Kasparov Cautious, Settles for Draw in 21st Title Game

The 21st game of the world chess championship between titleholder Gary Kasparov and challenger Anatoly Karpov ended as a draw in a complex position after 28 moves on Monday.

The result kept the scores tied at 10 1/2 points in the 24-game match, with three wins and 15 draws for each of the Soviet players.

Kasparov, 24, has the advantage of retaining the crown in the event of a 12-12 deadlock.

The 36-year-old Karpov, playing white, considered his rival’s offer to split the point for more than 10 minutes before finally accepting.

A win counts one point and a draw half a point.

Chess experts were puzzled by Kasparov’s decision to try to force a draw by a perpetual repetition of moves. If the same position occurs three times with the same person to move, the game may be claimed drawn.

Kasparov, who had a rook for Karpov’s knight and pawn, was widely considered to be in a good position to press for a win.

Icelandic grandmaster Helgi Olafsson said: “Kasparov may come to regret this later. I don’t know if he was winning, but he was clearly better.”

English international master Mark Hebden called the sudden result pathetic and also believed that Kasparov sacrificed a chance for virtually clinching the match.

Here are the moves:

Karpov-Kasparov 21:

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 Rd1 Re8 13 d6 h6 14 Bf4 Nd7 15 Rd2 Nb4 16 Qb3 Be6 17 Bc4 Nb6 18 Bxe6 Rxe6 19 a3 Nd3 20 Bg3 c4 21 Qc2 Rc8 22 Rad1 Qd7 23 h4 f5 24 Rxd3 cxd3 25 Qxd3 Nc4 26 Qd5 Nb6 27 Qd3 Nc4 28 Qd5 Nb6. Drawn.