Karpov Wins 3rd Straight Game to Tie Title Match

Challenger Anatoly Karpov won Game 19 of the world chess championship Thursday, inflicting an unprecedented third successive defeat on titleholder Gary Kasparov.

Kasparov, trapped in a losing position after 40 moves Wednesday, resigned without resuming play. The victory brings Karpov even with Kasparov at 9 1/2 points each in the 24-game championship.

Kasparov needs 12 points to retain his title. The scoring counts one point for a victory and half a point for a draw. Kasparov’s defeat marks the first time in his competitive career that he has lost three games in succession.

Until Game 17, Kasparov looked on course for a decisive triumph in the championship.

He entered the 17th game with a 9 1/2 to 6 1/2 point advantage, having won two of the first four games staged in Leningrad. The first 12 games were played in London.

Karpov’s comeback resembles the recovery that Kasparov made in their first duel in 1984-85. In that battle, Karpov took a commanding 5-0 lead early on, but Kasparov managed to reduce the deficit to 5-3 before the match was abandoned.

Here are the moves:

Karpov-Kasparov 19: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Nf3 Bg7 5 Qb3 dxc4 6 Qxc4 0-0 7 e4 Na6 8 Be2 c5 9 d5 e6 10 0-0 exd5 11 exd5 Bf5 12 Bf4 Re8 13 Rad1 Ne4 14 Nb5 Qf6 15 Bd3 Nb4 16 Nc7 Nxd3 17 Nxe8 Rxe8 18 Qxd3 Qxb2 19 Rde1 Qb4 20 Nd2 Qa4 21 Qc4 Qxc4 22 Nxc4 Bc3 23 Nd2 Bxd2 24 Bxd2 Bd7 25 Bf4 Bb5 26 f3 g5 27 Bxg5 Bxf1 28 Kxf1 Nd6 29 Be7 Nc8 30 Bxc5 Rd8 31 Re5 f6 32 Rf5 b6 33 Bd4 Ne7 34 Bxf6 Rxd5 35 Rg5+ Rxg5 36 Bxg5 Nc6 37 Ke2 Kf7 38 Kd3 Ke6 39 Kc4 Ne5+ 40 Kd4 Nc6+. Black resigns.