The Knight on d3

The game, move by move

A Taimanov Sicilian

1. 1. e4 King’s pawn
2. 1… c5 The Sicilian
3. 2. Nf3 The knight out
4. 2… e6 e6
5. 3. d4 d4
6. 3… cxd4 Taken
7. 4. Nxd4 The knight recaptures
8. 4… Nc6 The second knight
9. 5. Nb5 Nb5, at d6
10. 5… d6 d6
11. 6. c4 c4, holding the knight
12. 6… Nf6 Nf6
13. 7. N1c3 The other knight to c3
14. 7… a6 a6, at the knight
15. 8. Na3 The knight to a3 — offside It goes to a3 and then to b1 and then to a4. Three moves with one knight to get nowhere, and this is the file the game is decided on.
16. 8… d5 d5 — the freeing move A pawn thrown into the middle. Kasparov gives it up and gets the squares.
17. 9. cxd5 Taken
18. 9… exd5 And taken back
19. 10. exd5 And taken again
20. 10… Nb4 Nb4 — the knight starts for d3 Two moves from the square it spends the rest of the game on.
21. 11. Be2 Be2
22. 11… Bc5 Bc5

The knight to d3

1. 12. O-O White castles
2. 12… O-O And Black
3. 13. Bf3 Bf3
4. 13… Bf5 Bf5
5. 14. Bg5 The bishop to g5
6. 14… Re8 The rook to e8
7. 15. Qd2 The queen to d2
8. 15… b5 b5
9. 16. Rad1 The rook to d1
10. 16… Nd3 Nd3 — the octopus A knight on d3 in the middle of White’s position, undefended, and it cannot be taken: Bxd3 opens everything and Nxd3 costs a rook. It stays there for twenty-four moves and Karpov never solves it.

Twenty-four moves of nothing moving

1. 17. Nab1 The knight back to b1, to challenge it
2. 17… h6 h6
3. 18. Bh4 The bishop to h4
4. 18… b4 b4, taking c3 away
5. 19. Na4 The knight to a4
6. 19… Bd6 Bd6
7. 20. Bg3 The bishop to g3
8. 20… Rc8 The rook to c8
9. 21. b3 b3
10. 21… g5 g5, at the bishop
11. 22. Bxd6 The bishops come off on d6
12. 22… Qxd6 The queen recaptures
13. 23. g3 g3
14. 23… Nd7 Nd7
15. 24. Bg2 Bg2 — the bishop tucked away It has been on e2, f3 and now g2 and it is still not doing anything about d3.
16. 24… Qf6 The queen to f6
17. 25. a3 a3
18. 25… a5 a5
19. 26. axb4 Taken
20. 26… axb4 And recaptured
21. 27. Qa2 The queen to a2
22. 27… Bg6 Bg6
23. 28. d6 d6 — the pawn tries to run
24. 28… g4 g4
25. 29. Qd2 The queen back to d2
26. 29… Kg7 Kg7
27. 30. f3 f3, at the pawn
28. 30… Qxd6 The pawn on d6, taken
29. 31. fxg4 Taken on g4
30. 31… Qd4+ Check from d4 Twenty-four moves after Nd3 and it is still standing there. Every one of White’s pieces has moved round it.

Qxd3, and Nf2+

1. 32. Kh1 Kh1
2. 32… Nf6 Nf6, bringing the last piece
3. 33. Rf4 The rook to f4
4. 33… Ne4 Ne4
5. 34. Qxd3 Qxd3 — the knight taken at last A queen for a knight, and Karpov plays it because there is nothing else. The answer is immediate.
6. 34… Nf2+ Nf2+ — the fork The other knight arrives on the square the first one made available, forking the king and the rook. Black wins the exchange straight back.
7. 35. Rxf2 The rook takes it
8. 35… Bxd3 The bishop takes the queen on d3
9. 36. Rfd2 The rooks doubled on d2
10. 36… Qe3 The queen to e3
11. 37. Rxd3 The rook takes the bishop
12. 37… Rc1 The rook to c1 — the first rank And now both black rooks and the queen are on the first two ranks with the white king in the corner.
13. 38. Nb2 The knight to b2
14. 38… Qf2 The queen to f2
15. 39. Nd2 The knight to d2, blocking
16. 39… Rxd1+ The rook takes d1
17. 40. Nxd1 The knight recaptures
18. 40… Re1+ Re1+ — and White resigned The second rook comes to e1 with check. There are two legal moves and both lose everything. Kasparov became world champion nine games later, and this is the game from the match that is always reprinted.