LaviChess

Karpov vs. Kasparov, Game 16

A black knight lands on d3 on move sixteen and stays there for eighteen moves. Readers of the magazine Chess Informant voted it the best game of the magazine's first 64 issues.

  • WhiteAnatoly Karpov
  • BlackGarry Kasparov
  • WhereMoscow
  • WhenOctober 15, 1985
  • Event1985 World Championship match, game 16
  • Result0–1, Black won
  • OpeningSicilian Defense, Taimanov Variation (B44)
  • Length40 moves

The 1985 World Championship match was a restart. The previous year's match between the same players had been stopped without a result in February 1985, after 48 games over five months, the only world championship match ever to end that way. Now there would be at most 24 games, in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, and at 12–12 Karpov would keep his title.

After fifteen games the score was 7½–7½. Game 16 was played on October 15. The first ten moves were the same as in game 12. Karpov was the one who deviated, but Kasparov had analyzed the position carefully before the match.

Between the two matches, Kasparov had played, among other things, a training match in Belgrade against Sweden’s Ulf Andersson and won it with two wins and four draws.

The players

Anatoly Karpov (born 1951) had been world champion since 1975. He was 34 and had the higher rating, 2720 to 2700. For 25 years in a row, from 1974 to 1998, he was either world champion or challenger.

Garry Kasparov (born 1963) was 22. When the match was over, he had become the thirteenth world champion and the youngest yet. He kept the title until 2000 and was world number one for a total of 255 months, a record.

The game move by move

Step through with the arrows or tap a move. Moves with a dot have a comment.

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Anatoly Karpov has the white pieces, Garry Kasparov the black.

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Open on the analysis board

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Play like Kasparov

Guess the moves Kasparov played, one at a time. The move from the game earns two points, and a move Lavi thinks is about as good earns one. The other side's moves and the game's notes come as you go.

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The moments that decided it

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After 16…Nd3: the knight lands in the middle of White's position and stays there for eighteen moves.
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After 19…Bd6: the position Kasparov had aimed for in his home analysis.
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After 34…Nf2+: Karpov has taken the knight on d3, but now the queen falls.

The end

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The final position after 40…Re1+. White resigned after 40…Re1+.

Why the game is famous

The game is a famous example of an outpost: a knight so deep in the opponent's position that it ties down all of White's major pieces, and that White couldn't get rid of until he gave up his queen for it. Readers of Chess Informant voted it the best game of the magazine's first 64 issues.

With the win, Kasparov took the lead, 8½–7½. The match was decided only in game 24, and Kasparov won 13–11 and became world champion at 22. Karpov had the right to a rematch, which was played the following year.

The whole game with notes, as text

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 Nf6 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3 d5 Black gives up a pawn to get the pieces out quickly. 9. cxd5 exd5 10. exd5 Nb4 11. Be2 Bc5 This move is no longer played at the top level. Shortly after the game it was found that White can keep the extra pawn with 12.Be3 Bxe3 13.Qa4+, without the problems Karpov had here. 12. O-O O-O 13. Bf3 Bf5 14. Bg5 Re8 15. Qd2 b5 16. Rad1 Nd3 The knight lands on a very strong square in the middle of White's position. It will stay here until move 34. 17. Nab1 According to Kasparov, 17.d6 would have been better, although Black is better after 17…Qxd6 18.Bxa8 Rxa8 too. 17… h6 18. Bh4 b4 19. Na4 Bd6 This is what Kasparov had been aiming for in his home analysis. He wrote that the pair of the bishop on f5 and the knight on d3 “completely paralyzes all three White major pieces—a very rare occurrence in a practical game!” 20. Bg3 Rc8 21. b3 g5 22. Bxd6 Qxd6 23. g3 Nd7 24. Bg2 Qf6 25. a3 a5 26. axb4 axb4 27. Qa2 Bg6 28. d6 g4 29. Qd2 Kg7 30. f3 Kasparov has slowly increased the pressure, and Karpov finally tries to break out. 30… Qxd6 31. fxg4 Qd4+ 32. Kh1 Nf6 33. Rf4 Ne4 34. Qxd3 The knight on d3 finally falls, but it costs Karpov his queen. 34… Nf2+ A fork: the knight gives check and attacks the queen. 35. Rxf2 Bxd3 The bishop takes the queen. 36. Rfd2 Qe3 37. Rxd3 White has three minor pieces for the queen, often a reasonable trade, but they work poorly together and the king is exposed. 37… Rc1 38. Nb2 Qf2 39. Nd2 Rxd1+ 40. Nxd1 Re1+ Karpov resigned. Whichever piece he puts in the way, 41…Rxf1+ and 42…Qxf1# follow.

PGN – the game as text for other chess programs
[Event "1985 World Championship match, game 16"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1985.10.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anatoly Karpov"]
[Black "Garry Kasparov"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B44"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 Nf6 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3 d5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. exd5 Nb4 11. Be2 Bc5 12. O-O O-O 13. Bf3 Bf5 14. Bg5 Re8 15. Qd2 b5 16. Rad1 Nd3 17. Nab1 h6 18. Bh4 b4 19. Na4 Bd6 20. Bg3 Rc8 21. b3 g5 22. Bxd6 Qxd6 23. g3 Nd7 24. Bg2 Qf6 25. a3 a5 26. axb4 axb4 27. Qa2 Bg6 28. d6 g4 29. Qd2 Kg7 30. f3 Qxd6 31. fxg4 Qd4+ 32. Kh1 Nf6 33. Rf4 Ne4 34. Qxd3 Nf2+ 35. Rxf2 Bxd3 36. Rfd2 Qe3 37. Rxd3 Rc1 38. Nb2 Qf2 39. Nd2 Rxd1+ 40. Nxd1 Re1+ 0-1

Download .pgn

Sources

  • Chessgames.com, Karpov–Kasparov 1985, game 16
  • Wikipedia: World Chess Championship 1985
  • PGN Mentor, Kasparov.pgn

The moves compared in three sources (Chessgames, Wikipedia, PGN Mentor): identical, 80 half-moves. Karpov resigned after 40…Re1+. The date from Chessgames. Every move has also been replayed by computer and checked against the rules of chess.

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Updated November 6, 2026