Opening Match in World Chess Tournament a Draw

The opening game of the world chess championship Monday night between titleholder Garry Kasparov and challenger Anatoly Karpov ended in a draw after 30 moves and only a few minutes remaining of the full session of five hours of play.

The score in the 24-game match stands at one half point to each player, with Kasparov having the advantage of keeping the crown in the event of a final 12-12 tie.

As the match began, Kasparov, his hands cupped in front of his face and his eyes narrowed to a slit, signaled that he was out to banish his old foe as soundly as he could in their fifth world championship match.

But Karpov, playing white, stayed the Kasparov challenge with safe and sensible moves. He signalled the tension of the match by taking up to 30 minutes to make a single move.

Kasparov, a declared anti-communist, played behind a flag of the Russian Federation while Karpov, a Communist Party member, played behind a Soviet flag.

After 19 moves--about midway in the match--the experts were conceding that Kasparov had overcome the disadvantage of playing black and said the game could end in a high-speed finish with critical moves reserved for the end.

Kasparov and Karpov played their first of 24 matches in a darkened, half-empty Broadway theater where they sat in black chairs, staring at a board set on a black table and surrounded by a stark black backdrop. About the only touch of color was Karpov’s white shoes.

Although they are known to dislike each other intensely, the two men came out smiling and shook hands warmly before retreating silently to their seats.

Karpov, seeking to regain the championship he held for a decade before Kasparov defeated him in 1985, made the first move without a moment’s pause. He chose a conventional start--moving his queen’s pawn two spaces, the most popular opening move in the game.

Kasparov countered by moving his king’s knight toward the center and then played the King’s Indian defense.

Chess experts said they could not recall a bolder start to a game between the two old foes.

The winner will receive $1.7 million and the loser will get $1.3 million.

Here are the moves from the first game, with Karpov playing white and Kasparov black:

1 P-Q4 N-KB3; 2 c4/P-QB4 g6/P-KN3; 3 Nc3/N-QB3 Bg7/B-N2; 4 e4/P-K4 d6/P-Q3; 5 f3/P-B3 0-0/0-0; 6 Be3/B-K3 c6/P-B3; 7 Bd3/B-Q3 a6/P-QR3; 8 Nge2/KN-K2 b5/P-QN4.

9 0-0/0-0 Nbd7/QN-Q2; 10 Rc1/R-B1 e5/P-K4; 11 a3/P-QR3 exd4/KPXP; 12 Nxd4/NXQP Bb7/B-N2.

13 cxb5/PXP cxb5/BPXP; 14 Re1/R-K1 Ne5/N-K4; 15 Bf1/B-B1 Re8/R-K1; 16 Bf2/B-B2 d5/P-Q4; 17 exd5/PXP Nxd5/NXQP; 18 Nxd5/NXN Qxd5/QXN; 19 a4/P-QR4 Bh6/B-R3; 20 Ra1/R-R1 Nc4/N-B5.

21 axb5/PXP axb5/PXP; 22 Rxa8/RXR Rxa8/RXR; 23 Qb3/Q-N3 Bc6/B-B3; 24 Bd3/B-Q3 Nd6/N-Q3.

25 Qxd5/QXQ Bxd5/BxQ; 26 Nxb5/NXP Nxb5/NXN; 27 Bxb5/BXN Bg7/B-KN2. 28 b4/P-QN4 Bc3/B-B6; 29 Rd1/R-Q1 Bb3/B-N6; 30 Rb1/R-N1 Ba2/B-R7.

Draw agreed.