Icy Karpov, Brash Kasparov Set to Clash Again

It will be a contest of personalities as well as intellects when icy Anatoly Karpov, 34, again defends his world chess championship against brash Gary Kasparov, 22.

Their rematch will begin Tuesday, almost a year after they first squared off in a marathon tournament that ended without victory for either man.

This time, however, the ground rules may tilt the odds in favor of Karpov, a coldly analytical player who seemed to wilt in the final stages of their last encounter.

Karpov was ahead, 5 games to 3, but Kasparov had won two games in a row when the match was unexpectedly canceled by Florencio Campomanes, president of the International Chess Federation. He ordered a rematch for this fall with the score all even, zero to zero.

Defending his highly controversial ruling, Campomanes said that both players were exhausted by the five months of play.

Under the rules then in effect, six victories were required to win the championship, and there was no limit on the number of games. Chess analysts said the younger, stronger Kasparov wore down his opponent by playing for draws. The two men had played to a record 40 draws.

Karpov, while admitting fatigue, said rumors that he was about to collapse were groundless. He and Kasparov both said they were ready to continue.

In the new round, there will be a limit of 24 games. One point will be awarded for a winning game, a half-point for a draw, and no points for a defeat. Thus if a player wins one or two games and draws all the rest, he will be declared the champion. This would seem to favor the more experienced Karpov, the world titleholder since 1975.

Also to Karpov’s advantage is a another new rule. It provides that he will retain the title if all the games are drawn and the final score is 12-12.

Still, Kasparov gained experience in their first contest. Feeling overconfident, he lost five games in a row before he defeated Karpov. But after that Karpov did not win another game.

Hero of Establishment

Karpov, a withdrawn man who collects stamps for a hobby, is a hero of the Soviet chess establishment for twice defeating Viktor Korchnoi, a defector from the Soviet Union, in championship matches. Karpov is an ethnic Russian, and lives in Leningrad.

Kasparov, who lives in Baku and is the son of a Jewish father and an Armenian mother, defeated Korchnoi for the privilege of challenging Karpov.

Karpov is the chess world’s equivalent of a counterpuncher, waiting for his opponent to make mistakes, but Kasparov likes to stay on the attack, much like former American champion Bobby Fischer.

But Kasparov and Karpov share many other attributes. Both started playing chess at the age of 7, and became grandmasters before they were out of their teens. Both are members of the Communist Party and leaders in the young Communist organization.

Kasparov has a personal style just as stormy as his approach to the chessboard. He made no secret of his belief that the tournament was canceled last February in order to save Karpov from defeat.

For millions of Soviet chess buffs, it is a question of whether Karpov can keep his cool and dominate Kasparov, as he did early in the match a year ago, or whether the brash young man from Baku can retain the winning momentum he found in the final games.