[Event "?"]
[Site "Dortmund"]
[Date "1993.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kamsky, G"]
[Black "Karpov, An"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Karpov, An"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 Ngf6 6. Bd3 e6 7. N1f3 Bd6 { One of the central positions in the modern development of the Caro-Kann Defense. The rarer continuation 7...Qc7 was covered in the previous game. Currently, the moves 7...h6 and 7...Be7 are also popular. } 8. Qe2 { A more active continuation than 8.0-0, which was played against me by Kasparov in Amsterdam, 1988. After 8...h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Bxe4, black could have equalized with 10...Nf6!?. But I chose a different plan: 10...0-0 11.c3 e5 (11...Qc7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Qd3 Nf8 14.Re1 b6 15.Ne5 Bb7 16.Qh3, is also better for white, Bellin-Thipsay, England 1987.) 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Re1 exd4 14.Rxe8+ Qxe8 15.Qxd4 Qe7 16.Bf4 Bxf4 17.Qxf4, with a clear positional advantage for white.
Another game with Kamsky in the same variation, from Tilburg 1991, continued differently, with 8.c3 h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Bxe4 0-0 11.0-0 c5 (a novelty, earlier 11...e5, which favors white, had been seen) 12.Bc2 (12.dxc5 Bxc5 13.Bc2 Qc7 14.Qe2 Nf6 15.Ne5 Bd6 16.Bf4 b6 17.Rad1 Ba6, with equality) 12...Qc7 13.Re1 Rd8 14.h3 Nf6 15.Qe2 cxd4 16.Nxd4 Bh2+ 17.Kh1 Bf4 18.Nb5 Qb8 19.a4 Bd7 20.Bxf4 Qxf4 21.Nd4 Bc6!, and black solved all problems in the opening. Soon, the game was drawn. } 8... h6 9. Ne4 { An attempt to avoid the trade of the knights with 9.Nh3 g5!? 10.Nd2?! Nb6 11.Nb3 Qc7 12.Ng1 Nbd5, led to equality in Borkowski-Sapis (Hradec Kralove, 1987/88), but in this line 10.Nhg1! Qc7 11.Bd2 b6, is interesting, with complex play.
The capture on e6 in this situation is not at all dangerous for black: 9.Nxe6 fxe6 10.Bg6+ Ke7 11.0-0 Nf8 12.Bd3 Bd7 13.Ne5 Qe8 14.f4 Kd8 15.c4 Kc7 16.Bd2 Rc8 17.c5 Be7 18.f5 Kb8 19.Rae1 Bd8, and black has a clear advantage (Arnason-Ostenstad, Thorshavn 1987). } 9... Nxe4 10. Qxe4 { If 10.Bxe4 0-0, black later pushes through c6-c5 or e6-e5 with good play. } 10... Nf6 { After 10...Qc7 11.Qg4 Kf8 12.0-0, black experienced some difficulties in Gelfand-Speelman (Munich 1992), but he was able to hold the position. Beliavsky recommends the plan with queenside castling (see his notes to Game 23). Recently, a couple of important games concerning this theme were played:
Khalifman-Epishin (Dos Hermanas 1993): 10...Qc7 11.Bd2 b6 12.Qg4 Kf8 13.0-0-0 Bb7 14.Rhe1 Rd8 15.Kb1 (not 15.Rxe6 fxe6 16.Nh4 Nf6 17.Qxe6 Qf7!; 15.c4 c5 16.Bc3?! Nf6 17.Qh4 Bxf3 18.gxf3 Bf4+ also gives white nothing.) 15...Nf6 16.Qh4 (no better is 18.Ng4 or 18.Bc3) 16...cxd4 19.g4 (19.Re2 with the initiative is correct) 19...g5 20.Qf2 (20.fxg6 hxg6 21.Qg3 Rhg8 favors black), and now after 20...Rhe8 21.h3 a5?! 22.Re2 Nd5 23.Rde1 Ne3 24.Bxe3 dxe3 25.Qxe3 Qc5 and the players agreed to a draw in an unclear position. They had little time left. Instead of 21...a5?!, 21...Nd5!? gave black a noticeable advantage.
Sion Castro-Karpov (Leon 1993): 12...g5! (an important improvement over 12...Kf8) 13.Qh3 Rg8! 14.g4 (after 14.Qh6 Bf8 15.Qh7 Nf6! 16.Qh3 g4 17.Qh4 gxf3 18.Qxf6 fxg2, white maintains equality with 19.Rg1 Qh2 20.0-0-0; 14.Bh7 Rh8 15.Bd3 is also equal) 14...Bb7 15.0-0-0 0-0-0 16.Rhe1 Bf4 17.Kb1 Rh8 18.Bc3 (18.Bxf4 Qxf4 19.Qg3 Qxg3 20.hxg3 c5 is equal) 18...Kb8 19.d5 cxd5 20.Bxh8 Rxh8 21.Nd4 a6 22.Ne6 (if 22.Qf1, 22...Nc5 is strong) 22..fxe6 23.Rxe6 Ne5! 24.Bf5 Nc4 25.Rxh6 Rxh6 26.Qxh6 Qe5 27.Qf8+ Ka7 28.Qb4 Nd2+, and black won quickly. } 11. Qh4 { Up until now, the queen almost automatically retreated to e2, for example, Sokolov played this against me once (Belfort 1988). This game turned out in white's favor and is
annotated by Beliavsky (Game 23).
On 11.Qh4, theory indicates 11...Nd5, but after 12.Qxd8+ Kxd8 13.c3,white has a small positional advantage, and more importantly, black has little play.
After 11...Qa5+ 12.Bd2 Qh5 13.Qxh5 Nxh5 14.Ne5! 0-0 15.0-0-0, black also does not have enough counterplay (Hector-Hodgson, London 1991): 15...c5 (better is 15...Nf6) 16.g4 Nf6 17.g5! hxg5 18.Bxg5 Nd5 (if 18...cxd4 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Rdg1+ Kh8 21.Rg3! Be5 22.Rh3+ and Rg1+) 19.Nc4 Bc7 20.dxc5, with a noticeable white advantage.
Of course, 11...0-0 is bad because of the standard 12.Bxh6! gxh6 13.Qxh6, after which black will not survive; 14.Ng5 is enough of a threat. } 11... Ke7 $5 { This quite paradoxical king move to the center of the board was found by me back in 1988, while I was preparing for the aforementioned game against Kasparov. I was afraid of the queen shift to the kingside. The exchange of queens seemed to me to be a dull idea. It took me a long time before I found the correct decision. And so this important novelty remained a secret for five years!
The idea of the king move is that black unexpectedly harmonizes the placement of his pieces, which were a bit out of sync only a move ago. But now the threat is g7-g5-g4, winning a piece. If white wants to maintain the opening advantage, he must act decisively. } 12. Ne5 { The most ambitious decision. White sacrifices a pawn, noting that the enemy king is stranded in the center. Of course, 12.Bf4 Bb4+ 13.Bd2 (otherwise 13...g5) 13...Bxd2+ 14.Kxd2, hardly suits him. } 12... Bxe5 13. dxe5 Qa5+ 14. c3 { Also possible is 14.Bd2 Qxe5+ 15.Be3, and it is quite unsafe for black to grab the second pawn on b2. But the position of the white pawn on c3 is more convenient for him than on c2. } 14... Qxe5+ 15. Be3 b6 16. O-O-O g5 17. Qa4 { Also very complicated is 17.Qh3 c5 18.Rhe1. } 17... c5 18. Rhe1 Bd7 19. Qa3 Rhd8 20. g3 { It looks like white can get a decisive initiative with 20.f4 (to close the c1-h6 diagonal and prevent checks there) 20...gxf4 21.Bd4. Now 21...Qd5 loses to 22.Re5 Qxg2 23.Rxc5! bxc5 24.Qxc5+ Ke8 25.Bxf6. 21...Qc7 22.Be5 Qc6 23.Bxf6+ (23.Bxf4!? Qa4?? 24.Bd6+! Ke8 25.Rxe6+! fxe6 26.Bg6 Mate, is a unique combination) 23...Kxf6 24.Be4 Qa4, is also good for white. But black has a saving continuation. It is 21...Qg5! 22.Re5 Qh4!, and now 23.g3 does not reach the goal because of 23...fxg3 24.hxg3 Qxg3 25.Rxc5 bxc5 26.Qxc5+ Ke8 27.Bxf6 Qf4+. } 20... Qc7 { The queen has left the center, and black guards all the entrances to his king's palace. } 21. Bd4 { Now if 21.f4, black has the strong response: 21...Ng4 22.Bd4 gxf4 23.h3 Ne3. } 21... Be8 $1 22. Kb1 Rd5 { Maybe 22...Bc6!? 23.Be5 Qd7 24.Bc2 Qb7, is even better. } 23. f4 $1 Rad8 24. Bc2 { Good for black is 24.Be5 Qc6! 25.c4 R5d7 26.Qc3 Ng4 27.fxg5 hxg5 28.Rf1 Rd4! } 24... R5d6 25. Bxf6+ Kxf6 26. fxg5+ hxg5 27. Rxd6 Rxd6 28. c4 { The only move, for otherwise the white queen is out of play. } 28... Ke7 29. Qe3 f6 30. h4 { Kamsky offered a draw here, in mutual time pressure. But I refused the offer, because black's chances are better: white has already lost the two bishops' advantage, and he still has not regained his pawn... } 30... gxh4 31. gxh4 Qd7 32. Qh6 e5 $6 { This, alas, disrupts the logic of the struggle. In time pressure, I decided to protect the f6 pawn, missing the opportunity to do this much more effectively: 32...Rd2! 33.Rf1 Qd4, and white's position is hopeless. } 33. h5 Qg4 { Here, too, 33...Rd2!? is stronger. } 34. Qh7+ Kd8 { A draw results from 34...Bf7 35.Bg6 Rd1+ (35...Qxc4 36.b3 Qe6 37.Rg1). } 35. h6 Rd2 36. Qf5 Qxf5 37. Bxf5 Bd7 $2 38. Bg6 $2 { I made a mistake, and Kamsky does not take advantage of my time pressure blunder. After 38.Kc1! already black must fight for the draw: 38...Rd4 (The rook cannot leave the d-file because of 39.Rd1, winning a bishop.) 39.Bxd7! Rxc4+ (Black cannot recapture on d7, as after 40.Rd1 the pawn slides in on h8 and queens.) 40.Kb1 Rh4 (40...Kxd7 41.Rh1) 41.Rd1 Rxh6. } 38... Rh2 39. h7 Ke7 40. Bd3 Be6 41. Rg1 f5 42. Rg7+ Kf6 43. Rxa7 e4 44. Be2 f4 45. b3 f3 46. Bd1 Bf5 47. Kc1 Bxh7 48. Rb7 Ke5 49. Rxb6 Rxa2 { If we exclude black's going astray in time pressure, the result of the game can be considered quite just. } 0-1