On Wednesday Garry Kasparov, the world's best player in the last two decades, will turn 42. After he retired from professional competition last month he was asked what his greatest game was. He pointed to his encounter against Bulgarian grandmaster Veselin Topalov, played in the Dutch coastal town of Wijk aan Zee in 1999. Later in an interview with his friend Michael Greengard, Kasparov called the game "the best combination ever."
It is certainly his most entertaining game but hardly his best. Kasparov even considered his win against Peter Svidler from the same tournament to be better from the professional point of view, but the crowd demanded Topalov's head and he went along. The Bulgarian supplied a helping hand on a few occasions, playing as in the old romantic times when accepting sacrifices was an honor. Kasparov's punishment was swift. He hunted the black king down to the first rank with brilliant tactical strokes.
It looked marvelous to me when I was replaying the moves the same day they were played, until I discovered that white could have attacked better with a rook move 28.Ra7, creating two separate mating threats. Kasparov later admitted that this idea "provided the opportunity to realize all problem motives in a clearer way, keeping black from using new defensive resources." It was not a usual move, neither to humans nor to the computers. In his excellent book "Modern Chess Analysis," issued last year by Gambit Publications, Robin Smith wrote that on his computer the chess program Fritz needed about 30 minutes to find 28.Ra7 and after over eight hours still did not see a large advantage for white. Here are the key points from the game.
Kasparov-Topalov
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Qd2 c6 6.f3 b5 7.Nge2 Nbd7 8.Bh6 Bxh6 9.Qxh6 Bb7 10.a3 e5 11.0-0-0 Qe7 12.Kb1 a6 13.Nc1 0-0-0 14.Nb3 exd4 15.Rxd4 c5 16.Rd1 Nb6 17.g3 Kb8 18.Na5 Ba8 19.Bh3 d5 20.Qf4+ Ka7 21.Rhe1 d4 22.Nd5 Nbxd5 23.exd5 Qd6 (Now the fun begins with a double-rook sacrifice.)
24.Rxd4! cxd4? (Topalov either did not see what was coming or did not believe it. Otherwise he would have played either 24...Kb6 or 24...g5 with a slight edge for black.) 25.Re7+! Kb6 (Accepting the second rook leads to a forced mate: 25...Qxe7 26.Qxd4+ Kb8 27.Qb6+ Bb7 28.Nc6+ Ka8 29.Qa7 mate.) 26.Qxd4+ Kxa5 27.b4+ Ka4 (The king is entombed.)
28.Qc3?! (Kasparov is usually very good in weaving mating nets, but he loses the golden thread here. The most elegant and efficient way to finish the game begins with the subtle 28.Ra7!, combining mating threats on the a-file and on the square b3.
Now taking the pawn on d5 loses quickly. After 28...Bxd5 comes 29.Qc3 and now on 29...Rhe8 30.Kb2 Re2 31.Qc7! Qxc7 32.Rxa6+ Qa5 33.Rxa5 mates; or after 29...Bc4 30.Kb2 Ra8 31.Qb3+! Bxb3 32.cxb3 mates. Also after 28...Nxd5 29.Rxa6+! Qxa6 30.Qb2 Nc3+ 31.Qxc3 Bd5 32.Kb2 black has no good defense to the pretty finale 33.Qb3+! Bxb3 34.cxb3 mate.
After 28.Ra7! the main defense is 28...Bb7, but after 29.Rxb7 black can't survive, for example:
a) 29...Nxd5 30.Bd7! Rxd7 [or 30...Ra8 31.Bxb5+ axb5 32.Ra7+ Qa6 33.Qxd5 Qxa7 34.Qb3 mate.] 31.Qb2 Nc3+ [On 31...Nxb4 32.Rxd7 Qc5 33.Rd4 wins.] 32.Qxc3 Qd1+ 33.Ka2 Qd5+ [Or 33...Rd3 34.Ra7! winning.] 34.Qb3+ Qxb3+ 35.cxb3 mate.
b) 29...Rhe8 30.Bf1 Re1+ 31.Kb2 Rxf1 32.Qc3 Rb1+ 33.Kxb1 Qxd5 34.Ra7 Rd6 35.Kb2 and white mates soon.
c) The main point is that on 29...Qxd5 white does not have to transpose into the game with 30.Qc3. Instead, he can use the extra move for a direct assault with 30.Rb6!, e.g. 30...a5 [On 30...Ra8 31.Qxf6 a5 32.Rd6 Qc4 33.bxa5 Kxa5 34.Rc6 wins.] 31.Ra6! Ra8 32.Qe3!! and after this quiet move black has no defense, being two rooks up. For example 32...Rhe8 33.Rxa8 Rxa8 34.Kb2 axb4 35.axb4 Kxb4 36.Qc3+ Ka4 37.Qa3 mate; or 32...Rxa6 33.Kb2 axb4 34.axb4 Qa2+ 35.Kxa2 Kxb4+ 36.Kb2 Rc6 37.Bf1 and white wins since avoiding mate would cost black dearly in material.)
28...Qxd5 29.Ra7 Bb7 30.Rxb7 Qc4?! (Topalov should have tried 30...Rhe8!? 31.Rb6 Ra8, since Gerd Lighterink's winning move 32.Bf1! is not easy to find during the game.) 31.Qxf6 Kxa3? (This allows a magnificent finale. Topalov should have played 31...Rd1+ 32.Kb2 Ra8! 33.Qb6 Qd4+ 34.Qxd4 Rxd4, although after 35.Rxf7! white keeps winning chances. Kasparov intended 35.Bd7, but after 35...Rd6! black holds.) 32.Qxa6+ Kxb4 33.c3+! (A subtle beauty, winning by force.) 33...Kxc3 34.Qa1+ Kd2 35.Qb2+ Kd1 36.Bf1! (Amazing key point Kasparov must have seen long before.) 36...Rd2 (After 36...Qxf1 37.Qc2+ Ke1 38.Re7+ Qe2 39.Qxe2 mates; and on 36...Qe6 37.Qc1+ mate is a very picturesque end.) 37.Rd7! (Beautiful decisive deflection, winning material.) 37...Rxd7 38.Bxc4 bxc4 39.Qxh8 Rd3 40.Qa8 c3 41.Qa4+ Ke1 42.f4 f5 43.Kc1 Rd2 44.Qa7 Black resigned.
(White: Ke5,Nb8,P:a5,g4,g6; Black: Kf8,P:d5,f3,g7,h5): 1.Nd7+ Ke8 (On 1...Ke7 2.Nb6 f2 3.Nxd5+ Kd7 4.Ne3 wins.) 2.Nf6+ gxf6+ 3.Ke6 Kf8 4.a6 f2 5.a7 f1Q 6.a8Q+ Kg7 7.Qh8+!! Kxh8 (Or 7...Kxg6 8.Qg8+ Kh6 9.Kf7 wins.) 8.Kf7! and white mates.
