May Shake Up Game’s Establishment : Soviet Chess Prodigy Poised for Victory

Gary Kasparov, the chess prodigy who has fascinated the experts with new attacking strategies in his match with world titleholder Anatoly Karpov, now appears likely to become the youngest world chess champion in history.

Kasparov, 22, has taken a commanding lead in the championships, accumulating 11 1/2 points to 9 1/2 for Karpov. Each victory counts for one point; each draw is worth half a point. To win, a player must have 12 1/2 points.

Karpov, 34, must win two of the remaining three games to keep the crown he has worn since 1975. Kasparov needs only to draw two games to become champion.

In the latest encounter, Karpov pulled out a draw Friday despite experts’ predictions that he had a losing position. Still, it brought Kasparov a half-point closer to victory.

In the Soviet Union, where chess is a national pastime, Kasparov’s eventual triumph is taken for granted. He has become the darling of the crowds here in Moscow, Karpov’s home town. Tickets are being scalped for 10 times their value, and would-be spectators wait outside the hall for news of each match.

If the upstart challenger seizes the title from Karpov, he may shake up the conservative Soviet chess establishment. His victory would bring a generational change, the chess equivalent to the succession of Mikhail S. Gorbachev, 54, as Soviet leader.

May Be Youngest Champion

If he wins the crown, Kasparov will take the title of world’s youngest chess champion from Mikhail N. Tal, of Soviet Latvia, who was 23 in 1960 when he won the crown by defeating defending champion Mikhail Botvinnik, then 48, of Leningrad.

The Karpov-Kasparov struggle has been bitter, with frequent demonstrations of mutual contempt during a game that is supposed to be known for its cool, cerebral character.

“They must hate each other by now,” one international grandmaster said of the two men locked in their second battle for the world title.

But it’s the unconventional ways in which Kasparov wins that intrigue the experts who have assembled in Moscow for the tournament. His style recalls the ever-attacking technique of Bobby Fischer, the American world titlist from 1972 to 1974 who disdained a draw and always looked for victory.

‘Capturing the Initiative’

“Kasparov is giving a new dimension to our concept of chess,” said British grandmaster Raymond Keene. “His ideas are aimed primarily at capturing the initiative, and he does not stop at sacrificing pawns to do so.”

Miguel Najdorf, an Argentine grandmaster, said the match gave an look at “chess of the future” that was more spirited and impromptu than traditional tournament play.

“We are witnessing a match of the world’s best chess players who are at their prime,” Najdorf added.

Another chess expert wrote: “Rather than settle for sterile equality, the challenger sacrificed material to force waves of complications.”

Kasparov is an impulsive and brash young man compared with the self-controlled and austere Karpov, often considered a pet of sports czars here.

It was Karpov who twice defeated a Soviet defector, Viktor Korchnoi, to keep the world title in Moscow after Fischer let it go by default.

Kasparov bitterly complained of favoritism to Karpov when their first match was unexpectedly canceled last February on grounds that they were both too exhausted to continue. Although Karpov led at the time, 5 to 3, the challenger had won two games in a row and seemed to have a weary Karpov on the ropes.

Karpov said before the second match began that he had completed secret psychological training to prepare him mentally for the second encounter with his younger opponent.

But Kasparov startled chess fans with an easy victory in the first game of the current match, and only a dogged defense allowed the champion to escape with a draw in the second game.

Even so, Karpov struck back, winning the fourth game.

Spurned Advice

The impulsive Kasparov refused to listen to his advisers and take a timeout before playing again. He lost the fifth game as well and it appeared that the title might not change hands after all.

The struggle was ferocious and chess protocol was discarded along the way. Karpov deliberately appeared a minute or two late for games, supposedly to rattle his foe. Kasparov bluntly refused to chat with Karpov about the games after they were finished, silently departing from the table.

In two games, Kasparov brashly disclosed a sealed move, usually kept confidential during overnight adjournments of undecided contests. This was virtually unprecedented in world championship play and indicated his own confidence and disdain for Karpov’s ability to take advantage of the revelation.

The spectators in 1,500-seat Tchaikovsky Hall here have often been in an uproar. Police officers removed one fan who shouted a demand for Karpov to resign at the end of Game 19.

Expressive Audience

Officials often flashed a sign requesting silence, but to little effect as the audience buzzed with comments on the play.

As the match drew to a close, it was evident that Kasparov had won the heart of Moscow’s chess community.

After one victory, he received a five-minute ovation, clearly upsetting Karpov, and officials once warned they might have to clear the hall if the spectators continued to applaud and cheer.

By the end of this match, the two men will have played 72 world championship games. If Karpov loses this match, however, he is guaranteed a rematch within three months, indicating the mental war between the two giants of chess is far from over.

The 22nd game is scheduled for today unless one of the players calls a time out.

Here are the moves of Friday’s game:

Kasparov-Karpov 21: 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Be7 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bf4 c6 6 e3 Bf5 7 g4 Be6 8 h4 Nd7 9 h5 Nh6 10 Be2 Nb6 11 Rc1 Bd6 12 Nh3 Bxf4 13 Nxf4 Bd7 14 Rg1 g5 15 hxg6 hxg6 16 Kd2 Qe7 17 b3 g5 18 Nd3 0-0-0 19 Rh1 f6 20 Qg1 Nf7 21 Qg3 Qd6 22 Qxd6 Nxd6 23 f3 Rdg8 24 Nc5 Kd8 25 Bd3 Bc8 26 Ne2 Na8 27 Bh7 Rf8 28 Rh6 Nc7 29 Ng3 Nf7 30 Rh2 Ne6 31 Nd3 Ng7 32 Rch1 Ke7 33 Nf2 Rd8 34 Bf5 Rxh2 35 Rxh2 Nxf5 36 gxf5 Rh8 37 Rxh8 Nxh8 39 e4 Nf7 39 Ng4 Nd6 40 Ne3 dxe4 41 fxe4 b6 42 b4 Ba6 43 Ng4 Nb5 44 Kd3 Na3+, Drawn.