Kamsky played game four as though he had the advantage but he was pretty much worse throughout most of the game. His position just fell apart in the end and Karpov even had the luxury of missing an earlier direct win. This was a very poor game from Kamsky.
Game 5
Game 5
Grunfeld Defence
Kamsky tried to vary on move 7 from game 1. He was then forced to sacrifice the exchange. With great compensation a second exchange sacrifice was rejected by White but in a double-edged position Karpov was forced to repeat the moves. The draw was agreed in 26 moves. It was the shortest game of the match.
Game 6
Game 6
King Indian Defence
Kamsky wisely opted for a new defence in this match. Howerver it was Karpov better prepared who hold the initiative. On move 35 with only few minutes on his clock the Russian spoiled the fruit of his labor and miss a clear win with 35. Rc8! However the champion managed to secured a extra pawn and after great a technical show, converted it into a winning game.
Game 7
Game 7
Spanish Defense
The 4-2 match score in favor of the champion nearly forced the challenger to switch to the King’s Indian Defense, an opening known for its fighting potential. FIDE World Champion Karpov essayed the Classical Variation, choosing the currently popular bayonet line 9. b4. White tolerated the Black Knight on f4 by playing the relatively unexplored move 10. Re1!?, followed by the consolidating 12. Bf1. Karpov made substantial gains on the Queenside in the early middlegame, and Kamsky’s attempt at counterplay on the other side of the board simply handed the e4-square to White’s Knights. Kamsky was forced to defend for most of the session, and adjourned on move 57 in a difficult situation. When play resumed, the challenger added a few moves before resigning on move 71.
J. Fedorowicz (Kamsky’s second):The King’s Indian Defense was a disaster. There are some openings that certain people just shouldn’t play.”
Game 8
Game 8
Caro Kann
Karpov move 17 was an impressive novelty. However Karpov heritated of a position with a isolated d-Pawn which was not so pleasant to play with. Kamsky was unable to come up with the best plan, while Karpov’s robust defence paid off as shortly before the adjornement he manages to liquidate enough weaknesses to expect a peaceful draw.
One hour after game 8 ended in a draw, Rustam Kamsky asked for a press conference. The main point of this hectic press conference was a quarrel about the computer room which is nearby the rest rooms of the players and from which I send the moves live to different web sites. In this computer room, IGM Evgenyi Vassiukov and IM Vladimir Gagarin are preparing comments for the spectators. These comments are made 3-4 times during the game. In between, they analyse the game, write down notes for the bulletin and check the references thanks to the huge database V. Gagarin is in charge of. So, when R. Kamsky entered the computer room, he was suspicious. At this press conference he accused MM. Gagarin and Vassiukov of working for Karpov’s camp.
He said that Karpov broken his normal routine as he was often leaving the stage during the play. He accused the two masters of finding references on the 8th game during the play thanks to the computer. Maybe he was afraid of some possible connection between the screen in the rest room of each player and the screen used for analysis for spectators. But there is none. The TV set in the players rest room broadcast only the situation of the game in process.
R. Kamsky complained that he had only “officially” received the regulations of the match the day before. He added that his son and himself were not consulted about anything during the organisation of the match. He added that, to catch Karpov, 20 games may not be sufficient and in this respect he wanted the FIDE rules to be applied i.e, a match in 24 games.
As a result of his demands (with two meetings with the arbiters and the organisation committee before this press conference), the access to the press computer room has been limited with a permanent guard to enforce it. The two chiefs of delegation or any of their representative have permanent access to this room. Phone calls regarding the game, to and from the computer room, are strictly forbidden.
Game 9
Game 9
Grunfeld Defence
Once more White’s position was superior and forced Kamsky to sacrifice his Queen in a hope that his Rook and Bishop and a strong passed a-pawn will provide enough compensation. But Karpov technique was perfect. In a difficult position, Kamsky made a fatal mistake with gave to Karpov a lead of 6.5-2.5.
Game 10
Game 10
Queen’s Indian Defence
After a devastating loss in the previous game, the challenger switched to 1. d4 for the first time in the match. Kamsky probably played 3. Nf3 to avoid the possibility of facing the Nimzo-Indian Defense (a Karpov favorite). The champion settled instead for the always-solid Queen’s Indian Defense (3. … b6). White continued to avoid any pins on his Nc3 by playing 4. a3, first used by former world champion Petrosian and then later popularized by Kasparov.
The game followed a 1995 rapidplay contest between the two rivals, until White varied with 9. Nxd5 (9. e4 was seen in the earlier game). Karpov accepted the hanging pawns with 10. … bxc5, and it was unclear which side stood better for quite some time.
Karpov played the seemingly safe 16. … Bc6, but White’s queen was very active on the kingside. Perhaps the riskier choice of 16. … c4!? was what was needed. After much maneuvering, Kamsky succeeded in opening up the position with a timely 24. e4. Karpov tried to keep the position closed with 26. … d4, but White crashed through with 30. Re1 and 31. e5+. With both players in severe time pressure, White won a piece due to the pin along the open e-file. White took special care to neutralize his opponent’s queenside pawns, and after a few meaningless moves, Black resigned.
R. Henley, Karpov’ second: “This game was critical in view of the overall match perspective. Anantoly went down in time trouble and by winning this game, Kamsky could look to make a real fight of it as the second half of the match got underway.”
Game 11
Game 11
Semi-Slav Defence
Kamsky change opening system yet again. This time to the semi-slav. Karpov has a very dull but solid way of meeting this opening, and this was his choice in this game. The position out of the opening was almost level. Karpov however has won many games in this system and proceeded to show why. Somehow having almost completely equalised Kamsky went very badly astray before the first time control. Only some very fine defensive play followed by an excellent sealed move allowed him to save the game. Karpov probably missed a win somewhere in this game.
Game 12
Game 12
Caro Kann Defence
The game was a real slugfest. Here I have the impression that Karpov’s preparation was quite deep. He played very provocatively in the opening and white seemed to have a strong attack. This however was an illusion. As Kamsky got on with his wing attack, Karpov simply broke in the centre. With Kamsky’s attack running out of steam he bailed out just in time. For a while there was a possibility that Karpov would win the ending but again Kamsky defended extremely accurately to hold the draw.
Game 13
Game 13
Queen’s Indian Defence
The players repeated the move from game 3. An endgame was reached with White have the advantage of a Bishop-pair. By overestimate his position, the Russian suddenly found himself in an inferior and possibly losing endgame. His luckr was that the game was adjournment and stong of fresh and deep analyses the champion managed to survive after showing geat skill.
