Solve Anatoly Karpov's 70th Birthday Puzzle Challenge
Today, 12th world chess champion Anatoly Karpov turns 70 years old! The Russian legend earned the title in 1975 as the 11th world chess champion, Bobby Fischer, did not agree to the terms for a new match. In the next decade, Karpov showed the world that he was indeed the best player on the planet.
Karpov is famous for his positional chess, but as a young player, he played fierce attacking games as well. Below you will find a selection of 25 puzzle moments from his long career; the puzzles are mostly tactical, but some are positional. While there are a few easier puzzles, there are quite a few challenging but instructive puzzles to celebrate Mr. Karpov's 70th birthday:
#1: Novak vs. Karpov, 1966
#2: Karpov vs. Gik, 1968
#3: Sangla vs. Karpov, 1968
#4: Juhnke vs. Karpov, 1969
#5: Karpov vs. Spassky, 1974
#6: Karpov vs. Unzicker, 1974
#7: Tatai vs. Karpov, 1977
#8: Karpov vs. Hort, 1978
#9: Timman vs. Karpov, 1979
#10: Seirawan vs. Karpov, 1982
#11: Karpov vs. Hubner, 1982
#12: Karpov vs. Mestel, 1984
#13: Karpov vs. Kasparov, 1984
#14: Karpov vs. Nikkanen, 1989
#15: Karpov vs. Shirov, 1992
#16: Karpov vs. Kamsky, 1992
#17: Kamsky vs. Karpov, 1993
#18: Bacrot vs. Karpov, 1993
#19: Karpov vs. Topalov 1994
#20: Portisch vs. Karpov, 1996
#21: Karpov vs. Gulko, 1996
#22: Karpov vs. Topalov, 1998
#23: Karpov vs. Berlandier, 1998
#24: Karpov vs. Albarran, 2001
#25: Ivanchuk vs. Karpov, 2013
Did we miss one of your favorite Anatoly Karpov tactics? Be sure to share it in the comments!