The draw in Game Three might have indicated a recovery of equilibrium by Korchnoi. The players followed the opening of the game 1. Karpov varying first and the game was draw in 41.
Game 4
Game 4
Petroff Defense
Korchnoi equalized with Black and then adopted an extremely risky plan which left his Kingside riddled with weaknesses. The position might still have been defensible, but time pressure again ruined any chances he had. Karpov took only 12 moves and 20 minutes of the second session to finish him off.
Karpov 3 – Korchnoi 0
In seeking to explain this unexpected debacle, observers have pointed to a number of factors. Korchnoi spots Karpov 20 years, but is in excellent physical shape for a man of fifty. He did not follow the usual regimen of training for several months before the match, but instead played in a number of tournaments this year, the last one ending about five weeks before the match started (details inside.) Korchnoi’s complex psychological state as a Soviet emigre has also been oft-mentioned (recalling the accusations of Soviet parapsychology which marked the 1978 match between these players.) Finally, there is the matter of in Korchnoi’s wife and son , who were never allowed to leave the Soviet Union following Korchnoi’s 1976 defection. Highly-placed sources in FIDE (International Chess Federation) had indicated that the Soviets agreed to allow their emigration before the start of the match, but nothing happened. lndeed, just before the start of the first game Korchnoi received work from his wife that their son had been beaten in the prison camp.
After a brief rally by challenger Victor Korchnoi, champion Anatoly Karpov again appears to be firmly in control.
Game 5
Game 5
Queen Gambit Declined
Korchnoi finally developed an initiative with the White pieces in Game Five. By adjournment the players had reached a “dead draw” Rook ending in which Korchnoi’s extra pawn was mean¬ingless, but the challenger played on for many moves before agreeing to the draw after 68 moves.
American Y. Seirawan:“It is the best position Viktor had in any game so far and he just wanted the feeling of playing under favourable conditions. He, of course, know he could not win”
Game 6
Game 6
Ruy Lopez
Korchnoi finally scored a breakthrough, getting an aggressive posi¬tion with the opening, sacrificing a pawn for a strong initiative, and finally cashing in with a mating attack after a time scramble. Karpov, apparently trying to exploit the challenger’s time shortage, failed to take advantage of Korchnoi’s one error; the champion could have had the better position after the 40th move but instead was forced to resign without resuming the adjourned position.
Game 7
Game 7
Queen Gambit Declined
With Korchnoi playing White in the Seventh Game, the players continued their “discussion” of the Tartakover Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined. Korchnoi was again unable to do anything with his slight initiative, and a relatively early draw (move 31) resulted.
Game 8
Game 8
Italian game
Karpov then took a postponement on the Eighth Game (as Korchnoi had done after the Fourth Game). When it was played the challenger again indicated his willingness to defend the Ruy Lopez, but this time Karpov varied first, with the 3 Bc4, and the players went into the Giuoco Piano, an opening not seen in the World Championship for quite some years! Korchnoi’s recent experience with Black against British GM John Nunn has habituated him to playing such positions, and he easily equalized. But instead of staying in a middle game which offered him some chances for Kingside attack, he chose to trade Queens and play an ending which appeared quite drawn to many onlookers. Karpov in his best style squeezed some winning chances out of the position, and Korchnoi had to defend carefully for many moves (including another difficult bout with time pressure) before the draw became clear.
Game 9
Game 9
Queen Gambit Declined
The talk of Korchnoi’s upper hand ended suddenly with Game Nine. Karpov employed an old idea (declining the Queen’s Gambit, then capturing on c4 and going into a type of Gambit Accepted) in an apparently new position, with …h6 and Bh4 interpolated. Korchnoi chose to accept the classical iso-lated d-pawn by recapturing with the e-pawn rather than the Knight after …c5xd4, but was unable to get any initiative and was reduced to defending the pawn while Karpov steadily improved his position. The champion concluded with a nice attack, thus taking a commanding 4-1 lead and needing only two more wins to retain his title.
Game 10
Game 10
Italian Opening
The opening was another Giuoco Piano which was played without too much convinction. Both players agreed to draw in 32 moves.
Game 11
Game 11
Queen Gambit Declined
Korchnoi returned to Bf4’s variation and accomplished the first 19 moves in few minutes only. The Challenger won a pawn but Karpov’s active piece play compensate. The draw was agreed on move 35
In Chess Karpov was interview by a Yugoslav journalist:“Korchnoi is uncouth, he is a very good chess player of course, but as a person I have a low opinion of him. His remarks to the press have offended many Russian grandmasters” Prior to this match Korchnoi told some Yugoslav news papers that he considered Karpov a patzer and gangster. During the eleventh game Korchnoi objected to Karpov looking at him and said “If you keep staring at me like that I’ ll call you a (a very bad word). “Korchnoi played much better in Baguio than in the first eleven games here” Karpov continued: There we saw many interesting ideas in the opening, middle game and ending. It was fighting chess and, I think, the best of all Korchnoi’s matches. Many books written about that match were bad, with wrong analyses of the play. Authors were racing to be the first to bring out their books immediately after the match. Many journalists gave a distorted picture of the match because Korchnoi was continually in contact with them, where as I had not the time to spare.” I asked Karpov “When the score in Baguio reached 4-1 for you, exactly as here, it still took you 15 more games and 45 more days to finish the match. How much longer do you think this match will take? Not 45 more days …?” “I should have clinched this match already. My blunder on the 40th move of the sixth game was unbelievable. I had 35 minutes left but I moved quickly. As soon as I played N—B1, I saw my mis take and began asking myself ‘Whatever made you do that?’ I was wrong in my assessment of the next move, the 41st. I had thought P—B3 would be good. It was a blunder. There is a big difference from Baguio, of course. This score, 4-1, was reached after 17 games there. Here, after only nine. In Baguio I was not in good shape and was dissatisfied with both the result and my play. After game 22, I went through a crisis, so that the score went from 5-2 to 5-all. History is not going to repeat itself in Merano. Here I am fresh, not a bit tired, and Korchnoi is not playing so well. He behaved badly in Baguio, too, because he wanted an excuse for defeat” When I asked him about the quality of the games in Merano, Karpov said he thought the best were the second, eighth and ninth, “in the eighth, both of us played well. Here in Merano Korchnoi is complaining because you look at him during the game. In Baguio he was complaining about your psychologist Zukhar.” His protests against Zukhar were protests against all those who supported me. Zukhar was not here when the score went to 3-0” Mikhail Tal, who was listing remarked “Zukhar seems more powerful from Moscow than the Ananda Marga here.” ‘What about the Ananda Marga?” I asked him “It seems that the girl, Victoria Sheppard, has left Merano.” “No, she was here for the tenth game but it doesn’t bother me. I am told she is expecting a baby.” “You have said that history will not repeat itself and that you will win this match by a bigger margin than at Baguio.” “I don’t know how many games it will go to but I’m certain I shall win. I’m not in a hurry.” “But Korchnoi says he is going to win by 6-4—” Karpov just smiled. Tal remarked “Korchnoi is partly right in his prediction. He definitely has lost four games. To score 5-0 now is a tall order” “I am very satisfied with my physical state here” said Karpov: “On free days I play tennis to keep fit. In Baguio, you know, I lost 4 kilograms in the three months. In Moscow, during the final Candidates’ game in 1974, I lost 4 kilos but here, in over a month, I have lost nothing at all. I actually put on 2 kilos before the match started.” “When Korchnoi went away from Baguio for a week, did you think he might not come back?” “I knew he would come back, he likes the money too much” We had a look at the statistics. Fischer in his whole chess career won 327 games, drew 188, and lost 61. Karpov has already won 380, drawn 410, and lost 51. They had had several secret meetings and discussed a possible match. “Yes, we met several times” replied Karpov. “We spoke in English, we could not find a neutral common language. I was proposed a match for the first to win six games. ‘Let’s play to ten’ he said. I protested that that might take five or six months. ‘O.K.’ he replied. ‘We could take up to a month time out.’ I even agreed to play to the best of eight games but it was all in vain. I was optimistic and really tried hard to get a match, I felt sure I could ‘win. When I returned from those talks in Spain, Botvinnik asked me ‘Are you sure you really spoke to Fischer? Maybe it was his double.’” “You have already won two matches against Korchnoi. Is this why he hates you?” “Korchnoi is of Tal’s and Spassky’s generation and began to feel it was time he became world champion. I baulked his ambition.” “Who will be your most dangerous opponent in another three years?” “It will be myself, because everything will depend on whether I can maintain my interest and concentration on chess ‘‘Are you afraid of anybody else?’’ “No” ‘‘Kasparov or Timman?’’ ‘‘Kasparov is very talented. Much depends on himself to what extent he improves I expect Timman to be one of the main candidates this time, but he didn’t qualify.”
Game 12
Game 12
Queen Gambit Declined
A complex middlegame from where Karpov managed to win a pawn but not without allowing Korchnoi to reach a rook and opposite-coloured Bishop ending which was draw after 7 moves of the second session.
Game 13
Game 13
Queen Gambit Declined
The game produced the best chess of the match with Karpov choosing an ultra sharp variation. Karpov defended actively but on move 29 missed a drawing resource in the maze of the variation and his position went immediately down-hill.
Game 14
Game 14
Ruy Lopez
Karpov came back in this game outplaying the Swiss. Karpov piece sacrifice on move 17 could no be accepted and left Korchnoi positionally lost. After Karpov’s win in Game 14, Korchnoi partisans held out little hope that the match would become a real contest. The challenger had rallied from the same 5-2 deficit to tie the 1978 match before loosing the 32nd game but Korchnoi was playing much better chess then.
Game 15
Game 15
English Opening
The opening was highly theoretical English, as Karpov temporarily deviated from defending the Queen’s Gambit. Korchnoi secured a slightly more active position, and Karpov lost a pawn in the middlegame- whether due to an oversight or careful calculation, it is not clear. The result was a Queen and oppo¬site Bishop ending which offered no winning chances.
Game 16
Game 16
Ruy Lopez
The sixteenth game almost marked the end of the match, as Karpov again secured a slight advantage against the challenger’s Open Defense. With Korchnoi in his accustomed time pressure, Karpov achieved a Queen and good Bishop versus Queen and bad Knight adjourned position which many observers predicted he would cash in. But a surprise sealed move which tied Karpov down defending against perpetual check resulted in a quick draw agreement upon resumption.
Game 17
Game 17
Queen Gambit Declined
Karpov reverted to the same line of play he had used against the Queen’s Gambit in the ninth game. Korchnoi was unable to make any headway, and a quick 23-move draw resulted.
Game 18
Game 18
Ruy Lopez
Karpov again showed the depth of his opening preparation in the ‘possible’ final game. With another novelty against the Open Defense, he gained a slight endgame advantage. When Korchnoi sought active Rook play instead of patient defense, the champion uncorked a series of moves that left Black both materially down and without activity. The result of the game was never in any doubt, and Korchnoi’s resignation after adjournment was a foregone conclusion.
World Champion Anatoly Karpov won Game 18 of the match in Merano. Challenger Victor Korchnoi resigned the hopeless adjourned position by telephone to end the 51-day struggle. Karpov received about $280,000 US for his victory; Korchnoi’s reward was $170,000.
