have played against Garry
frequently? Karpov, Kramnik and Shirov. Should they be
writing the book? After all, they have known him better than anybody
else over the board.
Surely, there is a limit to such absurd arguments.
On a more serious plane Rowson argues that
this book does not mention, let alone focus on Kasparov’s seminal idea that
chess is a game of three dimensions: material, quality and time.
Well, should it? Every critic should
make a distinction between Kasparov’s theorizing on the game and his
concrete ideas & plans specific to the situation on the board. The
former, for all its philosophical claims, is not worth much. The
latter is what matters.
Rowson’s argument is further developed by another reviewer:
And while the dust jacket says: “The emphasis is on
explaining the thought processes behind Kasparov’s decisions, and the
principles and concepts embodied by his moves.”
I didn’t find this to be
the case at all. (It seems like this sort of dribble is standard
fare on the back of many chess books, regardless of whether or not it
happens to be true.)
If, for example, these critics had taken
the trouble of going through the World Championship games with Karpov in the
book, they would have found detailed examination of Kasparov’s thought
process and decision making.
What Rowson and other critics have
overlooked is something else. It takes two to play a game of chess.
While the winner trumpets his victory, the loser suffers in silence.
It is only when the latter breaks his silence that we are a little closer to
truth. Karpov wrote extensively on his matches with Kasparov in his
opening books** published by Batsford.
I have a gut feeling that the author of
this work had no access to these books. If he had, he would have
quoted Karpov on what he had seen and overlooked. This is the missing
element in the book. It’s true, the author makes up for it by
examining every move and idea that would have worked for Karpov. But
it is not the same as knowing Karpov’s own ideas firsthand.
This brings me to the main issue.
Should we have players alone commenting on their games? As is
well-known, they are too emotionally involved and affected by their success
or failure to offer an objective assessment. In any case they are not
gifted with omniscience. For this reason it is desirable to have
independent annotators along with the players to comment on the games.
To return to the book, there is also the
complaint that the annotations are dull and bland. Admittedly, no
author can match the passionate writing of Kasparov. But this does not
mean that the annotations here are dry and devoid of feeling.
From my own experience I can say that
there is no lack of excitement in the commentary on the games in this book.
Yes, there is also a lot of dispassionate analysis. There is nothing
wrong in that. Chess is a struggle of two opposing wills, but the
outcome will have to be judged in the light of reason. Grandmaster
Stohl is more than equal to the task.
Now let us see the contents of the book.
Here are the author’s words from the Preface:
In 1986 I was covering the World
Championship rematch between Kasparov and Karpov for one of the few Slovak
national dailies, Praca. On that September evening I recall I was
together with my friend Ivan Novak in the editorial office, waiting for
the moves of game 16 to come by telex. (This was long before the
days of Internet and on-line communications.)
The moves were coming in batches and as
the deadline was nearing, we both tried to analyse the proceedings on a
chess board, as well as write a coherent article at the same time.
As the tension grew, this proved to be absolutely impossible and the
violent denouement took us completely by surprise. (The readers can
follow the full and exciting story in Game 35.)
While hastily revising our former notes
and impressions about White’s imminent demise, I didn’t have any time for
more general thoughts. However, on the way home I felt distinctly:
this guy will change the world as we know it…
In the same Preface the author also
explains the raison d'ętre of this book.
Kasparov chronicled his career up to the moment when he became Karpov’s
challenger(1984) in The Test of Time; subsequently he
wrote about how he gained and defended the world title in 1985/6. The
Russian edition of the latter book was called Two Matches.***
After that, no comprehensive collection of his games has been published.
In this sense this book is a logical undertaking, long overdue.
He also
narrates how he went about his task:
Writing about
one of the very few chess players (and perhaps the only one!) who is a
world-wide household name is certainly not easy. The wealth of the
accessible material is enormous. I went through not only literally
thousands of games, but also Kasparov’s interviews touching upon chess
subjects, as well as what others wrote about him. This has enabled
me to get a fuller picture of a fascinating personality and to see many
annotated games in a broader context…
The notes
draw from various sources, which are included in the Bibliography.
In the text I tried to give credit to all the annotators who came up with
interesting ideas, not only to Kasparov himself. I also tried to
weed out mistakes, which inevitably occurred especially in pre-computer
notes to games with a rich tactical content.
The Preface is
followed by an Introduction to the games. This is a fine essay that
delineates Kasparov’s creative development as a player. The book has
74 richly annotated games from his formative years to his World Championship
Match with Nigel Short (1976-1993).
 The
following game was played in extraordinary circumstances. Kasparov had
prepared his own line against the Botvinnik System
of the Semi-Slav Defence
and beaten one opponent after another in the 1981
USSR Championship.
Two years later he was playing in the USSR Chess
Olympiad in Moscow. His opponent was none other than Tal! (Read
Chessville review of
Mikhail Tal 8th World Champion (CD).
Here is
a recording of the same blitz game mentioned in that review-Ed.)
The former World Champion chose to play the very
variation in which other opponents of Kasparov had lost:
Kasparov - Tal
USSR Chess Olympiad 1983
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 dxc4
       
  
 
    
In
their previous encounter in the Moscow Interzonal in 1982 Tal opted
for 5...h6. The game continued 6.Bh4!? dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5
9.Be2
and was drawn in 24 moves after a tense battle.
6.e4
b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5 Nbd7 11.exf6 Bb7 12.g3 c5
13.d5 Qb6
Not
13...Nxf6?! 14.Bg2 Be7 15.0–0±
14.Bg2 0–0–0 15.0–0 b4 16.Na4
16.Rb1!? Qa6 17.dxe6 Bxg2 18.e7 is the critical test and Black is
still fighting for equality.
16...Qb5 17.a3
Not
17.dxe6 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Qc6+ 19.f3 Qxe6. Black will have excellent piece
play for the pawn.
17...Nb8?!
This
move which was the main continuation in those days has been
practically refuted since. In stead Black should play 17...exd5
18.axb4 cxb4 or even 18...d4!? with an unclear position.
18.axb4 cxb4 19.Be3?!
Subsequently two stronger continuations were found:
19.Qg4 Bxd5 20.Rfc1 Nc6 21.Bxd5 Rxd5 22.Rxc4.
Even more energetic is 19.Qd4!? Nc6 20.dxc6! Rxd4 21.cxb7+ Kc7 22.Be3
e5 23.Nc3.
It is on account of these variations that 17...Nb8?! has gone into
oblivion.
19...Bxd5 20.Bxd5 Rxd5 21.Qe2 Nc6 22.Rfc1 Ne5!
Now the
hunter becomes the hunted. And the hunter in this case is
especially dangerous - The Wizard of Riga - Tal. In the USSR
Championship Kasparov's opponents, Timoschenko and Dorfman had played
22...Na5? and lost.
23.b3!?
Not
23.Bxa7?! Kb7! 24.Be3 (24.Nb6 c3! 25.Qxb5 Rxb5 26.bxc3 Nc6–+)
24...Rd3! 25.f4 (25.Nb6 Rxe3! 26.Qxe3 Bc5–+) 25...Rxh2! 26.Kxh2
Rxe3! 27.Qd1 Re1! 28.Qh5 Qd5–+.
23.f4
is not satisfactory either. After 23...Nd3 24.Rxc4+ Qxc4 25.Rc1
Qxc1+ 26.Bxc1 Nxc1 27.Qc4+ Kb7 28.Qxc1 Bd6, Black's pieces are ideally
coordinated and it's White who must be careful.
23...c3 24.Nxc3 bxc3 25.Rxc3+ Kb8
If
25...Kb7? 26.Qc2! Bd6 (Black does not get perpetual check after
26...Nf3+? 27.Kg2) 27.Rc7+!
Or 25...Kd8?! 26.Rxa7! Qxe2?? 27.Bb6+
Ke8 28.Rc8+ Rd8 29.Rxd8#
26.Qc2
Not
26.Bxa7+?! Kb7 27.Qxb5+ (27.Qe4 Qb4! 28.Qc2 Bd6 29.Ra4? Nf3+!!
30.Rxf3 Qe1+ 31.Kg2 Rxh2+ 32.Kxh2 Rh5+–+) 27...Rxb5 28.Be3 Bd6
with an edge for Black.
26...Bd6
The
tempting 26...Nf3+? fails to 27.Kg2 Rxh2+ 28.Kxf3 Rf5+ 29.Kg4+-
As
Kasparov points out, the position of the king on b8 deprives Black of
the spectacular move...Rf4+.
27.Bxa7+
If
27.Rxa7?? Nf3+ 28.Kg2 Ne1+–+
27...Kb7 28.b4!
The
humble pawn spearheads the attack.
Nothing
should interfere with the defence of f3 by the White rook.
If
28.Be3? Nf3+ 29.Kg2 Rxh2+! 30.Kxf3 Rf5+ 31.Bf4 (31.Kg4?? Rf4+!)
31...Rxf4+! 32.gxf4 Qh5+
28...Nc6?!
A solid
and natural move: Black attacks the bishop and prevents Ra5.
He
could have tried the more ambitious 28...Rd3!? 29.Rxd3 Qxd3 (After
29...Nxd3?! 30.Bc5!? White has sufficient counterplay against
the exposed Black King.) 30.Qxd3 Nxd3 31.Rd1 Kxa7 32.Rxd3 Rd8
Black still retains some winning chances, as White can't support his
advanced f6-pawn yet. 33.g4?? Bxh2+–+
29.Be3 Be5
Tal
decides to force matters, although now White will be the one to decide
if he wants to fight for more than a draw.
Therefore, 29...Rc8 seems safer. 30.Qh7! (Kasparov's idea
30.Rb1 fails to 30...Rc7 31.Rc5 Qd3 32.b5 Ne5 33.Rxc7+ Bxc7
34.Qa2?! Ba5!) 30...Be5 (30...Nd8? 31.Rca3) 31.Qxf7+
(31.Rxc6? Qxc6 32.Qxf7+ Rc7 33.Ra7+ Kb8–+) 31...Rc7 32.Qe8 Rd8
33.Qh5 Rd5 34.Qe8= with a repetition.(34.f7? Bxc3 35.f8Q Bxa1–+)
30.Rxc6 Bxa1 31.Rc7+ Kb8
32.Ba7+
Weak is
32.Rxf7? Rd7–+ and after the exchange of rooks White's attack is over.
32...Ka8 33.Be3
White
repeats moves to win time on the clock, as Black's reply is forced.
33...Kb8 34.Ba7+ Ka8 35.Bc5 Kb8
35...Bb2? 36.Ra7+ Kb8 37.Bd4!+-
36.Rxf7!
36...Be5!
The
position is a minefield:
If
36...Rd7? 37.Bd6+! Kb7 38.Qe4+ Ka6 39.Qxe6 Rxf7 40.Bc5+ Kb7 41.Qxf7++-
Or
36...Bc3? 37.h4! Rd3 38.Re7 Rhd8 39.f7 Rd1+ 40.Kh2 Qf1 41.Ba7+ Ka8
42.Qe4++-
37.Ba7+
Other
winning attempts are also insufficient due to White's vulnerable king:
37.f4?
Rhd8 38.Ba7+ Ka8 39.Bf2 Rd1+ 40.Kg2 Qf1+! (40...Qd5+?! 41.Kh3 Bd4
42.Bxd4 Qh5+=) 41.Kf3 Kb8! 42.fxe5 Rc1–+
Or 37.Re7
Rhd8! 38.f7 Rd1+ 39.Kg2 Qc6+! (39...Qf1+? 40.Kf3 Qh1+ 41.Kg4+-
Black has no defence against Re8.) 40.Kh3 Qf3 41.Qh7 Bxg3!
42.fxg3 R1d5 43.Rb7+! Kc8 44.Rc7+=
37...Ka8 38.Be3 Rd7!
Tal
remains alert.
38...Kb8? 39.Re7 Rhd8 40.f7 Rd1+ 41.Kg2 Qd5+ 42.f3! Rd3 43.Re8 Bg7
44.Qc5 Qxc5 45.Bxc5+-
39.Qa2+
39.Qe4+? Qb7 costs White the f6-pawn.
39...Kb8 40.Ba7+
40.Qxe6?! Rd1+ 41.Kg2 Rd6! (Hot pursuit of White King with
41...Qf1+? fails to 42.Kf3 Qh1+ 43.Kg4 Qe4+ 44.Bf4! Qg6+
45.Kf3+-) again picks up White’s most advanced pawn and can only be
good for Black.
40...Kc8
40...Kb7? 41.Qxe6 the f6-pawn remains alive and spells trouble.
41.Qxe6 Qd5 42.Qa6+
Kasparov has had enough excitement and goes for repetition.
42.Qxd5?! Rxd5 43.f4 (43.Bc5 Rh6 44.Rf8+ Kd7 45.f7 Ke6–+)
43...Bd6. White can't connect his pawns and only Black can
harbour ambitions.
42...Qb7 43.Qc4+ Qc7
The
last accurate move forces 44.Qa6+ with a draw, as 44.Qe6? Bxg3! is
advantageous for Black.
˝–˝
A magnificent duel and one of the greatest
games ever played.
Highly recommended
*GM Igor Stohl is a widely acclaimed
author. His book Instructive Chess Masterpieces won the USCF
Cramer Award for Best Book.
**It was translated into English and
published in two volumes. They are now out of print.-NSH
***Opening in Action series, Winning
with Spanish and Beating the Grünfeld
From the Publisher's
website:
-
Igor Stohl is a well-known grandmaster from Slovakia. He
plays in several national leagues and is a noted opening theoretician. His
thorough annotations frequently appear in Ceskoslovensky Sach, Informator
and ChessBase Magazine. His previous book for Gambit, Instructive
Modern Chess Masterpieces, won the United States Chess Federation Cramer
Award for Best Book. See also Garry Kasparov's Greatest Chess Games,
volume 2.
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Download a PDF file with a sample from the book.
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