Kasparov, Garry – Topalov, Veselin

A.J.’s Chess Home Page http://www.angelfire.com/games3/AJs01Downloads/ html_stuff/kastop_1rpg0.html Kasparov’s “Game of The Century” (?) Perhaps the greatest single game of chess ever played, especially one created over-the-board. (And not a postal game.) Kasparov is reported to have said this was his “Best ever”. (Immediately after the game.) The annotations here are based primarily on GM Andy Soltis’s book “The 100 Best Games of the 20th Century, Ranked”. LM A.J. Goldsby I:

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Date: January 20, 1999
Location: Wijk aan Zee
Tournament: ?
Round:
Opening: B07 Pirc Defence
Submitted by: Goldsby
Published on: February 9, 2020

[Event "?"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "1999.01.20"] [Round "?"] [White "Kasparov, Garry"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B07"] [Annotator "Goldsby"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "1999.01.20"] [Source "TaL's Chess"] [SourceDate "1999.01.20"] {A.J.'s Chess Home Page http://www.angelfire.com/games3/AJs01Downloads/ html_stuff/kastop_1rpg0.html Kasparov's "Game of The Century" (?) Perhaps the greatest single game of chess ever played, especially one created over-the-board. (And not a postal game.) Kasparov is reported to have said this was his "Best ever". (Immediately after the game.) The annotations here are based primarily on GM Andy Soltis's book "The 100 Best Games of the 20th Century, Ranked". LM A.J. Goldsby I: } 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 { A modern system, that was not even seen in Master practice prior to the 1980's. } ( {The moves} 4. f4 {(The Austrian Attack)}) ( {and} 4. Nf3 { (The 'Classical' Continuation) are more often seen than the move 4.Be3!?}) 4... Bg7 {There cannot be anything wrong with simple development. (Several annotators have questioned this move.)} ( {The book recommends} 4... c6 { - MCO-14.}) 5. Qd2 c6 6. f3 6... b5 {Queenside expansion. (Since White has played f3, and could play g4; it makes sense for Black to grab some squares on the other side of the board.) } 7. Nge2 7... Nbd7 8. Bh6 { Probably the best. White relieves Black of his dangerous fianchettoed Bishop.} (8. O-O-O ) 8... Bxh6 {Probably best.} ( {Too risky is} 8... O-O {('?!')} 9. h4 {("+/=") and White has a huge attack.}) 9. Qxh6 Bb7 10. a3 10... e5 {Black fights for his fair share of the center. } 11. O-O-O 11... Qe7 { (Maybe - '!') Again, probably the best. (Centralization.) } 12. Kb1 { (Maybe - '!') A high-class waiting move.} (12. h4 ) 12... a6 13. Nc1 13... O-O-O 14. Nb3 14... exd4 {Black is playing for the win. Topalov's style is to NEVER play it safe. He almost always plays hard-hitting chess. } 15. Rxd4 {A very nice move. Most players do NOT even seriously consider this move.} ( {Most players, even Masters, play the move} 15. Nxd4 {without hesitation.}) 15... c5 16. Rd1 16... Nb6 17. g3 {Bishop... in the side pocket? Kasparov finds an unusual, but extremely effective deployment of this Bishop in the given Pawn Structure.} (17. Be2 ) 17... Kb8 18. Na5 Ba8 19. Bh3 19... d5 20. Qf4+ {Nice. This move, in connection with his next move is very fine. Considering White has at least 6 reasonable moves here, this is an outstanding idea. (White is already setting up the sacrifices that follow.)} ( 20. exd5) 20... Ka7 21. Rhe1 21... d4 { Again the best. (And maybe worthy of an exclam.) } {White to move. } 22. Nd5 {A brilliant move that is NOT at all obvious. (White must be willing to sack at least a Pawn.)} (22. e5 ) ( {or} 22. Ne2 ) 22... Nbxd5 { This looks forced, and OK for Black. The computers, after running for over 30 minutes on a Pentium 4, consider the position after this move to be completely equal. } 23. exd5 23... Qd6 {Black's Queen was attacked. } 24. Rxd4 { (Maybe - '!!!') One of the most incredible moves in all of chess. And maybe one of THE most brilliant. The best move in maybe the greatest game of chess ever played.} ( {Just about all of the computers pick the move} 24. Nc6+ { here.}) 24... cxd4 {(Maybe - '?!') Many annotators criticized this move. It may lose by force, BUT... you have to be able to calculate nearly 20 moves ahead!! Many strong computer modules[analysis engines] (such as Crafty and Comet) think for many minutes, and then give the evaluation of "-+". This means that they consider this position WINNING for BLACK!!!! (White now has a forced win!) (Topalov probably did not see the mate, and wanted Garry to 'prove' he had a win here.) } ( { Several annotators have pointed out that Black could defend with} 24... Kb6 {"After this move, I didn't see a (real) advantage for White." - GM Garry Kasparov.}) { White's next move is almost as incredible as the last one. } 25. Re7+ 25... Kb6 {Forced again.} ( {If} 25... Qxe7 {then} 26. Qxd4+ 26... Kb8 27. Qb6+ Bb7 28. Nc6+ Ka8 29. Qa7#) 26. Qxd4+ 26... Kxa5 { Maybe forced, unfortunately for Black. } 27. b4+ Ka4 28. Qc3 {(Maybe - '!') This is probably a[forced] win for White. And it is very, very pretty. } ( { I think GM Kavalek was the first to point out that the move} 28. Ra7 { is even better than the text move. (But the analysis is very complicated - and runs many, many pages!! - and I will not reproduce it here.)}) 28... Qxd5 { From here on out its a King Hunt. But an exceptionally pretty one. } 29. Ra7 29... Bb7 30. Rxb7 30... Qc4 31. Qxf6 31... Kxa3 32. Qxa6+ 32... Kxb4 { When I first went over this game, I thought Black had escaped here. } { With his next few moves, White continues in an ultra-brilliant vein. Then he finishes crisply. } 33. c3+ 33... Kxc3 34. Qa1+ Kd2 35. Qb2+ Kd1 36. Bf1 36... Rd2 37. Rd7 37... Rxd7 38. Bxc4 bxc4 39. Qxh8 Rd3 40. Qa8 c3 41. Qa4+ Ke1 42. f4 f5 43. Kc1 Rd2 44. Qa7 {Black Resigns. } ( {If} 44. Qa7 {then} 44... Rxh2 45. Qg1+ { wins Black's Rook. Easily one of the most brilliant games ever played.}) 1-0