Larry Evans on Chess: The one that got away
May 17, 2009
“Had the umpire in any other sport stepped in, as FIDE President Florencio Campomanes did in 1985, to halt a championship final without result at its most interesting and climactic stage, that unfortunate official would undoubtedly have been lynched by a raging mob of frustrated fans!” — Grandmaster Raymond Keene
The longest title match in chess history began in Moscow on Sept. 10, 1984. Anatoly Karpov, 33, faced challenger Gary Kasparov, 22, under new FIDE rules where the winner would be the first to win six games, draws not counting.
After five months and 48 games, with Karpov leading 5-3 despite a late surge by Kasparov, Campomanes bent the rules to cancel the match, an infamous act that discredited FIDE.
FIDE rules gave Karpov the right to a rematch if he lost, but this seemed unlikely with four wins in the first nine games. After a record string of 17 draws, he won Game 27 to lead 5-0 and needed just one more win.
This is the one that got away.
With Kasparov’s back to the wall, he beat his nemesis for the first time in Game 32. They drew 14 more games until Kasparov won two in a row. Then the match was aborted by Campo “for medical reasons.”
Years later, in 1988, Karpov’s manager, Victor Baturinsky, revealed that his man was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He said he pleaded with Karpov over and over to continue, but in vain.
A frail Karpov tried to delay the contest for a week and keep his 5-3 lead. But he had already used up all his timeouts and, exhausted, had shed 22 pounds.
At a press conference held in Moscow on Feb. 15, 1985, Campo told the world: “At this very moment I don’t know what I intend to do.” The Soviet news agency Tass announced minutes earlier what Campo intended to do. CNN cameras caught him whispering to Karpov, “I told them exactly what you told me to tell them.'”
Campo announced that a rematch would start from scratch later that year. Karpov demanded that play resume but his plea fell on deaf ears.
Ironically, Campo’s attempt to save his friend’s title backfired. Kasparov won the next bout, and then infuriated the Kremlin by offering a title shot to Bobby Fischer, who declined.
Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com
Karpov should have won it.