World Champion Garry Kasparov

kasparov after winning fide world championship title in 1985

the second karpov-kasparov match in 1985 organized in moscow best of 24 games first player win 12½ points claim world champion title. scores terminated match not carry over; however, in event of 12–12 draw, title remain karpov. on 9 november 1985, kasparov secured title score of 13–11, winning 24th game black, using sicilian defense. 22 years old @ time, making him youngest ever world champion, , breaking record held mikhail tal on 20 years. kasparov s win black in 16th game has been recognized 1 of all-time masterpieces in chess history.

as part of arrangements following aborted 1984 match, karpov had been granted (in event of defeat) right rematch. match took place in 1986, hosted jointly in london , leningrad, each city hosting 12 games. @ 1 point in match, kasparov opened three-point lead , looked on way decisive match victory. karpov fought winning 3 consecutive games level score late in match. @ point, kasparov dismissed 1 of seconds, grandmaster evgeny vladimirov, accusing him of selling opening preparation karpov team (as described in kasparov s autobiography unlimited challenge, chapter stab in back). kasparov scored 1 more win , kept title final score of 12½–11½.

a fourth match world title took place in 1987 in seville, karpov had qualified through candidates matches again become official challenger. match close, neither player holding more one-point lead @ time during contest. kasparov down 1 full point @ time of final game, , needed win draw match , retain title. long tense game ensued in karpov blundered away pawn before first time control, , kasparov won long ending. kasparov retained title match drawn score of 12–12. (all meant kasparov had played karpov 4 times in period 1984–87, statistic unprecedented in chess. matches organized fide had taken place every 3 years since 1948, , botvinnik had right rematch before karpov.)

a fifth match between kasparov , karpov held in new york , lyon in 1990, each city hosting 12 games. again, result close 1 kasparov winning margin of 12½–11½. in 5 world championship matches, kasparov had 21 wins, 19 losses, , 104 draws in 144 games.