The most prestigious event in the world of chess is none other than the World Chess Championship. Here is a look at what happened in 1984.World Championship Match SetupAnatoly Karpov was the reigning world chess champion from 1975. In 1984, for the defense of his title, Karpov at the age of 33 years faced a young challenger in the form of Garry Kasparov. Winner of the championship would be the player who scores 6 wins first.
Karpov Dominating at the Start
Karpov started with 4 wins in first 9 games and scores looked like 4-0 in favor of Karpov. Chess experts predicted quick whitewash from there on & Karpov would win without losing a single game. It was followed with 17 successive draws & game 27 was won by Karpov, taking the score in his favor 5-0. Karpov was a win away from defending his title and concluding the match!
Kasparov showing his True Mettle! After this Kasparov fought back with 4 draws and won his first ever game in the world championship. Game 32 was won by Kasparov and what followed was a series of 14 draws until game 46. Then came a big turning point! Game 47 & 48 were won by Kasparov to changes score to 3-5 (from 0-5)
Match was Abandoned Match had started in September 1984 and game 48 was played in February 1985! Citing tiredness, fatigue and health of the players, FIDE abandoned the match and announced a new championship match will be arranged.
Credit to Tenacious KasparovImagine, at 21 with score 0-5, facing Karpov what Kasparov would be going through. A step back, after 9 games, he was down by 0-4. To hold from there and not going down after 5th defeat in game 27. Kasparov never gave up. Isn’t this about being mentally strong? Having a strong self belief that yes, I would be able to do it, I need to hold and focus and march forward.
(Kasparov & Karpov battelled for 5 championships)
(Kasparov – World Champion from 1985 to 2000 & World No. 1 from 1985 to 2005!)
Kasparov went on to win the 1985 championship and became the youngest World Chess Champion at the age of 22. Kasparov was ranked 1 for 20 years & was the world champion for 15 years as is widely considered as greatest of all-time chess players!
“If he had won this match 6-0, Kasparov would never have become world champion, because he was too emotional” – Anatoly KarpovSo, do you think 1984 was the real match which made Kasparov the champion? Was this the real steppingstone for Kasparov to become what he became? What are your thoughts?
