Grandmaster games · Olympiad, Final A 1974
Karpov's Squeeze
No sacrifice, no tactic: Karpov closes the centre, takes the queenside and then the kingside, and Unzicker runs out of safe moves.
The setting
Nice, June 1974, the 21st Olympiad. Anatoly Karpov, the rising star who would be world champion within a year, has White on the first board of the Soviet team against Wolfgang Unzicker of West Germany. Unzicker chooses the Chigorin Variation of the Closed Ruy Lopez. Sources disagree on whether this was round 3 on 17 June or round 4 on 18 June; this file follows the second.
Why study it
Live it from both minds. Karpov never sacrifices anything: Karpov picks the closed structure with 13.d5, takes the queenside with a4 and b4, parks a bishop on a7 where it cannot be dislodged, and only then turns to the kingside with f4 and f5. Unzicker's mind shows the other side: every move has a reason, and every reason is a little too passive. The engine says the decisive slip was 31...g5, which locked the kingside for good.
Live it from inside a mind
Each player speaks in the first person, in a voice of their own: what they see, what they fear, the lines they calculate, why they choose. Switch minds at any move.
Anatoly Karpov
White · Soviet Union · peak 2780
A 23-year-old on the way up. Karpov won the Candidates matches of 1974 and became world champion in 1975, when Fischer did not defend the title. Karpov's strength was space, restriction and exact timing.
Wolfgang Unzicker
Black · West Germany
A veteran of the West German team and many times national champion, a solid and knowledgeable Ruy Lopez player who met the Soviet first board at the Nice Olympiad.
Nice, the Olympiad final, and I have White on the first board against Unzicker. I want a position I can steer, not a fight of tactics. The Closed Ruy Lopez is the likely road, and I will answer with the centre, then space, then patience. If I choose the structure and put every piece on its best square, the win will come without a sacrifice.
Nice, the Olympiad final, and I have Black on the first board against Karpov. The Closed Ruy Lopez with the Chigorin knight is an opening I trust. Karpov is young, strong and patient, and in a closed position that is the worst combination to face. My plan is solid development, the knight to a5, ...c5 and ...Qc7, and counterplay in the centre if the chance appears.
The game in 6 chapters
- 1
The Chigorin set-up moves 1–12
A normal Closed Ruy Lopez. Unzicker puts the knight on a5 to challenge the bishop, plays ...c5 and ...Qc7, and White builds the centre with c3, h3, d4 and Nbd2.
- 2
13.d5 closes the centre moves 13–17
Karpov pushes d5 and the game turns into a manoeuvring battle. White opens the a-file, takes space with b4, and the black knight reaches b7 and the bishop d7.
- 3
The bind is built moves 18–23
Karpov regroups the bishops and the queen, the knight travels from f1 to g3, and rooks go to the a-file. Unzicker plays ...g6 and ...c4, which fixes the queenside and blocks Black's own bishop.
- 4
24.Ba7: the quiet masterstroke moves 24–30
The bishop lands on a7, where Black cannot challenge it and cannot use the squares it covers. With the queenside frozen, White's knights go to h2 and g3 and the f-pawn gets ready.
- 5
f4, f5 and the h5 bishop moves 31–40
f5 shuts the kingside. 31...g5 locks it for good and Black has only waiting moves left. Karpov puts the bishop on h5, repeats moves to reach the time control, and keeps every plan.
- 6
Cashing in moves 41–44
41.Bxf7+ trades off Black's best defender, Qh5 pins the knight, Qg6 and Nh5 close in. Black resigns.