Game 7 a Draw in Championship Chess Match

Soviet grandmasters Gary Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov agreed to a draw Thursday without resuming play in the adjourned seventh game of the world chess championship.

The match now is tied at 3 1/2 points.

Karpov, the challenger, offered Kasparov a draw through the chief arbiter, West German grandmaster Lothar Schmid. The champion accepted the offer immediately.

A Karpov aide, Alexander Nikitin, disclosed that Kasparov’s sealed 41st move, written down at the end of play Wednesday, was king to knight one.

The draw ended the most dramatic game so far in the title match with both players running extremely short of time and Kasparov producing a startling 35th move to save his king from Karpov’s checkmating attack.

Kasparov sacrificed a rook for a knight but gained two pawns as compensation. British master Malcolm Pein said Kasparov has “pulled off a Houdini-like escape.”

American grandmaster Maxim Dlugy, the current world junior champion said: “The match advantage now lies with Kasparov. He’s got eight whites left to play, and Karpov has only got seven.” The player with white pieces has the advantage of making the first move.

“After surviving the onslaught yesterday, Kasparov should have a psychological uplift,” Dlugy added.

Winner of the 24-game match will be the first to score six victories or 12.5 points. A win counts one point and a tie one-half point.

The first 12 games are being played in London’s Park Lane Hotel, and the final 12 in Leningrad.

Here are the moves:

Karpov-Kasparov 7: 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Be7 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bf4 c6 6 Qc2 g6 7 e3 Bf5 8 Qd2 Nd7 9 f3 Nb6 10 e4 Be6 11 e5 h5 12 Bd3 Qd7 13 b3 Bh4ch 14 g3 Be7 15 Kf2 Bf5 16 Bf1 Kf8 17 Kg2 a5 18 a3 Qd8 19 Nh3 Bxh3+ 20 Kxh3 Kg7 21 Kg2 Nd7 22 Bd3 Nf8 23 Be3 Ne6 24 Ne2 Nh6 25 b4 Qb6 26 b5 c5 27 Nc3 cxd4 28 Bxh6+ Rxh6 29 Nxd5 Qd8 30 Be4 h4 31 Rhf1 hxg3 32 hxg3 Rc8 33 Rh1 Rxh1 34 Rxh1 Bg5 35 F4 Rc5 36 Fxg5 Rxd5 37 Bxd5 Qxd5+ 38 Kh2 Qxe5 39 Rf1 Qxb5 40 Qf2 Nxg5 41 Qxd4+ Black sealed his 41st move. Drawn.