In 1984 two chess legends faced each other in what would become the longest and most controversial match in the history of the World Chess Championships, which lasted from September 10th to February 8th 1985. Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov, two of the greatest players ever, competed on the Moscow table.
Karpov was the reigning champion, symbol of the Soviet elite: methodical, precise, cold. Kasparov, however, was the new genius of the Soviet Union, a 21-year-old boy born in Baku, in present-day Azerbaijan, who grew up in the school of the legendary Mikhail Botvinnik, a former world champion who had sensed his talent as a child. At 12 Kasparov won the USSR Junior Championship, at 16 he became World Junior Champion, and at 17 he achieved the title of Grandmaster.
After 5 months and 48 games the match was interrupted with no winners or losers. The decision came on February 15, 1985, when the then president of FIDE (the international chess federation) Florencio Campomanes announced in front of the cameras the end of the match, officially due to the tiredness of the players. For many, however, it was a political move, a way to protect the reigning champion Karpov, supported by the Soviet government, and prevent the young Kasparov, considered too independent, from ousting him.
That challenge, which lasted almost half a year, was much more than a game of chess: it was a duel between two visions of the Soviet Union, between the stability of the system and the desire for change.
48 games, tiredness and comeback: the epic duel between Karpov and Kasparov
Their confrontation began on September 10, 1984. On paper, Karpov was the favorite: he had already defended the title several times, showed a solid game and was an excellent calculator. Kasparov, on the other hand, brought an aggressive and creative style to the match, but also a certain impetuosity.
At first there seemed to be no story: Karpov won five games and took a 5-0 lead. Observers thought the match was virtually over. But Kasparov, aware that continuing to attack would mean losing, completely changed his strategy. He started playing for draws, forcing Karpov into very long, exhausting and psychologically exhausting matches.
The public, however, did not appreciate it. In Moscow, after one of the many games that ended in a draw after only 17 moves, the crowd reacted with boos and protests. The newspapers spoke of “anti-chess”. The rules of the tournament, in those days, were simple: whoever achieved 6 victories would win the title, but there was no limit of games.
Karpov lost about 10 kg during the months of the match, Kasparov about 7, both exhausted by tension and endless matches. Kasparov slowly began to catch up: after three months of play his first victory came. Then two more followed. After 48 games, the score was 5 to 3 for Karpov, but the momentum had now changed. Kasparov was growing, while the reigning champion appeared exhausted, so much so that according to doctors he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
The decision of the President of FIDE and the new rules
In February 1985 Florencio Campomanes made the decision to stop the match. The official reason was that the match was going on too long – five months of exhausting play – and this was seriously jeopardizing the health of the players and the interest of the public. The announcement was blunt: a new match would be organised, but with different rules. Victory would have gone to whoever had won 6 matches out of a maximum of 24. If no one had achieved this goal, the title would have remained with the reigning champion. And should the challenger win, Karpov would be entitled to a rematch within a few months.
Kasparov protested strongly, claiming that he was making a comeback and that Karpov himself had plotted to stop the world championship. Furthermore, Karpov himself was still in favor of continuing. The decision created a hornet’s nest of controversy in the Soviet Union, where the match had become more than a sporting clash: a symbol of ideology, generations and politics.
The two met again several times, from the 1985 rematch won by Kasparov who at just 22 years old became the youngest World Champion in history, with a final score of 13 to 11, until the last official matches. In total they faced each other 161 times, of which 144 for the world title: 24 victories for Kasparov, 20 for Karpov, the rest draws. Their rivalry has become the symbol of a battle that goes beyond the chessboard, a duel between worldviews, generations and political strategies, which has remained imprinted in the memory of those who follow chess and the history of the twentieth century.
