From the archives: Chess foes need each other's skills

This article was originally published on Dec. 24, 1990

Chess champion Garry Kasparov and his challenger, Anatoly Karpov, were exhausted. Their faces were lined with fatigue, but after concluding a 10-hour game played over two days, they remained at the board Thursday for nearly 45 minutes, replaying much of the game. It seemed as if they were unable to leave each other, and as if no one else could intrude into their esoteric world.

They are the two best players in the world and have played each other more than any two chess figures in history; they admit they need each other to stay the best, and to play chess at its highest level. The next game in the 1990 World Chess Championship is scheduled for Wednesday, with Kasparov leading 11 1/2 to 9 1/2. It will be the 22nd game in the match, and the 142nd tournament game played against one another. 

If there is a draw, Kasparov will get a half point, raising his score to 12, and he will retain his title. He and Karpov would then continue to play until one of them reached 12 1/2 points to determine which would win the major portion of the $ 3-million prize. If the match ends in a 12-12 tie, Kasparov will retain the title, but will have to split the money evenly with Karpov. Karpov could win the title back only if Kasparov lost consistently until Karpov had amassed 12 1/2 points.

They have spent more than 700 hours sitting across a chess board from one another. Their relationship over the years has become cool but respectful, complex and almost symbiotic.

Of the 141 games they have played so far, Kasparov has the edge by only three victories,, two of which occurred in this match. They have reached the point where - because they are the world's top players and play at such a high level - each may be the only one who could truly compete against the other. Nobody else is likely to come close.

In an interview Friday in the newspaper The European, Kasparov said, "I haven't changed my mind about Karpov. But you have to realize that he is the only serious opponent for me. I am talking chess with the number two in the world. I wouldn't go to a restaurant with him, but who else can I really talk about these games? . . . Who else can Karpov talk about them with? Anatoly Karpov is the man who understands chess at the same level as I do."

Kasparov's point was clearly seen after the long 21st game, which ended in a draw Thursday night.

They stayed at the playing board, chatting amiably in Russian, moving the pieces rapidly across the board. They seemed to enjoy the post-mortem more than they did the game.

International grandmaster and U.S. champion Lev Alburt, who has attended the match, said the lives of the two are closely intertwined - whether they like it or not. Alburt, a Soviet defector who was a top grandmaster in the Soviet chess system, knows Kasparov and Karpov well.

"It is true that player number one certainly needs competition from number two to have an incentive to improve," Alburt said. "Karpov has had the competition from Kasparov since the early 1980s . . . "

"They probably understand each other better psychologically than anyone else. They can foresee moves of each other better than anyone else. They are playing at a very high level and the stakes are high, but they have been prepared all their lives to play with such stakes.

"Knowing each other so well gives them mutual advantages and mutual problems as well. They could be sort of tired of seeing each other, but they are used to it. In long tournaments, Karpov is today still the most credible challenger to Kasparov."

Kasparov was 12 years old when he met Karpov in 1975. Karpov, 24 at the time, had just inherited the championship from Bobby Fischer, who had forfeited the title.

In his autobiography, "Unlimited Challenge," Kasparov remembers that he was irreverent about Karpov even then. He wrote that he told his concerned friends, "What's there to be afraid of? Karpov may be world champion, but he still can make mistakes."

Karpov beat the young, brash Kasparov in their first match, but Kasparov says that just before he lost, "I had a clear edge over him."

Ten years later, Kasparov beat Karpov and took away his title. During the current match, Karpov said, "Of course Kasparov became great because he beat me . . . I respect him as a chess player very much. I have no other words to express it."