The twelfth World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov (Russia) met the renowned chess theoretician Evgeny Sveshnikov (Latvia) in a rapid match of six games in Riga, Latvia.
The event took place from July 7 to July 9 in the center of Riga at the luxury Tal Residence appartment building.
The venue is perfectly suited for the match, as explained on the projects website: “Architect Ingurds Lazdins has used chess motifs in the facade of the building: geometry of the bay windows represents chess figures of different heights, and combination of light and dark toned glass – an imaginative chessboard. Monoliths of pillars on the first floor, high and skyward “capitols”, bearing the load of the building, represent the triumphant gesture of Tal, as his hands are raised up holding the Champion’s Cup.”
The match started with a fighting draw but Evgeny Sveshnikov drew the first blood in the second game. He defeated the former World champion with White pieces in a great manner. Karpov was forced to resign in an endgame with equal material because he had no useful moves left to play.
However, Karpov won the next three games in a row to win the match. The last encounter finished in a draw to fix the final score 4:2.
http://chessinlatvia.lv
Anatoly Karpov is one of the greatest players of all time. He became the World Champion in 1975 and held the title till 1985. From 1993 till 1999 Karpov was the FIDE World Champion. Karpov’s rivalry with Garry Kasparov in their five World Championship matches from 1984 till 1990 is one of the most fascinating pages in the history book of the game. Karpov is considered to be one of the greatest players of all time – a great master of positional chess, whose feel for the position can only be compared to Capablanca and Carlsen.