Kasparov versus Topalov, 1999

On 20 January 1999, Garry Kasparov defeated Veselin Topalov with White in the fourth round at Wijk aan Zee. Kasparov and Anand had entered the round sharing the lead on 2.5 points out of 3. The game that would become known as Kasparov’s Immortal was also a point in that contest for the lead.

Both kings castled queenside. The pursuit that followed therefore did not arise from the familiar pattern of attacks on opposite wings. Topalov sought space and activity with his central pawns; Kasparov gathered his pieces around the lines those advances could open. Black’s shelter became vulnerable in a position that also offered counterplay to the defender.

Accepting the sacrifice

The turning point was 24.Rxd4 . Kasparov offered a rook and Topalov took it. Acceptance was not compulsory: by taking the rook, Black turned a tense position into a struggle in which his material advantage had to withstand the attack on his king. The second rook immediately joined in with check, and the black king eventually crossed into White’s territory.

Topalov did more than run. He captured material and threatened White’s queen, so Kasparov had to maintain the initiative without assuming that his own problems were solved. That resistance gives the pursuit its character: this is not a string of interchangeable checks, but a combination of threats that changes shape as the king moves farther from its defenders.

When the king reached d1, the pursuit gave way to a threat against Black’s queen. With 36.Bf1 and 37.Rd7, coordination between bishop and rook turned the attack into material gain. The exchanges left Kasparov with queen against rook and one pawn fewer. He still had to contain the counterplay from Black’s passed pawn, but no longer needed to deliver mate to win. Topalov resigned after 44.Qa7.

Reputation and results

Discussion of the defence did not have to wait decades. On 25 January 1999, Mark Crowther was already celebrating the game in The Week in Chess while noting that declining the first rook was a serious option. Admiration did not require overlooking the defender’s alternatives.

Kasparov finished the tournament on 10 points out of 13, half a point ahead of Anand. This fourth-round game had not secured the overall victory by itself. In his report of 1 February, Crowther wrote that Kasparov considered the game against Peter Svidler his best and most important win of the tournament; it was the reporter who predicted that the Topalov game would be remembered. The most memorable game did not have to be the one that secured first place.