RTILLSON.MERRILL@DEC-MARLBORO@sri-unix (07/20/82)
I thought that since the game was mentioned in another message, that I would forward the complete score. From the "Players Chess News" Phillips & Drew Tournament Seirawan - Karpov 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 d5 4 d4 Bc7 5 Bg5 h6 6 Bh4 O-O 7 Rc1 b6 At the World Championship in Merano Karpov ultimately discarded this move, which he used in Games 5 and 7, in favor of 7dxc4, which was more than adequate in Games 9 and 17 and also against Christiansen in an earlier round here Quite why he reverted to 7b6 here is a mystery 8 cxd5 Nxd5 9 Nxd5 exd5 10 Bxe7 Qxe7 11 g3 Re8 12 Rc3!? This looks like a new move. Speculation was rife that Victor Korchnoi had spent the night before this game preparing his second for his encounter with the World Champion, and that this was one of the fruits of their labors. 12 .... Na6 13 Qa4 c5!?? Blunder or sacrifice?? Spectators stood around in droves, gawping at the possibility of Re3 winning a piece. Karpov, however, seemed to be very calm, chatting happily with Geller while awaiting Seirawan's reply. For future reference, 13...Bb7 looks like a sound move, while post mortem analysis animadverted upon 13...b5!? 14 Qxb5 Rb8 or 14 Qa5. 14 Re3 Of course White must accept the challenge. 14 .... Be6 15 Qxa6 cxd4 16 Rb3 Not 16 Nxd4? Qb4+. 16 .... Bf5 I won a modest bet from Bill Hartston by predicting this move. Bill had advocated 16...Rac8 which may, with hindsight, be a better try. 17 Bg2 Bc2 18 Nxd4 Less convincing from White's point of view is 18 O-O Bxb3 19 axb3 Qxe2 20 Qxe2 Rxe2 21 Nxd4 Rd2! 22 Nc6 Re8. 18 .... Bxb3 19 Nxb3 Rac8 Preparing to penetrate to the seventh rank, but 19...Qb4+ may be superior, temporarily preventing White from castling. 20 Bf3! An excellant move. He does not want to play e3, which might conceivably expose f2. 20 .... Rc2 21 O-O Rxb2 22 Rd1 Rd8 23 Nd4! Up to here I believed that Karpov still had everything under control, but now doubts started to creep in. What does Black play? The natural move to parry Nc6 is 23...Qc7, but this allows 24 Qa3, subjugating the wandering Rook on b2. Black is therefore reduced to a most artificial contortion. 23 .... Rd7 24 Nc6 Qe8 25 Nxa7 Rc7 26 a4 Qa8 The only way to test White's play is to try to win the piece, but now White decides things by a neat combination. 27 Rxd5 Qxa7 Or 27...Rxa7 28 Qd3 threatening the crushing Rd8+. 28 Rd8+ Kh7 29 Qd3+ On 29...g6 30 Qd4 Rb1+ 31 Kg2 f6 32 Qxf6 Rg7 33 Be4 threatening 34 Bxb1 and 34 Bxg6+ Rxg6 35 Rh8 mate, also fails to help. 30 Qxf5+ g6 31 Qe6 1-0 And Karpov falls from the joint lead in the sensational fashion. Spectator Korchnoi enjoyed watching both the game and the post mortem, but took no active part in the discussion. (Notes and analysis by GM Raymond Keene) --------