Kasparov Wins 22nd Chess Game, Needs Only 1 Draw

LENINGRAD, Soviet Union —  World chess champion Gary Kasparov defeated challenger Anatoly Karpov in the 22nd game of their title rematch Saturday and needs only one draw in the remaining two games to clinch the series.

Kasparov leads the match 11 1/2-10 1/2 points and would retain the chess crown he won from his fellow Soviet last November in the event of a 12-12 tie in the 24-game series. A player gets one-half point for a draw and one point for a victory.

“If it’s 12-12, he keeps his title, but obviously Kasparov will want to score a real-points victory,” said Cuban chess expert Frank Guiral, predicting aggressive play by Kasparov in the concluding contests.

On Monday, Karpov will play the white pieces, which have the advantage of first move.

Chess experts were perplexed by the position in the 22nd game when it adjourned Friday night, noting Kasparov was a pawn ahead but saying he had only a small chance for victory.

But overnight analysis revealed that Kasparov, playing white, had the chance of a mating attack if he had sealed the correct 41st move at the end of Friday’s play.

Burst Into Applause

When the champion arrived at the board in the 700-seat concert hall of the Hotel Leningrad on Saturday, the sealed move was revealed as knight to d7/queen 7. A small section of the crowd burst into applause, falling silent when arbiters appealed for calm.

The next five moves were played in four minutes, with Kasparov setting up an unstoppable checkmate.

In the final position, Karpov’s king is trapped in a corner, imprisoned by white’s knight and with its escape routes blocked by its own pieces.

Karpov resigned after white’s 46th move, and the audience stood to applaud Kasparov.

Kasparov was three points ahead of his rival nearly three weeks ago and seemed to have an insurmountable lead then. But Karpov fought back, winning three straight matches, including the 18th, in which he was playing the black pieces.

At the end of play Saturday, the players exchanged some words at the board. It was believed to be the first time they did so since their first 48-game match for the championship was halted by Florencio Campomanes, president of the World Chess Federation, in February, 1985.

Here are the moves:

Kasparov-Karpov 22: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 d5 4 Nc3 Be7 5 Bg5 h6 6 Bxf6 Bxf6 7 e3 0-0 8 Rc1 c6 9 Bd3 Nd7 10 0-0 dxc4 11 Bxc4 e5 12 h3 exd4 13 exd4 Nb6 14 Bb3 Bf5 15 Re1 a5 16 a3 Re8 17 Rxe8+ Qxe8 18 Qd2 Nd7 19 Qf4 Bg6 20 h4 Qd8 21 Na4 h5 22 Re1 b5 23 Nc3 Qb8 24 Qe3 b4 25 Ne4 bxa3 26 Nxf6+ Nxf6 27 bxa3 Nd5 28 Bxd5 cxd5 29 Ne5 Qd8 30 Qf3 Ra6 31 Rc1 Kh7 32 Qh3 Rb6 33 Rc8 Qd6 34 Qg3 a4 35 Ra8 Qe6 36 Rxa4 Qf5 37 Ra7 Rb1+ 38 Kh2 Rc1 39 Rb7 Rc2 40 f3 Rd2 41 Nd7 Rxd4 42 Nf8+ Kh6 43 Rb4 Rc4 44 Rxc4 Dxc4 45 Qd6 c3 46 Qd4 black resigns