World Chess Championship 1985 â€” Karpov vs Kasparov

In the autumn of 1985, Garry Kasparov sat down at the board in Moscow and dismantled a reign that had lasted a decade. His 13-11 victory over Anatoly Karpov made him, at 22 years old, the youngest World Chess Champion in history. It was a title he had been fighting to claim since the controversial abandonment of their first match earlier that year, and the rematch produced some of the most electrifying chess the championship stage had ever seen.

The Shadow of 1984: A Match That Should Not Have Ended

To understand 1985, you must first understand what happened in 1984. The World Chess Championship match between defending champion Anatoly Karpov and challenger Garry Kasparov began in September 1984 in Moscow and descended into one of the strangest episodes in competitive chess history. The format required a player to win six games; draws did not count. Karpov raced to a 4-0 lead, and it seemed the match would be brief. Instead, it ground on for months. Kasparov dug in, drawing game after game, surviving until he found his footing. By the time FIDE President Florencio Campomanes halted the match on 15 February 1985, after 48 games played over five months, the score stood at 5-3 in Karpov's favour, and Kasparov had clearly turned the tide. The decision was met with outrage. Kasparov protested publicly, accusing FIDE of protecting the established champion. A fresh match was ordered to begin in September 1985. The chess world waited.

The 1985 Match: Format, Venue, and Stakes

The rematch was played in Moscow at the Central Chess Club, with a revised format: 24 games, with the first player to reach 12.5 points declared champion. If the score reached 12-12, the title would remain with Karpov. The new format favoured the defender, requiring Kasparov to outright win the match rather than simply not lose it. The political atmosphere was charged. Both players were Soviet, but their styles, personalities, and relationships with the Soviet chess establishment were entirely different. Karpov was the establishment's man, steady, clinical, a master of positional grind. Kasparov was a new force: aggressive, confrontational, capable of volcanic tactical complications. The match drew enormous attention not just from chess enthusiasts but from the international press, which sensed a generational confrontation playing out across 64 squares. For anyone following the World Chess Championships, this was a defining moment in the history of the title.

The Course of the Match: Swings and Turning Points

Kasparov won the first two games and established early dominance, but Karpov was not finished. The champion fought back steadily through the middle of the match. By Game 11 Karpov had levelled the scores and briefly led, and the match appeared to be sliding back toward the grinding defensive chess of the 1984 encounter. Then came the second half. Kasparov, better prepared and in sharper form, launched a sustained attacking run. Game 16 proved the decisive turning point. Game 19 and Game 22 followed with further Kasparov victories. Karpov, unable to solve the problems across the board, could not recover. Kasparov won the match 13-11. The result was confirmed in November 1985. Among the famous chess players who have held the world title, Kasparov at 22 was the youngest ever. The record still stands.

Game 16: The Attack That Changed the Match

Of the many games played across the 1984-85 and 1985 matches, Game 16 of the 1985 contest stands apart. Kasparov, playing White, opened with 1.e4 and Karpov responded with the Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation, a rich and complex opening that both players knew at exceptional depth. On move 20, Kasparov played Nxd5, a piece sacrifice that blasted open the centre and initiated a kingside attack of tremendous force. The sacrifice was not purely speculative: Kasparov had calculated the ensuing complications in deep preparation and found a series of forcing moves that Karpov could not navigate over the board in real time. Rook, bishop, and queen poured into the attack. Karpov's position buckled within the next dozen moves. The game has since been annotated exhaustively, cited in countless teaching texts, and listed among the famous chess games of all time. It demonstrated that Kasparov's preparation had reached a new standard, one that would define the game for the following generation.

Karpov's Legacy and the Rivalry That Defined an Era

Karpov did not fade after 1985. He and Kasparov would contest three more World Championship matches: in 1986, 1987, and 1990. Each was a brutal contest at the highest level. Karpov came close to retaking the title in 1987, when their match in Seville reached Game 24 level at 12-12, and Karpov led going into the final game before Kasparov won it to retain the title. The sustained quality of their rivalry across a decade has no equal in chess history. Karpov himself remained a top-five player well into the 1990s and continued to win major tournaments long after ceding the world championship. His positional understanding, his endgame technique, and his capacity to extract wins from drawn-looking positions place him firmly among the greatest players of all time. The rivalry between two players of this calibre elevated the standard of chess study and preparation across the entire professional game. Students of chess history return to their games repeatedly.

Kasparov's Championship and the Game After 1985

Kasparov held the World Chess Championship title from 1985 until 2000, when he lost to Vladimir Kramnik in London. During that fifteen-year reign he pushed the boundaries of opening theory, invested in computer-assisted preparation before it was widespread, and brought chess to a global audience through matches against IBM's Deep Blue in 1996 and 1997. His 1985 victory was the foundation on which all of that was built. The Staunton pattern pieces used in the 1985 match, governed by FIDE regulations that have always mandated the Staunton standard, traced their design lineage back to the Staunton chess set first created by Jaques of London in 1849. The physical equipment on the board in Moscow connected that autumn's history-making chess to a tradition stretching back more than a century and a half. Kasparov's 1985 title remains one of the landmark moments in the long story of competitive chess.

Jaques of London â€” Making Chess Sets Since 1849

FIDE regulations, which mandate the Staunton pattern originally created by Jaques of London in 1849, governed all equipment used in the 1985 World Chess Championship match in Moscow. The pieces on the board as Kasparov claimed his historic victory traced their design lineage directly back to the Jaques workshop in London, where the universal standard was set over 175 years ago. Jaques of London, founded in 1795, remains the maker of the original Staunton chess set to this day.

Shop Staunton Chess Sets â†’

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why was the 1984-85 World Chess Championship match abandoned?

The 1984-85 World Chess Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov was abandoned by FIDE President Florencio Campomanes on 15 February 1985, after 48 games played over five months. The match had no game limit and required six wins to claim the title. Karpov had led 5-0 early on, but Kasparov clawed back and the score stood at 5-3 in Karpov's favour when the match was halted. Campomanes cited concern for the physical health of both players, but the decision was widely criticised as politically motivated, and Kasparov objected publicly, believing he had the momentum to win. A fresh match was ordered to begin in September 1985.

Q: How did the 1985 World Chess Championship match unfold?

The 1985 rematch took place in Moscow between September and November. The format was a 24-game match, with the first player to score 12.5 points declared champion. Kasparov attacked from the opening, winning Games 1 and 2 before Karpov stabilised. The match swung repeatedly, with Karpov leading after Game 11. But Kasparov produced a decisive surge in the second half. Game 16, a Sicilian Defence, is considered one of the finest attacking games ever played, with Kasparov sacrificing material for a ferocious kingside attack. Kasparov won the match 13-11, taking the title of World Chess Champion at just 22 years old, the youngest in history. He would hold the title until 2000.

Q: What made Game 16 of the 1985 World Championship so famous?

Game 16 of the 1985 World Chess Championship is often cited among the greatest games in the history of the sport. Played as a Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation, Kasparov sacrificed his knight on move 20 (Nxd5) to tear open the centre and launch an unstoppable kingside assault. The sacrifice was deeply calculated, relying on precise tactical sequences that Karpov could not unravel over the board. Kasparov's rook came crashing into the attack, and the position collapsed in Karpov's hands within a few more moves. The game demonstrated that Kasparov's preparation and calculation were of an entirely new order, combining deep opening theory with explosive middlegame execution. It became a landmark in the study of attacking chess.

Q: What was the broader significance of Kasparov winning the 1985 World Chess Championship?

Kasparov's victory in 1985 was one of the most consequential moments in chess history. It ended Karpov's decade-long dominance of the game and brought the championship to a new generation. Kasparov was openly confrontational with FIDE's political machinery and went on to challenge its authority throughout his career. His win marked the beginning of a prolonged rivalry: he and Karpov contested five World Championship matches between 1984 and 1990, the longest sustained rivalry the game has ever seen. Kasparov also became a symbol of intellectual energy during the late Soviet period. His openness, attacking energy, and exceptional play changed how chess was perceived by the wider world, fuelling a global surge of interest in the game through the late 1980s and 1990s.