[Event "SuperGM"]
[Site "Linares ESP"]
[Date "2001.03.05"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Karpov, A."]
[Black "Kasparov, G."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Henderson,John"]
[BlackElo "2849"]
[ECO "D73"]
[EventDate "2001.??.??"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[WhiteElo "2679"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5 5. c4 dxc4 6. Na3 c3 7. bxc3 O-O 8. O-O c5 9. e3 { A modest little move. White intends to build a long-term advantage. } 9... Nc6 10. Qe2 Bf5 11. Rd1 Qb6 $5 $146 ( { An interesting TN from Kasparov,
who signals his intent on complicating matters against his old foe. } 11... Qa5 { is more usual. However, in that line, White would continue as in the game
with Nc4, and Black will play ..Qa6 - therefore we sort of transpose back into
the mainline. } ) 12. Bb2 Rfd8 13. Nc4 Qa6 14. a4 { Karpov obviously doesn't like
the idea of Kasparov fixing the a-pawn with a ..Qa4. } 14... Na5 15. Bf1 Ne4 16. Nfd2 ( { It looks like the only move.  Kasparov would have been only too happy with } 16. Nce5 $6 Qxe2 17. Bxe2 Be6 { and white has a lot of vulnerable weakpoints } ) 16... Nxd2 17. Nxa5 ( { The other option didn't hold much promise for White: } 17. Nxd2 Qxe2 18. Bxe2 Rac8 { and Black has an ideal Grunfeld ending. } ) 17... Qxa5 ( 17... Nxf1 $5 18. Qxa6 bxa6 19. Kxf1 Bg4 20. Rd2 Bf3 { is unclear - Black has the bishop-pair, White the better pawn structure. } ) 18. Rxd2 cxd4 19. cxd4 $2 ( { On Karpov's own admission, this is a bad move. 
Opening the c-file turns out bad for Karpov.  He had more dynamic chances with
the alternative recapture: } 19. exd4 $1 e5 20. Qb5 $1 { and White's no worse. } ) 19... Rac8 20. h3 ( { Karpov was beginning to worry about ..Bg4, so felt he had to prevent it } 20. Bg2 Bg4 21. Qe1 b6 22. d5 Bc3 $1 ( 22... Bxb2 23. Rxb2 $11 ) 23. Bxc3 Qxc3 { with a small plus for Black. } ) 20... Be4 21. Bg2 Bxg2 22. Kxg2 e5 $1 23. Kg1 h5 24. h4 b6 25. Rdd1 exd4 26. Bxd4 Bxd4 27. exd4 ( { The players came to the
conclusion very quickly that the alternative recapture would have made life
very difficult indeed for Karpov: } 27. Rxd4 $6 Rxd4 28. exd4 Qc3 29. Rd1 Qc4 ( 29... Qb3 30. a5 $11 ) 30. Qxc4 Rxc4 31. d5 Kf8 32. d6 Ke8 33. Re1+ Kd8 34. a5 bxa5 35. Re7 a6 36. Rxf7 a4 { is going to be difficult to defend. } ) 27... Qd5 ( 27... Qc3 28. Qe3 $11 ) 28. Qa6 $1 { In the nick of time.  Without this move,
White would have an impossible job to hold the position. Left to his own
devices, Kasparov would build-up on the c and a-pawns with ..Rc4 leaving White
with an awkward defence. } 28... Rc7 ( { Kasparov thought long and hard here over
his other option, which he couldn't quite get to work.  Come the post mortem,
the banter between the two titans (in Russian, obviously) became very animated: } 28... Rc2 $5 29. Qxa7 Rdc8 30. Rf1 $1 ( 30. Qxb6 Rxf2 $5 { Kasparov felt this
must have been mating, however, my little silicon friend Deep Fritz seems to
differ: } 31. Kxf2 Rc2+ 32. Ke3 Qg2 33. Qb8+ Kh7 34. Qb5 Qxg3+ ( 34... Qf2+ 35. Ke4 Qg2+ 36. Ke3 $11 ) 35. Ke4 Qg4+ ( 35... f5+ $2 36. Kd5 $18 ) 36. Ke3 $11 ) 30... Qxd4 $11 ) 29. Rac1 Qxd4 ( 29... Rxc1 30. Rxc1 Qxd4 31. Qxa7 $11 ) 30. Rxd4 Rxc1+ 31. Kg2 Rxd4 32. Qxa7 Rcc4 33. Qxb6 Rxa4 { Karpov even pointed out here
he successfully defended a similar position in the 1971 Alekhine Memorial
against Tal - and that went on for 103 moves!  There was no such chance of
that here, particularly as Kasparov had already won the tournament! } 34. Qb8+ Kh7 35. Qc7 Kg8 36. Qb8+ 1/2-1/2