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Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part Two: Kasparov vs. Karpov 1975-
1985, by Garry Kasparov, 2008 Everyman Chess, Figurine Algebraic
Notation, Hardcover, 424pp., $45.00.

Chess players have discriminating tastes. Just as

gastronomes desire savoring the finest foods
available, chess players desire the best chess
games of the strongest players. Ideally these
games are annotated by the victor, while
assisted by his trainers and checked by
powerful computer engines. In short, chess Modern Chess, Part 1
players desire the best of the best from the best. Revolution in the 70s
Now we can all enjoy exactly that…and it’s the by Garry Kasparov
latest as well! It’s Garry Kasparov’s Garry
Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part Two:
Kasparov vs. Karpov 1975-1985.

Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part Two: Kasparov vs. Karpov 1975-
1985 recounts in detail all 76 games played between these two chess
titans (possibly the strongest players in history) during that period, while
also providing deep contextual and autobiographical material.
Play through and download
the games from Kasparov and Karpov played almost 200 games against each other in the
ChessCafe.com in the careers. Many of these games were subsequently annotated by each
DGT Game Viewer. protagonist independently. In addition to the 76 finely annotated games in
Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part Two: Kasparov vs. Karpov 1975- My Great Predecessors
The Complete 1985, we’re treated to highly informative commentary from “behind the Part 5
DGT Product Line scenes.” This commentary includes discussion of the ubiquitous politics by Garry Kasparov
involved with such high-level matches. It also provides character
development of the people who were involved, autobiographical data, and
the thoughts and perceptions of Garry Kasparov – both contemporary
with the events described, and after the passage of time.

Kasparov has an introduction to each game and some are quite detailed
and lengthy. One of my favorite stories is part of the lead-in to Garry’s
very first battle against Karpov. Garry was then a member of the Baku
Young Pioneers team that was competing against Karpov’s Chelyabinsk
team. The format of such matches involves the grandmaster from each
team playing a simultaneous exhibition against the young players from
the opposing team. The year was 1975 and Karpov was 24 and already
world champion, while Kasparov was just 12. How Life Imitates Chess
by Garry Kasparov
“…that first meeting with Karpov did not provoke in me the same
trepidation as the game with Tal. But the other lads in my team were
nervous and they went along to the game as though they were already
lost. In the foyer of the hotel, where the tournament was being held, I
said: ‘What are you afraid of? Karpov is the world champion, but even he
can make a mistake.’ Apparently these words were overheard, and the
following day one of Karpov’s backers, the secretary of the local regional
party committee Tupikin, said to my mother: ‘Bear in mind: Karpov is
unforgiving.’”
What ominous words to say to the mother of a twelve-year old! But, this
sets the almost paranoid tone for subsequent anti-Kasparov politics, the
dirty deeds, and the shenanigans documented throughout the book. These
exist in such quantity that one almost suspects Kafka of being the book’s
“ghost writer.”

An example of such nasty machinations? One involves arguably the most

controversial event in chess world championship history. Perhaps most of
us recall the very strange termination of the very first Karpov-Kasparov
World Championship match in 1984/5 – a marathon match of 48-games.
That match was to decide the winner without a set number of games. The
first combatant to reach six wins would be the chess World Champion.

Karpov quickly established a 4-0 lead in just the first nine games, but
their next 17 games were draws. Karpov won again in game 27. So, a lop-
sided match victory for Karpov seemed inevitable – the score was now 5-
0. Many experts predicted a 6-0 whitewash.

But, Karpov then seemed to falter. Exhaustion? Nerves? Poor health? He

reached promising or winning positions only to make mistakes and allow
draws. Kasparov was finally victorious in game 32. But then fourteen
more draws followed. Karpov fashioned a winning position in game 41,
but again blundered, allowing a draw. When Kasparov won game 47,
Raymond Keene wrote (page 233): “Karpov’s play was surprisingly
feeble and towards the end of the game he turned bright red – usually a
reliable sign of one of his rare defeats. 5-2 remained a commanding lead,
but Karpov had now not won a game for over two months and must have
recalled with apprehension how Korchnoi pulled back from 5-2 in 1978.”

The next sentence in the book sets the stage for the controversial match
climax: “It was not only Karpov who might have remembered Baguio –
Campomanes, Sevastyanov, and Baturinsky were also there. It was then
that the idea occurred to them of terminating the match.”

Kasparov won the next game, making the score 5-3. On page 247, a
prophetic quote of from Botvinnik is cited. “There are three possibilities
of how the match will end. The first, and least likely, is that Karpov will
after all win the single game he needs and will remain champion. The
second, and more likely, is that Kasparov will win another three games
and become the champion. And the third possibility is that the match will
simply be stopped. The third possibility is the most likely, because the
second possibility is more likely than the first.”

At this point in the match, before the start of Game 49, Kasparov took a
timeout. Things then unraveled swiftly. First, FIDE president
Campomanes declared a time-out, and then terminated the entire match!
Several “official” reasons were given for the match truncation, but the
primary reason cited was the health of both players. Yet, both players
publicly claimed they wanted to continue, although Karpov had visibly
lost a lot of weight. So, was the matched stopped against the wishes of
both players, or was one player’s public declaration a sham?

Naturally, Kasparov perceives entirely different reasons for FIDE

stopping this match, reasons that conflict with the “official” ones. Garry
suggests the real reasons for the match termination were largely political
and for the benefit of Karpov. Specifically, Garry claims Karpov was
psychologically exhausted and feared a match continuation. [Garry
elaborates in the exclusive ChessCafe.com interview now available in the
Skittles Room.]

In any event, the termination of their first world championship match led
to a rematch in Moscow, later in 1985. Kasparov eventually triumphed in
this back-and-forth struggle by winning the twenty-fourth and final game,
as black. So, at the age of 22, Garry Kasparov became the youngest world
champion in history. The games and commentary for that match are also
presented thoroughly in this wonderful book.
So, where does Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part Two: Kasparov
vs. Karpov 1975-1985 fit into the overall collection of Kasparov’s chess
output? This is not immediately clear. Garry sets thing straight in his
interview however, noting that this is the first of three books that will deal
with his games with Karpov.

The issue of the title is surprisingly murky. Garry Kasparov on Modern

Chess, Part One: Revolution in the 70s suggests the next in the series will
be a thematic sequel to Part One. Conversely, will a potential purchaser
of Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part Two: Kasparov vs. Karpov
1975-1985 think there was a Part One: Kasparov vs. Karpov 1975-1985,
and thus not purchase the book because the initial volume is missing?
This is very confusing stuff. There is no doubt that the publisher could
have greatly assisted the public by coming up with a clearer, easier-to-
understand title. Again, Garry suggests something very similar in the
ChessCafe.com interview.

All games in Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part Two: Kasparov vs.
Karpov 1975-1985 have some lead-in commentary or some post-game
commentary, or both. And the games themselves are annotated in great
detail, with at least the same level of analytical depth and quality, plus
verbal commentary, as seen in the previous volumes of My Great
Predecessors. Volume V of that series discussed Karpov’s games in the
section entitled “Anatoly the Twelfth.” None of the K-K games appeared
in that volume, however.

Note that Chess Informants #39 and #40 offer these same match games,
annotated either by Karpov or Kasparov. But the annotations of these
games in this book are vastly deeper and more thorough…and they’ve
been checked by computer engines. Plus, we have the benefit of
Kasparov’s narratives here, an aspect always absent in the Informant’s
language-less format.

As with all Everyman Chess books I’ve seen, Garry Kasparov on Modern
Chess, Part Two: Kasparov vs. Karpov 1975-1985 is published in
“British” English and usage. It has occasional typos, but is generally well
prepared.

Ken Neat seems to be the “go-to man” for Everyman Chess when they
want to translate Russian into English. But translators also end up being
writers since direct translations usually result in the same gibberish we
see from computer translations. But as a book reviewer, I’ve seen several
examples where Neat’s English leaves a great deal to be desired. Here,
the translated prose isn’t too bad – sometimes just awkward. It’s on par
with the writing seen in the My Great Predecessors series.

Everyman Chess’s production quality is reliably good with regard to

paper quality, print size, and frequency and clarity of diagrams. Diagrams
seem to be incorporated about every five moves, on average. The
hardcopy covers are covered with a paper jacket peppered with small
photos of Kasparov and Karpov together.

I recommend Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part Two: Kasparov vs.

Karpov 1975-1985 very highly. It’s one of the best chess tomes I’ve ever
read. Besides offering discriminating readers the “best of the best from
the best”, the book presents 76 highly detailed chess games – each of
them an educational gem for nearly endless study, plus chess history,
chess politics, and a partial autobiography of perhaps the strongest chess
player in history. If you enjoy and value the My Great Predecessors
series, you will not want to miss this masterpiece.

Order Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part Two:

Kasparov vs. Karpov 1975-1985
 by Garry Kasparov

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