A note from Karpov versus Utut

By Kristianus Liem

JAKARTA (JP): FIDE World Champion, Russia's GM Anatoly Karpov, won the Clash of the Titana against Indonesian GM Utut Adianto after a tie-break.

In the main event the score was 3-3, but in the blitz game (5 minutes each) play-off Karpov won 2,5-0,5.

But we have to note that in the two classical games (two hours for 40 moves, one hour for 20 moves, then 30 minutes to finish) which is more common in world chess championships or olympiads, Utut won 1,5-0,5!

Here is a game played in the third round.

White: GM Utut Adianto Black: GM Anatoly Karpov

Nimzo-Indian Defense 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 The Nimzo-Indian Defense. 4.Qc2

This Capablanca Variation has a seductive appeal for the White player. If things go well he will acquire the Bishop pair and greater control of the space without any damage to his pawn structure, such as doubled pawns in the c-file, which are characteristic of so many other variations of the Nimzo-Indian.

Nevertheless, there are dangers for White in this line, associated mainly with the possible exposure of the White Queen if it is recaptured on c3 and some danger to the White King, since the White Queen maneuver tends to permit Black to race ahead in development. 4...0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b6 Karpov's positional style. More ambitious here 6...b5!? (Black's idea in this pawn sacrifice is to open the c-file and thus exploit his better development) 7.cxb5 c6 8.f3?! Nd5! 9.Qd2 f5 10.Nh3 cxb5 11.e3 Nc6 12.Bxb5 Na5 13.Qd3 Rb8 14.b4 Rxb5! 15.bxa5 Ba6 16.Bd2 Rb6! 17.Qc2 Rc6 18.Qd1 Qh4+ 19.Nf2 Qg5! 20.g3 Nxe3 21.Nh3 Qh6 22.Qb3 Ng2+ 0-1, Mohr-Christiansen, German Bundesliga 1989/90. 7.Bg5 Bb7 If 7...Ba6 8.Nh3 h6 9.Bh4 d5 10.e3 Nbd7 11.cxd5 Bxf1 12.Kxf1 exd5 13.Qc6 Rc8 14.Bxf6 Nxf6 15.Nf4 Qe8 16.Rc1 Qe4 17.h4 Rfd8 18.h5 Qf5 19.b4 Ne4 20.Kg1 Rd6 21.Qb7 Qd7 22.Nd3 c6 23.Qxd7 Rxd7 White stands a little better, Tisdall-Pinter, Haifa 1989. 8.e3 For 8.Nf3 d6 9.Nd2 h6 10.Bh4 Nbd7 11.f3 c5 12.e4 Re8 13.Bf2 Rc8 14.dxc5 bxc5 15.Bd3 d5 16.cxd5 exd5 17.0-0 dxe4 18.fxe4 Bxe4 19.Nxe4 Nxe4 20.Bxe4 Rxe4 is dubious for White, Korchnoi- Ljubojevic , Tilburg 1989. 8...d6 9.f3 Nbd7 10.Bd3 Or 10.Nh3 c5 11.dxc5 bxc5 12.Be2 Qb6 13.0-0 d5 14.Rad1 Bc6!? 15.Nf2 h6 16.Bh4 Ba4 17.Rd2 Bb3 18.Ng4 with an unclear position, Kasparov-Karpov, Las Palmas 1996. 10...c5 11.Ne2 Rc8 12.Qb3 d5 13.cxd5 Bxd5 14.Qa4 Utut tried to disturb Black's position on the queen-side. According to GM Eugene Torre it would be safer to 14.Qd1 followed by 15.0-0, but after 14.Qd1 cxd4 15.Nxd4 h6 16.Bh4 Ne5 17.Ba6 Rc5 18.0-0 Bc4 Black dominated the board. 14...cxd4 15.exd4 It's forced, because after 15.Nxd4 Nc5 16.Qd1 Nxd3+ 17.Qxd3 Bc4 18.Qd1 Rc5 19.Bh4 e5 Black took the initiative. 15...Bc6 16.Qd1 Of course not 16.Qxa7? because 16...Ra8 and trap White's Queen. While 16.Qa6 Qc7 17.Bf4 Qb7 18.0-0 Nd5 Black position slightly better. 16...b5 17.0-0 Qb6 18.Rc1 Nd5 19.Kh1 a5 20.Qe1 b4 Black tried to change as many pieces as possible, so in the end he can put pressure on White's isolated d-pawn. 21.Qh4 f5? The text showed that Karpov tried hard to win this game. He weakened his e6-pawn to stop White's attack at h7 in an active way. If 21...N7f6, there would be no more chance for Black to counter attack. While 21...h6 worried Karpov, Utut tried a draw by perpetual check 22.Bxh6 gxh6 23.Qxh6 N7f6 24.Qg5+ Kh8 25.Qh6+ Kg8 26.Qg5+; and he didn't want a move like 21...g6 because there were two holes on the f6 and h6 squares. 22.Qg3 Kf7?! It's very risky to bring Black's King to the center of the board while there are too many pieces on the board. 23.Nf4! In the right moment Utut starts to make complications. He want to change his passive Knight at the e2 which is only guarding the d4 pawn with the strong Black Knight at d5. 23...Nxf4 No choice! If 23...Qxd4 24.Ba6! and White will get the exchange after 24...Nxf4 (if 24...h6 25.Bxh6 Nxf4 26.Qxf4 Qxb2 27.Bg5 Qxa3 28.Ra1 Qc3 29.Bxc8 White still gets the exchange) 25.Qxf4 Qxf4 26.Bxf4 e5 27.Bxc8. 24.Bxf4 Bd5? According to Utut Adianto after the game, it would have been better here to 24...Bb5! but still White was in a nice position after 25.Bc7 Qa6 26.Bxb5 Qxb5 27.Rfe1 bxa3 28.bxa3 Qd5 29.Qf4 a4 30.Re2 Nf6 31.Rec2 Kg8 32.Rc5 White's pieces dominated the board. 25.Bd6 Rfe8? After a postmortem analysis, both players agreed that in this position it is better to play 25...Rg8! Black can defend his position. 26.axb4 axb4 27.Bc7 Qb7 28.Qd6 Nb8 29.Rc5 After the last three moves, White's pieces are in nearly all the best places! 29...Re7 30.Bxb8 Rxb8 31.Rfc1 Qb6 32.Qe5 Rd8 See diagram. 33.Bxf5! A small combination, White sacrificed his Bishop for two pawns. 33...exf5 34.Qxf5+ Qf6 35.Rxd5 White took back his Bishop with an extra pawn! 35...Qxf5 36.Rxf5+ Kg6 37.Rb5 Rxd4 38.Rc6+ Kf7 39.h3 Re2 40.Rb7+ Re7 41.Rb5 Re2 42.b3 Re3 43.Kh2 h5 If 43...Rxb3 White can take all Black pawns on the king-side with 44.Rb7+ Ke8 45.Rc8+ Rd8 46.Rcc7 h6 47.Rxg7 Kf8 48.Rh7 Kg8 49.Rxh6 and win the game. 44.Rb7+ Re7 45.Rbb6 Re3 46.Rc7+ Re7 47.Rc4 After this move White will take another pawn. 47...Rxc4 48.bxc4 Re2 49.Rxb4 Rc2 50.h4 g6 51.Kg3 Kf6 52.Rb6+ Kf7 53.Rc6 Generally speaking, the Rook is most effective behind the pawn. In this position, however, in front of the pawn also a vantage point. 53...Kg7 54.Rc8 Kf6 55.c5 Kg7 56.c6 Kf6 57.Kf4 The White King bounds for his queen-side pawn, to support the advance of the pawn. 57...Kg7 If 57...Rxg2 58.Rf8+ Ke7 59.c7 Kxf8 60.c8Q+ and White is winning. 58.Ke5 Re2+ 59.Kd6 Rd2+ 60.Kc7 Rxg2 61.Rd8 1-0 Black resigned here because after 61...Rc2 62.Rd4 Kf7 63.Kd7 and there is no way to stop the c-pawn from queening.