Karpov-Korchnoi 1974 Candidates' Final...Some Inner Workings (Part I)
In 1974 Karpov faced Korchnoi in the Candidates' Final, to decide who would play Bobby Fischer for the World Championship in 1975.
Recently, in the comments section of one of my recent blog posts,
https://www.chess.com/blog/kamalakanta/vidit-pragg-f5-against-the-ruy
I mentioned briefly what is the main idea of this post.
So we go back to 1974, when Karpov and Korchnoi were facing off in the Candidates Final to choose the challenger to World Champion Bobby Fischer for a 1975 World Championship match which never happened.
The match started disastrously for Korchnoi.
Let us read what GM David Bronstein wrote abut this:
"I returned to Moscow after the 18th game, with the score standing at 0-3. That same day the telephone rang at about five in the evening."
K: "David Ionovich, it's me."
B: "I'm listening."
K: "I'm losing."
B: "I know."
K: "Can I call and see you?"
B: "Of course. Where are you?"
K: "Outside your block."
B: "Come on up."
K: "But I'm not alone, I've got Bella with me."
B: "Bring her with you."
"At that time my wife Marina Mikhailova and I were living on Kutuzovsky Prospect, not far from the Ukraine Hotel, and Korchnoi had already visited us once. I remember how, after entering our flat, the first question he asked was, "Where is your card index?" Because I played the most varied opening systems, chess players were apparently sure that at home I had an extensive card index, which I was constantly consulting in search of fresh ideas. To Korchnoi's disappointment, instead of a reply I silently put my finger on my forehead......"
"This time he did not ask about anything. He lamented that he wasn't playing well. We began thinking how to improve matters. We decided that, for a start, we had to sharply change the openings. And- a miracle- Korchnoi began the 19th game with the rare opening
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3.e4 h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. Nf3 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Qd2 Qe7 8. 0-0-0 and won after a tough two-day struggle. How splendidly he conducted the endgame- a genuine work of chess art!"
(Here is game no. 19)
with colors reversed practically the same position arises as in one of the variations of the Falkbeer Counter-Gambit:"
And if the opponent is tempted into making a premature attack, one can gain good counterplay by analogy with the game Chigorin-Marshall (Carlsbad 1907), which Karpov might well not have known:
P.S.- I forgot to mention that this story and comments by Bronstein can be found in the book "Secret Notes", which he co-authored with Sergey Voronkov, and was published shortly after Bronstein's passing.
