For many of the observers this match was the most interesting and most difficult. We knew later that this game and match will be the last World Championship match between the most outstanding players of the chess history.
New York/Lyon, X-XII, 1990.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Total | ||
| Karpov A | = | 0 | = | = | = | = | 1 | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | 0 | 1 | 0 | = | 0 | = | = | 1 | = | 11.5 | |
| Kasparov G | = | 1 | = | = | = | = | 0 | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | 1 | 0 | 1 | = | 1 | = | = | 0 | = | 12.5 |
As custom the World Champion was interviewed by the press and published around the world.
Q: The match concluded literally a few hours before the New Year 1991. This must have been the most splendid New Year present for you?
A: Of course it was pleasant to greet the New Year this way, but this victory can in no way be called a present. It was won in a very hard battle. The further I go on, the mote difficult it is to defend my title, and each new match becomes increasingly important. In this match we were risking different things. Karpov risked not winning yet another encounter at the highest level, while I could lose everything for which I had fought for ten years and held for the last five.
Q: It is well known that the basis of your successes is deep and thorough preparation for each important event. For this new encounter with your ‘perpetual’ opponent you must have begun preparing long before the match.
A: Since this was already our fifth match, it could have been expected that the preparatory work done by both players would be of the highest quality. In addition, this match differed from the previous ones by there being a normal three-year interval. We finally had sufficient time to rest after the race which accompanied the four previous matches. Nevertheless, previous experience was taken into account and, multiplied by such an interval it should have brought good results. I should straight away say that Karpov prepared for this match much better than ever before. This fact is important to note, since for the first time in my experience I had to content with a better prepared opponent.
Why was Karpov able to prepare better? Because before the match itself he had to pass through a severe selection process. Playing three Candidates matches is a good form of training. This gives an undoubted advantage, as I know from my own experience. One acquires form and self-confidence. Victories over strong opponents provide inspiration. One has an established team, working together for a year and a half in the same rhythm, with practiced set-ups, well-considered plans and well- organized work.
By contrast, my team was assembled in parts essentially just before the match itself. Nevertheless, this cause should in no way be considered the main one. The enormous preparation experience which I have accumulated, and the ability to choose the correct strategic course, in which I have always been superior to Karpov, could have proved more weighty factors. Back in January 1990 I began planning my preparation, considering how to allocate my efforts, and where and with whom to carry out my training sessions. But there are events over which we have no control.
Q: What strategy did you plan?
A: On the whole the aim was for maximum complexity with both colors, to avoid giving Karpov any sort of respite. Thus there was a radical change in my approach compared with the previous matches, especially the last one in Seville, where reliance was placed on the white pieces, and with Black I played solidly and soundly. The choice of such a strategy largely resulted from impressions remaining from the previous match. There neither Karpov nor I achieved an appreciable advantage with the white pieces. I scored 3—2, and Karpov 2—1, Therefore it appeared that the past was likely to be repeated. Alas, the match demonstrated the fallaciousness of such an aim. And more important — for a long time the intended course prevented necessary corrections from being made in the match strategy during the match.
Q: On what openings did you mainly pin your hopes?
As Black I chose two openings — the King’s Indian Defense and the Grünfeld Defense ultra-complicated, demanding the maximum concentration, a great amount of work, and thorough practical analysis. Fortunately, here I was unable to achieve a high standard of preparation. With White, on the other hand, I managed to prepare excellently. And even before the match itself it became clear that White was bound to dominate. As was confirmed. In this situation it was essential to introduce significant changes in the ‘Black’ strategy, if not before the match, then at least during the course of it, in order if possible to have room for maneuver. But since in the pre-match period physically and psychologically tired, and in severe time trouble, t jn avoided adding to the amount of work. And therefore this amount began to be reduced. It was natural that everything ‘superfluous’ for Black, such as the preparation of quiet opening variations, came under this reduction. This was to leave its mark later, for example in the 23rd game. Instead of playing, in accordance with the situation, a quiet opening with my sights on a draw, I again rushed forward. And this direct initial aim, which, more importantly, was not in keeping with my level of preparedness, was the source of many of my problems in the match. With every game it was to become increasingly clear that it was not correct, since the white pieces, as in no other of our matches, were clearly dominant. And besides, to be frank, I did not imagine how well prepared my opponent would be.
Q: During the match this quickly became evident.
Yes, but during the match everything is much more difficult to do. And there is another important factor, which I have already mentioned. I did not succeed in carrying out in full my preparation program, which had to be reduced to 60 days, and that with many breaks and distractions due to other things. It is quite obvious that when the time for preparation is reduced, the program itself also begins to be reduced, it is cut short. And therefore another incorrect step was taken, one which almost proved fatal. I wanted not only to play for complications with Black, but I even began avoiding theoretical duels, planning various irregular set-ups, deliberately going in for inferior positions, merely in order to avoid theory and maintain the tension. Tactics which are completely atypical of me, and in the given instance I stifled my own style of play. Usually Karpov used to avoid theoretical duels. And after all, my credo is to make the best moves. And now I myself went in for play more in accordance with Karpov’s style, and to which he resorted, for example, in the 1985 match, when he was badly prepared. In general it was an attempt to plug the holes at the expense of deviating to one side.
Q: And so your repertoire with Black proved highly unreliable.
A: It was not so much the repertoire that was to blame, so much as the insufficient preparation. I realized all this perfectly well, and it was for this reason that I decided to gather all my strength and attempt to crush Karpov at the very start of the match, by planning, so to speak, a ‘blitzkrieg’.
Q: And in general, to judge by the first few games, you had very real chances of achieving your aim. Especially f you had managed to win the 3rd game.
A: I simply did not have enough nervous energy. Had I managed to rest before the match for even a couple of weeks, it is quite possible that the ‘blitzkrieg’ would have succeeded, After all, in the first six games I could have gained three extra points. Of course, then it would have been a different battle, but even so, had I landed a series of blows at the start, I think it unlikely that Karpov would have held out.
Q: In your pre-match preparation, were you able to guess correctly your opponent’s opening preparation?
A: It could be said that with Black neither player managed to guess correctly. I was guided by those variations that Karpov usually plays against the King’s Indian and Grünfeld Defences. He did not play anything of the sort! Strictly speaking, everything that I prepared for the match with Black was not in fact used. The only exception was the 3rd game. But this was pure bluff! In all the remaining games I encountered variations for which I had not specially prepared. When I was playing White, on the other hand, a great surprise awaited Karpov. He of course expected 1. e4 but can hardly have expected that this move would be the main one. In fact the only one! The 24th game does not count! And in general he was unable to find any counter to this. In one game he played Petroff’s Defense, and in the opinion of the observers he quickly equalized. Moreover, he did not ‘poke his nose’ into the main variation of Petroff’s Defense. He did not once play the Caro-Kann Defense, realizing perfectly well that, if I was regularly playing 1. e4, I would certainly have been very well prepared for this opening. In general, Karpov had to defend on Spanish lines, but the results turned out badly for him. To my achievements i would also assign my preparation of the Scotch Game, the employment of which Karpov, of course, did not expect. The 14th game in this ancient opening saw new set-up, which enlivened and modernized this opening. And as result Karpov ended up in a poor position.
Q: Why did you not repeat the opening of the first game?
A: The point is that in this variation White can castle long. This is the strongest continuation, which Karpov decided against employing in the initial game. But at the finish I am sure that this is what he would have chosen.
Q: On what did you pin your main hopes with Black, the King’s Indian or the Grünfeld Defense?
The King’s Indian. Our reckoning was that Karpov does not play King’s Indian set-ups very confidently. In general the character of the play in the King’s Indian Defense, where Black has his chances, is to my taste, But Karpov found a splendid possibility: he did not close the centre with d4-d5. It will be remembered that once, in the 19th game, he did this, gained an advantage, and even so very nearly lost. But he managed to avoid such positions, by finding a variation in which it is difficult for Black to gain active counterplay. Except for the 11th game, in which White could have played more strongly.
Q: You must be pretty tired to play Karpov. Did he not appear in this match in a capacity which was new to you?
A: He did and, I think, not to me alone —he played in a new manner. Since 1984, when our ‘unlimited’ duel began, both our styles have evolved. But whereas I, it is said, have added to my style something from the Karpov arsenal, he, it would seem, has altogether changed his playing manner. That high-quality play, based on profound opening preparation, which I have professed and which Karpov has criticized in every way possible, he has now taken up. The games from the match testify: Karpov has tacitly acknowledged the superiority of this playing style. Thus the argument between the two trends of chess development — technical and creative — has concluded in favor of the latter.
Q: On this occasion Karpov did not ignore theoretical preparation?
A: He never ignored it. But for this match he was prepared better than ever before. And most important, he was not just fundamentally prepared for a theoretical battle, but this preparation was closely coordinated with a strategic course. Also, it was aimed at interesting creative positions. It should be noted that in this match there were hardly any technical positions. Karpov completely rejected his usual style of squeezing points out of simple technical positions. He went in for a different, full-blooded and complicated type of play. And this came as a complete surprise to me.
Q: The best games of the match?
A: I will say my own game 2, 18 and 20 I was happy with them but game 3 could have been a brilliant one. Karpov’s 17, 23, also game 4 was equally good.
Q: What was the single most important thing that you learned about yourself during your fifth match against Anatoly Karpov?
A: That’s a tough question. Okay, I learned that to remain at the top, a person must have survival qualities. You must have a sense of when to grasp the main chance. But in order to grasp the main chance, you roust be prepared physically and psychologically. Otherwise, opportunity will pass unnoticed. Assuming that there is no mismatch be tween opponents, the winner of a champion ship chess contest is the man who makes the greater demands on himself. That’s what I learned.
The world chess championship is something which is linked with prestige, power, money but also intrigues and briberies. Since 1984, Kasparov had to face some situations which forced him to fire or to close his cooperation with seconds like E. Vladimirov and Y. Dorfman. In 2003 Z. Azmaiparashili, second of Kasparov during the 1990 championship told in NIC his story with unwanted people: “…In 1990, I nearly sacrificed my family. Because of Kasparov fire was set to my apartment in Georgia, as the mafia was trying to force me to hand them information about the match (against Karpov). Every day before the game they wanted me to pass on information on which variation Garry was going to play. I refused and they tried to make me change my mind. These were mafia people from Moscow. When I asked them why they came to me, they told me I was the closest person to Garry and that he trusted me. They offered me a hundred thousand dollars. And I told them I was not interested in this money. I don’t know who was involved in this. They said that some betting was going on and that this was the reason. I wrote an official letter to the KGB and till this day I have not received an answer. So I called Garry and told him that the mafia were coming after me and he should take a decision, I was prepared not to go with him as a second, but if I was to accompany him I needed his help, so that I would know that my family was safe. And this he did.”