Kasparov Gets a Postponement of Game 6

World chess champion Gary Kasparov, finding challenger Anatoly Karpov a more formidable opponent than expected, Friday called a postponement of the sixth game of their world title competition.

With scores even at 2 1/2 points each, game No. 6 of the 24-round $915,000 battle was rescheduled for Monday at London’s Park Lane Hotel.

Each player is entitled to call up to three timeouts during the marathon competition. Kasparov notified chess officials by the deadline Friday that he was asking for his first postponement, and the first of the championship.

Kasparov is still heavily favored to retain the crown he won from Karpov last November. But grandmasters agreed he was finding the task more difficult than even he believed at the outset.