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1st Game Drawn in World Chess Match

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From Times Wire Services

World chess champion Gary Kasparov pulled a surprise defensive opening on challenger Anatoly Karpov, forcing a draw in the opening match Monday of their 24-game title rematch. The next game will be played Wednesday.

The first game ended less than four hours after it began and spelled a setback for Karpov, who had won the right to play white, an immediate, if slim, advantage in any game of chess because white moves first.

Karpov’s standard opening was answered by Kasparov with the so-called Gruenfeld Defense, a tactic the champion has rarely used, and the challenger was clearly taken aback. When the two exchanged queens on black’s 12th and white’s 13th moves the stage was set for a draw. That came on white’s 21st move when Karpov offered the draw and Kasparov, whom bookmakers tip to retain his title, accepted.

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Here are the moves of the game:

Karpov-Kasparov 1: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Nf3 Bg7 5 Bf4 c5 6 dxc5 Qa5 7 Rc1 dxc4 8 e3 Qxc5 9 Qa4+ Nc6 10 Bxc4 O-O 11 O-O Bd7 12 Qb5 Qxb5 13 Bxb5 Rac8 14 Rfd1 Rfd8 15 h3 h6 16 Kf1 a6 17 Be2 Be6 18 Rxd8+ Rxd8 19 Ne5 Nxe5 20 Bxe5 Rd2 21 b3 drawn.

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