6th Chess Game Ends in a Draw

The sixth game of the world chess championship match in London between champion Gary Kasparov and challenger Anatoly Karpov was drawn on Tuesday. The game had been adjourned on Monday evening, and the two rivals agreed to a draw before play was scheduled to resume on Tuesday.

The score stands at 3-3 in the 24-game match. Each player has one win. Six wins or 12 1/2 points are needed for victory.

Monday’s encounter was by far the most interesting of the four draws played so far. Playing white, Kasparov opened with 1 e4, a departure from the first five games of the match, which began with 1 d4. Karpov replied with the Petroff Defense, a solid opening which he often uses to signal his willingness to draw. Kasparov, perhaps trying to rebound from a bad loss in the fifth game, chose an aggressive continuation involving a sacrifice of a pawn.

At Move 17, Kasparov offered a second pawn sacrifice, which Karpov declined. White had a promising attack until Move 22, when 22 Be5 appears more logical. Kasparov’s choice of 22 Bc3 allowed Karpov to exchange queens, breaking the attack. In the endgame, Karpov had a tiny advantage, but Kasparov defended properly to hold the draw.

The seventh game, with Karpov playing white, begins today.

Here are the moves:.

Kasparov-Karpov 6: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Nxe5 d6 4 Nf3 Nxe4 5 d4 d5 6 Bd3 Nc6 7 0-0 Bg4 8 c4 Nf6 9 Nc3 Bxf3 10 Qxf3 Nxd4 11 Qe3+ Ne6 12 cxd5 Nxd5 13 Nxd5 Qxd5 14 Be4 Qb5 15 a4 Qa6 16 Rd1 Be7 17 b4 0-0 18 Qh3 g6 19 Bb2 Qc4 20 Rd7 Rae8 21 Bd5 Qxb4 22 Bc3 Nf4 23 Bxb4 Nxh3+ 24 gxh3 Bxb4 25 Rxc7 b6 26 Rxa7 Kg7 27 Rd7 Rd8 28 Rxd8 Rxd8 29 Rd1 Rd6 30 Rd3 h5 31 Kf1 Rd7 32 Kg2 Bc5 33 Kf1 h4 34 Bc4 Re7 35 Rf3 Bd6 36 Kg2 Rc7 37 Bb3 f5 38 Rd3 Bc5 39 Rc3 Kf6 40 Rc4 g5 41 Rc2 Ke5, Drawn.