[net.chess] Seirawan vs. Karpov

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)
   --------