Hello Chess Lovers
I was hesitant in addressing the games of Kasparov because so much has been written about him.
However I found a lacuna or "black hole" in the writing where authors addressed the moves and the
variations but not the man's own concept of how the game should be played. After reading Kasparov's book
how Life Imitates Chess, I started to connect the dots in how he worked off the board and over the board.So here I will try and condense my reading into simple blogs.
Kasparov took opening research in the 1980s to new levels.He was not satisfied with playable positions.
He wrote candidly that he loved finding the unclear positions in books.With a Sun in Aries, Kasparov was the archetypal warrior.He clearly read a lot on the history of warfare and applied it.For example he emphasised opponent research.This was not just a matter of looking at the opponent's opening choices.He followed Sun Tzu's Art of War to its logical extreme: learning what made the opposition uncomfortable.
He was also guided by the MTQ formula- Material,Time and Quality.Time was an essential component of his opening choices.He sought temporary advantages in time with pawn sacrifices and breakthrough moves which were based on the efforts of past masters.He also developed the concept of cutting the board in 2. He tried to get into positions where he would dominate the important side of the board-left or right-depending on the opening and the occasion.
Having mentioned all of that, lets see how it worked in action:
Kasparov v Marjanovic 1979 Banja Luka
1.d4Nf6 2.c4e6 3.Nf3b6 4.a3 This move became quite a lethal part of Kasparov's weaponry.He never allowed his opponent active possibilities.Bb7 5.Nc3d5 6.cd5Nd5 7.e3Be7?! 8.Bb5! provoking ..c6c6
Now black's bishop is not so influential.Kasparov always looked for ways to induce weaknesses.9.Bd30-0 10.e4Nc3 11.bc3c5 12.0-0h6 a slight weakening of the g6 square which will become worse later on.
These are the types of moves that alert aggressive players.
13.Bf4cd4 14.cd4Nc6 Having studied hundreds of Kasparov's games I found that quality of development was vital to him.He never embarked on committal attacks before development. Here developed and then starts with a breakthrough:
15.d5! Breakthrough. Kasparov sends the black knight to a5.This creates and imbalance on the board.
15...Na5 now black has 4 pieces on the Queen side which are not really achieving anything practical in the next 4-5 moves. 16.de6fe6 Now g6 is gravely weakened. 17.Bg3Rc8 18.Ne5! Pouncing on the g6 square and freeing g4 for the Queen. 18...Bf6 19.Qg4 Black still has 4 pieces on the queen side and white has 4 pieces which can assault the black king.
19...Qe8 20.Ng6Ba1 21.Nf8Bb2 22.Ne6and now g7 is in danger 22...h5?! Black tries to unseat the white queen from a superb outpost.
23.Qe2Bf6 24.Nc7Qf7 25.e5! Opening the b1-h7 diagonal.Qc7 26.Qh5 once again Kasparov goes for the imbalance he achieves a favourable attacking ratio.
26...Qc6 27.f3Be7 28.Bh7The queen and bishop hit black on the white squares.Kf8 29.Qf5Ke8 30.Bg6Kd8 31.Rd1Qd5 32.Rd5Rd5 33.Qd3Rc1 34.Kf2 1-0 Its important to note Kasparov always made sure that his king was secure before launching an attack.
The crucial moves were :
15.d5! -The battering ram
16.de6- weakening g6
25.e5! Opening the b1 -h7 diagonal.
The way the young Kasparov conducted this offensive game was a sign of things to come.
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