Karpov Fights Back With 2nd Straight Victory

Anatoly Karpov won a second straight victory over titleholder Gary Kasparov on Saturday, taking the 18th game of their world chess championship rematch and narrowing Kasparov’s lead to one point.

Kasparov, playing the white pieces, which gave him the advantage of the opening move, resigned after black’s 58th move and now leads by 9 1/2-8 1/2 points. Four days ago, he held a seemingly unassailable three-point lead.

“Who knows what will happen in the match now? In the last two games, Karpov has completedly recovered, and Kasparov must be really feeling the psychological pressure,” Cuban chess expert Frank Guiral said.

The 19th game is scheduled for Monday. The winner of the 24-game rematch between the two Soviets will be the first player to get either six victories or 12 1/2 points. In the event of a tie, Kasparov keeps the championship. A victory counts one point, and each player gets half a point in a draw.

“The next game will be crucial for the match,” Yugoslav master Bozidar Kazic said. “Karpov has white, and if he wins he will equal the score, leaving the match situation wide open, but if Kasparov holds with black, he will put himself back on course, two wins ahead with five games to go.”

Here are the moves:

Kasparov-Karpov 18: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 Nc3 Bb4 5 Bg5 Bb7 6 e3 h6 7 bh4 Bxc3ch 8 bxc3 d6 9 Nd2 g5 10 Bg3 Qe7 11 a4 a5 12 h4 Rg8 13 hxg5 hxg5 14 Qb3 Na6 15 Rb1 Kf8 16 Qd1 Bc6 17 Rh2 Kg7 18 c5 bxc5 19 Bb5 Nb8 20 dxc5 d5 21 Be5 Kf8 22 Rh6 Ne8 23 Qh5 f6 24 Rh7 Ng7 25 Qf3 Kf7 26 Qh5+ Kf8 27 Qf3 Kf7 28 Rh6 Ne8 29 e4 g4 30 Qf4 Bxb5 31 Rxb5 Nd7 32 Bxc7 Nxc5 33 Qe3 Nxe4 34 Nxe4 dxe4 35 Bxa5 f5 36 Bb4 Qd7 37 Qd4 Ra7 38 Rh7+ Ng7 39 a5 Kg6 40 Qxd7 Rxd7 41 Rh4 Rgd8 42 C4 Rd1+ 43 Ke2 Rc1 44 A6 Rc2+ 45 Ke1 Ra2 46 Rb6 Rd3 47 c5 Ra1+ 48 Ke2 Ra2 49 Ke1 g3 50 fg Rxg3 51 Kf1 Rgxg2 52 Be1 Rgc2 53 c6 Ra1 54 Rh3 f4 55 Rb4 Kf5 56 Rb5 e5 57 Ra5 Rd1 58 a7 e3 white resigned