Library / Games / Kasparov, Garry vs Karpov, Anatoly
World Championship 34th-KK4 · Seville · 04 December 1987

Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov, World Championship 34th-KK4

Kasparov, Garry ½–½ Karpov, Anatoly
Kasparov, Garry vs Karpov, Anatoly
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World Championship 34th-KK4, 04 December 1987

The 1987 Seville World Championship match between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov is sometimes considered the highest-quality match of the long rivalry. Kasparov was now the established champion; Karpov was the challenger after qualifying through the candidates cycle. The match used the 24-game format with the title retained by the defending champion at 12-12.

The early games of the match were sharp and competitive, with both players willing to enter complicated positions. By the time Game 4 was played on December 4, the match was tied at 1.5-1.5. The game was drawn in 40 moves after a complex middlegame in which neither side could establish a clear advantage.

The match would continue through 24 games with Karpov leading at several points. He won Game 23 to lead 12-11 going into the final game. He needed only a draw in Game 24 to win the title back. Kasparov, needing a win to retain the title at 12-12, played one of the great fighting games of his career: a 64-move win in the Sicilian Defense that has been studied as an example of attacking play under maximum pressure.

The match ended 12-12. Kasparov retained the title under the champion’s-privilege rule. He had defended the title without actually winning the match — a result that the chess world found both unfair and dramatic. Game 24 has been called the most psychologically intense game in world-championship history.

Game 4 — a quiet draw early in the match — was a small part of that larger story. It demonstrated, however, the technical level both players brought to Seville. Even the unremarkable draws were played with care, with subtle move-order choices that betrayed deep preparation. The 1987 match was the strongest sustained chess of the Karpov-Kasparov rivalry.

Game record

This game between Kasparov, Garry and Karpov, Anatoly was played at the World Championship 34th-KK4 in Seville in 1987. Played in round 20. At the time of the game, the players were rated 2740 (White) and 2700 (Black). The game lasted 37 moves, ending with a drawn outcome. It is part of the late-Soviet and Cold-War chess era.