World Chess Championship 1984–1985

The World Chess Championship 1984–1985 was a match between challenger Garry Kasparov and defending champion Anatoly Karpov in Moscow from 10 September 1984 to 15 February 1985 for the World Chess Championship title. After 5 months and 48 games, the match was called off, with Karpov leading 5 to 3, and 40 draws. The match was replayed in the World Chess Championship 1985.

World Chess Championship 1984–1985
 
Defending champion
Challenger
 
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
  Soviet Union Anatoly Karpov Soviet Union Garry Kasparov
 
5*Scores3*
  Born 23 May 1951
33 years old
Born 13 April 1963
21 years old
  Winner of the 1981 World Chess Championship Winner of the 1983 Candidates Tournament
  Rating: 2700
(World No. 2)
Rating: 2710
(World No. 1)
← 1981
1985 →

A Soviet stamp dedicated to the World Chess Championship 1984

1982 Interzonals

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Three Interzonal tournaments were held. The top two finishers in each qualified. Zoltán Ribli won the Las Palmas Interzonal ahead of 61-year-old former World Champion Vasily Smyslov.[1] Kasparov, 19 years old, won the Moscow Interzonal by a 1½ point margin ahead of Alexander Beliavsky.[2] The Toluca Interzonal was won jointly by Lajos Portisch and Eugenio Torre.[3]

July 1982 Interzonal, Las Palmas
Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Total Tie break
1   Zoltán Ribli (Hungary) 2580 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 9
2   Vasily Smyslov (Soviet Union) 2565 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1
3   Mihai Suba (Romania) 2525 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 0 8
4   Vladimir Tukmakov (Soviet Union) 2555 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 48.00
5   Tigran Petrosian (Soviet Union) 2605 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 47.00
6   Jan Timman (Netherlands) 2600 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 39.25
7   Bent Larsen (Denmark) 2595 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 37.50
8   József Pintér (Hungary) 2550 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 6 39.25
9   Jonathan Mestel (England) 2540 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 1 0 1 ½ 0 1 6 36.00
10   Lev Psakhis (Soviet Union) 2615 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 6 35.00
11   Lars Karlsson (Sweden) 2505 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 35.25
12   Slim Bouaziz (Tunisia) 2360 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 32.75
13   Jaime Sunye Neto (Brazil) 2500 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 31.25
14   Walter Browne (United States) 2590 ½ 0 1 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 3
September 1982 Interzonal, Moscow
Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Total Tie break
1   Garry Kasparov (Soviet Union) 2675 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 10
2   Alexander Beliavsky (Soviet Union) 2620 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 ½ 1
3   Mikhail Tal (Soviet Union) 2610 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 8 48.00
4   Ulf Andersson (Sweden) 2610 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 8 47.50
5   Efim Geller (Soviet Union) 2565 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 46.50
6   Guillermo Garcia Gonzales (Cuba) 2500 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 0 1 1 ½ 0 1 45.25
7   Jacob Murey (Israel) 2500 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1
8   Gyula Sax (Hungary) 2560 0 1 ½ ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 6 37.50
9   Larry Christiansen (United States) 2505 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 6 34.25
10   Dragoljub Velimirović (Yugoslavia) 2495 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½
11   John van der Wiel (Netherlands) 2520 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 5 31.25
12   Florin Gheorghiu (Romania) 2535 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 5 29.25
13   Ruben Rodríguez (Philippines) 2415 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 1
14   Miguel Quinteros (Argentina) 2520 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 3

Tal and Andersson contested a playoff in Malmö for a reserve spot for the Candidates Tournament. The match ended 3–3; Tal became first reserve because of his better tie break score, but no reserves were needed.

1982 Interzonal, Toluca
Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Total Tie break
1   Lajos Portisch (Hungary) 2625 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 51.75
2   Eugenio Torre (Philippines) 2535 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 51.00
3   Boris Spassky (France) 2610 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 8
4   Igor Ivanov (Canada) 2505 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 48.00
5   Artur Yusupov (Soviet Union) 2555 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 46.00
6   Lev Polugaevsky (Soviet Union) 2610 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 44.50
7   Yasser Seirawan (United States) 2595 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 44.25
8   John Nunn (England) 2565 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 7
9   Yuri Balashov (Soviet Union) 2555 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 38.00
10   András Adorján (Hungary) 2510 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 36.75
11   Krunoslav Hulak (Yugoslavia) 2495 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1
12   Jorge Rubinetti (Argentina) 2415 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 4 27.00
13   Amador Rodríguez Céspedes (Cuba) 2480 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 4 26.75
14   Bachar Kouatly (Lebanon) 2440 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

1983–1984 Candidates tournament

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The six Interzonal qualifiers were joined by Viktor Korchnoi and Robert Hübner, the Candidates finalists from the previous cycle (World Chess Championship 1981). The eight players participated in a series of knockout matches. The winner was Garry Kasparov.[4]

The Smyslov–Hübner match was tied at 5–5. After playing four extra games without breaking the tie, the match was resolved by a spin of the roulette wheel. The ball went into the zero on the first spin, before deciding in favor of Smyslov.[5]

Politics threatened Kasparov's semi-final match against Viktor Korchnoi, which was scheduled to be played in Pasadena, California. Korchnoi had defected from the Soviet Union in 1976, and was at that time the strongest active non-Soviet player. Various political manoeuvres prevented Kasparov from playing Korchnoi in the United States, and Kasparov forfeited the match. This was resolved when Korchnoi agreed for the match to be replayed in London, along with the Vasily Smyslov vs. Zoltán Ribli match. The Korchnoi–Kasparov match was put together on short notice by Raymond Keene. Kasparov won 7–4.[citation needed]

1984–1985 Championship match

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World Chess Championship Match September 1984 – February 1985: Games 1-24
Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
  Anatoly Karpov 2700 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½
  Garry Kasparov 2710 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½
World Chess Championship Match September 1984 – February 1985: Games 25-48
Rating 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 Wins Total
  Anatoly Karpov 2700 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 5 25
  Garry Kasparov 2710 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 3 23

The previous record length for a world title match had been 34 games, the 1927 match between José Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine, which also followed the "first to 6 wins" format.

The match was ended without result by Florencio Campomanes, the President of the World Chess Federation, 5–3 in favor of Karpov, and a new match was announced to start a few months later. The termination was controversial, as both players stated that they preferred the match to continue. Announcing his decision at a press conference, Campomanes cited the health of the players, which had been strained by the length of the match (5 months: 10 September 1984 to 8 February 1985).[6] This match is the first and only world championship match to be called off without result. The decision to call off the match was very controversial and there was skepticism that Campomanes had made the decision due to political pressure[7].

The restarted match (the World Chess Championship 1985) was best of 24. Kasparov won 13–11.

In 2020, Karpov said that if he had won this match 6–0, Kasparov would never have become world champion, because he was too emotional.[8][9]

Notes

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  1. ^ World Chess Championship : 1982-84 cycle : 1982 Las Palmas Interzonal Archived 20 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Mark-weeks.com. Retrieved on 1 July 2016.
  2. ^ World Chess Championship : 1982-84 cycle : 1982 Moscow Interzonal Archived 11 March 2000 at the Wayback Machine. Mark-weeks.com. Retrieved on 1 July 2016.
  3. ^ World Chess Championship : 1982-84 cycle : 1982 Toluca Interzonal Archived 6 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Mark-weeks.com. Retrieved on 1 July 2016.
  4. ^ "World Chess Championship : 1982-84 cycle : Candidates Matches". Mark-weeks.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  5. ^ Byrne, Robert (9 May 1983). "Chess; Should Chance Decide the Outcome of a Match?". New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Karpov vs Kasparov, 1984-85 The Aborted Match". chessgames.com. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  7. ^ "25 years ago: termination of the first K-K match". chessbase.com. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  8. ^ "Karpov on Fischer, Korchnoi, Kasparov and the chess world today". Chessbase. 5 February 2020. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  9. ^ "Karpov at 70: "My great blunder was I agreed to hold the match with Kasparov in the Soviet Union"". Chess24. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2022.

General references

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