Kasparov's Endgame Class: Ups and Downs 
by Lev Khariton

'In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame
before anything else; for whereas the endings can be studied and
mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be
studied in relation to the endgame' J.R.Capablanca

It is common knowledge that all the World Champions have
possessed superb endgame technique. However, as regards Gary
Kasparov, no one has ever written anything about his endgames.
Perhaps this is partly his fault. All too often he has accentuated the
importance of opening preparation, thereby trapping both his
admirers and ill_wishers. The latter, such as grandmaster Valery
Salov, have even claimed that without his opening repertoire
Kasparov's Elo rating would be 200 points less; I have been always
amazed that such assertions come from top_ class professionals
who should know better than anyone else that the game does not
end in the opening, which serves only as prelude to a full_fledged
fight. While working on this article, I tried to dig deeper into
Kasparov's chess annals and in so doing I discovered a wonderful
game which he played when he was only nine years old. Already
this game showed that it was played by someone who was
predestined to reach the chess Olympus. 

Kasparov_Muratkuliev ( Baku, 1972 ) (See Diagram)

White: Kg1, Qg3, Rd1, Re2, Bg5, Nc3; pawns _ a2, b2, e5, f2, g2,
h2
Black: Kg8, Qe6, Ra8, Rf8, Bf5, Nc2; pawns _ a6, b7, c6, c7, f7,
g7, h7

Even in his youth, Gary had the reputation of being a formidable
attacking player. This position seems to inspire anyone with a
penchant for a kingside attack. True to his fighting, spirit the
young Gary rips open his adversary's position.

18.Bf6 Bg6 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Rxc2 Rad8 21.Rcd2 Qe7 22.h4 Kh8
(See Diagram)

23.Qg5!

This move by itself is already a trademark of a great chess talent.
Undoubtedly, while embarking on his attack, Gary had foreseen
this position and this subtle manoeouvre, getting an endgame with
an obvious edge for White. It is well known that young chess
players are enthusiastic attackers, but it is very rare for them to
forego their attacking chances for the sake of conducting a boring
endgame struggle. Kasparov, however, in spite of his tender age,
was quite a practical player. He understood very well that with the
Queens off the board, he would have no difficulty converting his
edge; hence, this elegant move. Blacks's position is soon reduced
to shambles.

23...Qxg5 24.hxg5 Rxd2 25.Rxd2 Bf5 26.f4 Kg7 27.Kf2 h6
28.gxh6+ Kxh6 29.Kf3 Rg8 30.Ne4 Bg4+ 31.Ke3 Kg6

This is certainly a blunder. The ending would have been by far
more spectacular had Black played here 31...Be6 32.Nf6 Rh8
33.g4 Kg7 34.f5 Bxa2 35.Rd7 Rh2 36.Kf4 Re2 37.Kg5 Rxe5
38.Rd8.

After 32.Nf6 Black resigned. (See Diagram)

G.Kasparov _ V.Salov USSR Ch. Moscow,1988

White: Kf2, Rc1, Re1, Bb2; pawns _ a4, b5, d3, f4, g3, h2 
Black: Kg8, Rd5, Rd8, Ng6; pawns _ a7, b6, c5, f5, g7, h5.

Contrary to Salov's theory that Kasparov always gets the upper
hand in the opening, in this encounter the World Champion had a
hard time in the early stage of the game and only now has reached
a position where he can demonstrate some activity. 

32.d4! 

White's pawn is doomed anyway, but now his Rook succeeds in
penetrating to the seventh rank giving White some hopes of a
small advantage. 

32...cxd4 33.Rc7 R8d7 34.Rxd7 Rxd7 35.Rd1 Nf8 36.Rxd4 Rxd4
37.Bxd4 Ne6 38.Ke3 Kf7 39.Be5 Nc5 40.Kd4 Nxa4. 

A very serious inaccuracy. Now the b6-pawn becomes weak.
Apparently after the less greedy 40...Ke6 41.Bb8 a6 42.bxa6 Nxa6
43.Ba7 Nc5, a draw is inevitable. 

41.Bb8 Ke6 42.Bxa7 g6. 

Forced since after 42...Kd7 43.Ke5 Kc7 44.Kxf5 Kb7 45.Bxb6
Kxb6 46.Kg6 the g7-pawn falls and White wins. 

43.Kc4 h4 44.gxh4! After 44.Kb4 Nb2 45.Bxb6 h3 

Black's h3 pawn gives him good counterplay.

44...Nb2+ 45.Kc3 Na4+ 46.Kb4 Nc5 47.Bxb6 Nd3+ 48.Kc4 Nxf4
49.Bf2 Nh3 50.Ba7 Kd7 51.Kd5 Nf4+ 52.Ke5 Nh5 53.Bc5 f4
54.Bf2 Ke7 55.Ke4 Ke6 56.Bd4! (See Diagram)

White: Ke4, Bd4; pawns _ b5, h2, h4 
Black: Ke6, Nh5; pawns _ f4, g6

Black is in Zugzwang: the domination by White's pieces is
complete. 

56...Kd6 57.Kf3! Kd5 58.b6 Black resigned.

Playing over this wonderful ending, I thought once again about
Salov's assertion that the secret of Kasparov's victories is based
solely on his super opening preparation, I remembered the words
of the unknown author: "When you study openings you learn
openings; when you study endgames, you study chess". (See
Diagram)

L.Alburt _ G.Kasparov USSR Ch.sf, Daugavpils, 1978

White: Ke3; pawns _ g2, h3 
Black: Ke5; pawns _ f5, g5, h4.

45...Kd5 "At this moment, _ Kasparov wrote later, _ many
spectators were arguing whether Black could win this game.
Sitting at the chessboard, I was checking the well_known winning
method. First of all, Black must get a passed pawn by threatening
to get around White's king from the side". 

46.Kd3 Kc5! 47.Kc3 g4! 48.Kd3 gxh3 49.gxh3 Kd5 50.Ke3 Ke5
51.Kf3 f4 52.Kf2 Ke4 53.Ke2 f3+ 54.Kf1 

"At first glance, _ continued Kasparov, _ it seems that Black's
King cannot make headway. But I knew that this was not so. In
this position it is necessary to concede the move to White, so as to
create a 'zugzwang', a position with no useful moves. This is
achieved by the distant opposition of the kings". (See Diagram)

54...Kf5! 55.Kg1 Ke5! 56.Kf1 Ke4! White resigned.

It is interesting that five years later, at the international tournament
in the Yugoslav town of Niksic, Kasparov won a pawn endgame
against Yasser Seirawan using a similar method. (See Diagram)

Y.Seirawan _ G.Kasparov Niksic, 1983

White: Kd3; pawns _ a4, e4, f5, h4 
Black: Kc5; pawns _ a5, b4, f6, h5

47...Kc6! 

Kasparov finds the only winning move in this position. The line
47...b3 48.Kc3 b2 49.Kxb2 Kd4 50.Kb3 Kxe4 51.Kc4 Kxf5
52.Kb5 Kg4 could lead to a drawish queen ending with Black's
h_pawn. Again, as in the previous example, Kasparov spotted the
chance of exploiting the distant opposition. 

48.Kc4 Kc7 49.Kd3 Kd7! 

Black's King triangulates and is ready to return to c5. 

50.Ke3 Kc6 51.Kd3 Kc5 52.Ke3 b3! 

All this is highly instructive. Even now Black could have missed
the win had he played 52...Kc4 53.e5! Kd5 54.e6! Kd6. 

53.Kd3 Kb4 54.e5 Ka3! 

But not 54...b2 55.Kc2 Ka3 56.Kb1 and White wins! 

55.exf6 b2 56.Kc2 Ka2 57.f7 b1Q+ White resigned.

Kasparov's profound knowledge of typical pawn endgames helped
him to win easily against Milan Vukic.

G.Kasparov _ M.Vukic Yugoslavia, European Team Ch., 1980

White: Kc2, Re1, Bc3; pawns _ a5, b2, c4, f4, g4, h5 
Black: Kc6, Rd6, Nf6; pawns _ a6, b7, e6, f7, g7, h6

White's positional advantage is obvious. But still he has to play for
quite a while to win this ending. Suddenly Kasparov exchanges the
pieces, transposing into a pawn endgame. 

36.Bxf6 gxf6 37.Rd1 Rxd1 38.Kxd1 Kd6 39.g5! 

By exchanging the pieces, Kasparov has destroyed Black's pawn
structure on the kingside, and with the queenside pawn majority he
wins easily. 

39...fxg5 40.fxg5 Ke7 41.gxh6 Kf8 42.b4 Kg8 43.b5 Black
resigned. (See Diagram)

G.Kasparov _ N.Short WChM, London, 1993

White: Kf3, Ra1; pawns _ a4, e3 
Black: Ke5, Ra5

46.e4?? 

"In English club chess, this would be regarded as a
let's_get_this_game_over_and_get_off_ to_the_pub", wrote Yasser
Seirawan in Inside Chess. Really, Kasparov, considered by many
as the best chess player of all time, misses a simple win here after
46.Ra3. Such mistakes can be explained by the intense struggle
which preceded this position. There is no other explanation, since
the win here is absolutely elementary and within the grasp of an
ordinary chess player. The same applies to Short's reply next
move. Probably exhausted by the previous play and desperate
about his position as well (as in some previous games in which he
let Kasparov off the hook), he commits an error that costs him a
half_point.

46...Ke6?? 

Short: "I played this move quickly, in just 15 seconds in fact,
already mentally resigned to losing. I wasn't thinking. My move is
a terrible blunder. Just imagine the blow to Kasparov's morale if I
had found the move 46...Rc5! which forces the draw. The main
line is as follows: 46...Rc5! 47.a5 (47.Ra3 Rc4 48.a5 Rxe4 49.a6
Rf4+ 50.Ke3 Rf8 51.a7 Ra8; 47.Ke3 Rc3+ 48.Kd2 Rc4 49.a5
Kxe4 50.a6 Rc8 51.a7 Ra8 52.Kc3 Kd5 53.Kb4 Kc6) 47...Rc3+
48.Kg4 Kxe4 49.a6 Rc8 50.a7 Ra8 51.Ra5 Kd4 52.Kf5 Kc4
53.Ke6 Kb4 54.Ra1 Kc5 55.Kd7 Kb6 56.Rb1+ Kc5 57.Rb7 Rh8
What a tragic waste of a heaven_sent opportunity!" as noted by
Grandmaster Jonathan Speelman. 

47.Ke3 Kd6 48.Kd4 Kd7 49.Kc4 Kc6 50.Kb4 Re5 51.Rc1+ Kb6
52.Rc4.Black resigned. (See Diagram)

G.Kasparov _ A.Karpov WchM, Moscow, 1984

White: Kg1, Re5; pawns _ f2, g3, h2 
Black: Kc6, Rd8; pawns _ a7, g7, h6

42... Ra8

Karpov, in accordance with the general rule, puts his rook behind
the passed pawn. 

43.Ra5 

Losing was 43.Re6+ Kc5 44.Rg6 a5 45.Rxg7 a4 46.Rc7+ Kb4
47.Rb7+ Ka5! 48.g4 a3 49.Rb1 a2 50.Ra1 Kb4 51.f4 Kb3 52.Kf2
Kb2 53.Rxa2+ Rxa2 54.Ke3 Kc3 55.h4 Rh2 56.h5 Rh4 57.g5
Rxh5 58.g6 Rh4 59.f5 Rg4. 

43...Kb6 44.Ra2. 

White could have set a nice trap here: 44.Ra1 a5 45.Kf1 a4 46.Ke2
a3 47.Kd3 Kc5 48.Kc3 a2 49.Kb2 Kb4 50.f4 h5 51.Rxa2 Rxa2+
52.Kxa2 Kc3 53.f5! Kd3 54.Kb3 Ke4 55.Kc4 Kxf5 56.Kd4 Kg4
57.Ke5 Kh3 58.Kf5 Kxh2 59.Kg6 Kxg3 60.Kxh5. However, in this
variation, instead of 48...a2, Black wins by 48...Kd5! 49.Kb3 a2
50.Kb2 Ke4 51.Re1+ Kf3. 

44...a5 45.Kf1 a4 46.Ke2 Kc5 47.Kd2 a3 48.Kc1 Kd4 49.f4 

No better was 49.Kb1 on account of 49...Rb8+ 50.Ka1 Rb2
51.Rxa3 Rxf2 52.Ra6 Rf6 53.Ra7 g5 and Black wins. 

49...Ke4 50.Kb1 Rb8+ 51.Ka1 Rb2 52.Rxa3 Rxh2 53.Kb1 Rd2
54.Ra6 Kf5 55.Ra7 g5 56.Ra6 g4. 

Unclear is 56...Rh2 57.Kc1 Kg4 58.Rg6! Rh5 59.Kd2 Kxg3
60.Ke3 g4 61.Ke4 and most likely White draws. 

57.Rxh6 Rg2 58.Rh5+
Also of no help is 58.Rh8 because of 58...Rxg3 59.Rf8+ Ke4 60.f5
Rf3 61.f6 Rf4. 

58...Ke4 59.f5 Rf2 60.Kc1 Kf3 61.Kd1. 

The apparently more tenacious 61.f6 Kxg3 loses after 62.Rh6 Kg2
63.Kd1 g3 64.Rg6 Rf5 65.Ke2 Re5+ 66.Kd3 Kf3 67.Kd4 Rh5!!
68.f7 Rf5 69.Rg7 g2 70.Kd3 Rf4 and White is in Zugzwang. 

61...Kxg3 62.Ke1 Kg2 63.Rg5 g3 64.Rh5 Rf4 65.Ke2 Re4+
66.Kd3 Kf3 67.Rh1 g2 68.Rh3+ Kg4 69.Rh8 Rf4 70.Ke2
Rxf5.White resigned. (See Diagram)

G.Kasparov _ A.Karpov (WchM, Moscow, 1984)

White: Kg2, Rd1, Ne3; pawns _ d6, f4, h4 
Black: Kf8, Rc6, Nd7; pawns _ f7, g5, g6

41.hxg5. 

Instead of making this natural move over_the board, thus making
Karpov seal his next move, Kasparov sealed this move. This
psychological mistake cost him a victory in this game. It is highly
doubtful that Karpov could have sealed the move that he found
with his team of trainers during the overnight analysis. 

41...f5! 

This fantastic response was obviously overlooked by Kasparov
when he sealed his move before the adjournment. Now of all a
sudden White discovers that, in spite of being a pawn up, he
cannot break through Black's defences. If Black had chosen the
timid 41...f6, he would have been easily punished after 42.Ng4
fxg5 43.Ne5.

42.Rd4. 

Unfortunately, after 42.gxf6 Kf7 43.Ng4 Ke6 44.Re1+ Kf5!
45.Nh6+ Kxf6 46.Ng8+ Kf7 47.Re7+ Kxg8 48.Rxd7 Rc3 49.Rc7
Rd3 50.d7 Kf8, White has to be satisfied with a draw.

42...Kf7 43.Nc4 Ke6 44.Kf3 Rc5 45.Ke3 Rb5 46.Kd2 Rd5
47.Rxd5 Kxd5 48.Ne5 Kxd6 49.Nxg6 Nc5 50.Nh4 Ke6 51.Ke3
Ne4 52.Nf3 Kf7 53.Kd4 Ke6 54.Kc4 Nf2 55.Kd4 Ne4 56.Ne1 Kd6
57.Nc2 Nc5 58.Ke3 Ne6 59.Nd4 Ng7 60.Kd2 Kc5 61.Kd3 Kd5
62.Ne2 Nh5 63.Ke3 Ng7 64.Ng3 Kd6 65.Kf3 Ke7 66.Ne2 Ne6
67.Ng3 Ng7 68.Nf1 Kf7 69.Ne3 Kg6 70.Nd5 Ne6. Drawn.

71.Ne7+ could be met by 71... Kh5 72.Nxf5 Nxg5+ with mutual
devastation. 

The real strength of the World Champion is not his superb
knowledge of chess openings as grandmasters such as Salov,
Anand and Svidler claim, but, in fact his most profound knowledge
of chess history and the chess legacy which is still "terra
incognita" to many talented chess players. It is myopic to believe
that Kasparov scores all his victories only because of his opening
preparation.

As a case in point, I'll cite the ending of his game in Linares
against Veselin Topalov. (See Diagram) 

Topalov_Kasparov (Linares , 1999 ) 

White: Ke2, Bd4; pawns _ a5, b4, c3, e5, g5, h4 
Black: Kb3, Rd7; pawns _ a6, c4, e6, f5, h5

The ending of this game looks like a study: 

50..Rxd4! 51.cxd4 c3 52.g6 c2 53.g7 c1Q 54.g8Q Qc4+ 55.Ke3
Kc3 56.Qd8 Qd3+ 57.Kf4 Qd2+ 58.Kf3 Qd1+ 59.Ke3 Qg1+
60.Ke2 Qg2+ 61.Ke3 f4+! White resigned. 

If 62.Kxf4, 62...Kd3! and mate is inevitable. 

And now just take a look at Capablanca's two masterpieces which
were doubtless known to Kasparov. (See Diagram) 

J.Merenyi_J.R.Capablanca ( Budapest 1928) 

White: Ke2, Ra1, Nd4; pawns _ a4, b3, c4, e3, g2, h2 
Black: Kc5, Rd7, Nd3; pawns _ a5, b6, e4, f5, g6, h7

30...Rxd4! 

Capablanca sacrifices his Rook exactly as Kasparov would 70
years later. The strange coincidence is that Kasparov's Rook was
also on d7 and White's knight on d4! 

31.exd4+ Kxd4 32.g3 g5 33.b4 f4 34.c5 f3+ 35.Kf1 e3 36.Re1
bxc5 37.Rxe3 Kxe3 38.bxa5 c4. White resigned. (See Diagram) 

Van der Bosch_J.R.Capablanca (Budapest 1929) 

White: Kb4, Qc2; pawns _ b3, c3, d4, f3, f4, g2 
Black: Kc6, Qf1; pawns _ b5, d5, f6, f5, g6, h5

35...Qe1! 

Fantastic! White resigned. Now in spite of the material equality in
the traditionally next_to_drawn Queen ending White faces
complete paralysis. He resigned since if he plays 36.Qa2 then
36...Qe7+ 37.Ka5 Qa7+ wins the Queen. However 36.Qb2 is met
by Qe7+ 37.Ka5 Qa7+ 38.Kb4 Kb6 39.Qa3 Qe7! _ mate! Finally,
on 36.Ka3 Black wins by 36...Qa1+ 37.Kb4 Kb6! or 37.Qa2
Qxa2+ 38.Kxa2 h4 39.Kb2 g5 40.fxg5 fxg5 41.Kc2 g4 42.fxg4
fxg4 43.Kd2 h3 44.gxh3 gxh3. Against Topalov, Kasparov's
Queen triumphed over its white counterpart in exactly the same
manner!