Sam Trenholme’s blog

Kasparov vs. Topalov

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Kasparov's immortal is a chess game played by Garry Kasparov as White against Veselin Topalov as Black at the Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee Chess Tournament 1999 chess tournament.[1] This is one of Kasparov's most famous games; it is considered a masterpiece and Chess.com has listed it as the #1 chess game ever played.[2][3]

White: Kasparov Black: Topalov Opening: Pirc Defense (ECO B07)

1. e4 d6

Kasparov slightly preferred playing 1. d4 as White, but decided to play 1. e4 here. 1...d6, the Pirc Defense, is an unusual response by Topalov to Kasparov’s 1. e4, resulting in a position Kasparov never saw before in classical play.[4]

Topalov has only played the Pirc Defense as Black six times in the database of his games which I looked at; of those games, Topalov lost four times, had one draw, and only one victory as Black with the Pirc.

The Pirc is not Black’s best defence to 1. e4; it’s an open question whether the Sicilian (1...c5) or the King’s Pawn (1...e5) is Black’s best defense; grandmasters these days prefer e5 but c5 was more common in master play when Topalov chose the off-beat Pirc in this game. Modern computer analysis shows that 1...a5 (The “St. George”, but I prefer to call it the “Tony Miles defense” because Miles beat then world champion Karpov with 1...a5 in a famous game—Miles later ended up suffering a nervous breakdown after playing and losing to Kasparov) is as strong as the 1...d6 which Topalov played in this game.

Topalov made this unusual move because he wanted to get Kasparov out of the opening books as soon as possible.

2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6

This setup has similarities to the King’s Indian Defence, but White’s c pawn remains on the second rank.[5]

4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 c6 6. f3 b5 7. Nge2 Nbd7 8. Bh6 Bxh6 9. Qxh6

This queen capture hinders Black’s castling.[4]

9...Bb7 10. a3 e5 11. O-O-O Qe7 12. Kb1 a6 13. Nc1 O-O-O 14. Nb3 exd4![5]

This opens Black’s position.[5]

15. Rxd4 c5 16. Rd1 Nb6 17. g3 Kb8 18. Na5 Ba8 19. Bh3 d5 20. Qf4+ Ka7 21. Rhe1 d4 22. Nd5?![4]

If Black plays 22...Nfxd5?, White responds with 23. exd5 Qd6 24. Qxf7+ which leads to White being up a piece, e.g. 24...Kb8 25. Re6 Qc7 26. Re7 Nd7 27. Nc6 Bxc6 28. dxc6 Qxc6 29. Bxd7.[6]

22...Nbxd5 23. exd5 Qd6 24. Rxd4!!!

Now the fireworks start.[5]

24...cxd4!

Modern computer analysis shows two things:

• It was Kasparov’s best move to offer Topalov the rook, even if Topalov would had decliend the rook with Kb6.
• It was a losing mistake for Topalov to accept the rook sacrifice.

Some commentators put a question mark after Topalov’s decision to take the rook, but it was the right decision, because while it ultimately cost Topalov a half point in the tournament, it resulted in a dynamic exciting game, and in fact the greatest Chess game ever played.

Indeed, I am putting an exclamation mark after cxd4, because it shows that Topalov was willing to take risks and play a dynamic exciting game of Chess, even tough it ultimately backfired. It took great courage for Topalov to accept a risky sacrifice offered by the reigning world champion.

Topalov needed an hour of deep thinking before deciding to take the rook because the position was a “bit funny”, and years later felt it was “suicide” for him to take the rook. He feels the game wasn’t important, and in a way it wasn’t: If Topalov had won this game, he would had only tied for fourth place in the tournament.[11]

Black can not reply with Nxd5 because White could had then played Qxf7+.[8]

25. Re7+ Kb6

If Qxd7??, then mate cannot be avoided, e.g. 26.Qxd4+ Kb8 27.Qb6+ Bb7 28.Nc6+ Ka8 29.Qa7#.[7]

Analysis of 25...Qxd7: White to move. Mate in 4

26. Qxd4+ Kxa5 27. b4+ Ka4 28. Qc3[4][9]

Position after 27...Ka4

Lubomir Kavalek, writing for The Washington Post, was the first one to observe that Ra7!! might be a better attack for White in this position.[9][4] And, indeed, Kasparov himself put a “?” after Qc3, feeling he would have had a better game after Ra7.

However, modern computer analysis shows that Qc3, as played, maintains the attack as well as Ra7. Indeed, modern computers, if anything, slightly prefer Qc3 over Ra7.

28...Qxd5

Bxd5? is refuted with 29. Kb2 followed by Qb3+ which leads to White delivering checkmate.[4][5]

29. Ra7 Bb7 30. Rxb7 Qc4![4]

Position after 30. Rxb7

Topalov, after the game, analyzed the position with his second Silvio Danailov for hours and told the press at the tournament that Black had drawing chances after 30...Rhe8 31. Rb6 Ra8 32. Be6.[10] However, Black is in trouble if White instead plays 32. Bf1!!.[4]

31. Qxf6 Kxa3?![5]

Position after 31. Qxf6

Black had much better drawing chances with 31...Rd1+! During the game, Kasparov visualizing this line saw White having a stronger endgame after 32. Kb2 Ra8 33. Qb6 Qd4+ 34. Qxd4 Rxd4 35. Rxf7 a5 36. Be6 axb4 37. Bb3+ Ka5 38. axb4+ Kb6 39. Rxh7 but realized, after the game was over, that Black could had fought for a draw with 39...Rf8[4] Computer analysis shows no clear win for White after 39...Rf8, but also shows White had better fighting chances after 35. Bd7 Rd6 36. g4 in a line very hard for humans to visualize.[5]

32. Qxa6+ Kxb4 33. c3+ Kxc3 34. Qa1+ Kd2 35. Qb2+ Kd1

White to move and win.

36. Bf1!! Rd2[7]

If Black plays 36...Qxf1? in this position, White can force mate: 37.Qc2+ Ke1 38.Re7+ Qe2 39.Qxe2#[7]

If 36...Qd5, 37.Qc1 mates.[7]

37. Rd7 Rxd7 38. Bxc4 bxc4

Position after 38. Bxc4

If Black attempted to save his h8 rook, White would had won with Qc1#.[7]

39. Qxh8 Rd3 40. Qa8 c3 41. Qa4+ Ke1 42. f4 f5 43. Kc1 Rd2 44. Qa7 1-0

Black resigns

As the game ended, Kasparov remembers the audience in the hall applauding.[4]

Further reading

• What it was like to be there when this game was played
• NM A.J. Goldsby's analysis of this game
• Sam Copeland’s analysis of this game
• Lichess analysis of the game
• Chessgames.com discussion of the game

Videos

• Gotham Chess: Garry Kasparov’s Best Game Ever
• Anish Giri talks to Kasparov himself about this game
• NM Sam Copeland’s video analysis and praise of this game
• GM Hikaru Nakamura’s video analysis and praise of this game
• Square One Chess’s commentary on this game

Footnotes

1. Kaehler, Arne. “Svitlana's Smart Moves - Kasparov's immortal”. ChessBase. “one of the greatest chess games ever played is the one between Garry Kasparov and Veselin Topalov from 1999 in Wijk aan Zee”
2. Alberto Colodro, Carlos. “Throwback Thursday: Kasparov’s immortal”. ChessBase. “Garry Kasparov defeated Veselin Topalov in what is now known as his ‘immortal game’”
3. “The Best Chess Games Of All Time”. Chess.com. “Kasparov has a long list of brilliancies to his credit, but this game is his virtually undisputed masterpiece.”
4. Kasparov, Garry (2014). Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov: Part III. Everyman Chess (Gloucester Publishers Limited).
5. So, Wesley; Adams, Michael; Burgess, Graham; Nunn, John; Emms, John. The Mammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games, 2021 edition. Robinson Publishing.
6. Bryne, Robert. “CHESS; Kasparov Shows His Critics He Can Still Work Miracles”. The New York Times.
7. Seirawan, Yasser (September 2003). “Yasser Annotates: Kasparov-Topalov Wijk aan Zee 1999 Hoogovens Tournament Round 4”. Inside Chess.
8. Soltis, Andrew. The 100 Best Chess Games of the 20th Century, Ranked. McFarland & Company.
9. “Chess by Lubomir Kavalek”. The Washington Post. 1999-02-01.
10. “The Pearl of Wijk aan Zee” by Tom Furstenberg. No longer online, but archived from the original on 2005-02-05.
11. l’Ami, Erwin; Doggers, Peter. Kings, Queens and Rookies: The Tata Steel Chess Tournament - A Celebration of 85 Years. New in Chess.