World Chess Championship 1984 - 1984/85 Championship Match

1984/85 Championship Match

World Chess Championship Match September 1984 - February 1985

	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	Wins		Total
Anatoly Karpov	2700	=	=	1	=	=	1	1	=	1	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	1	=	=	=	=	0	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	0	0	5		25
Garry Kasparov	2710	=	=	0	=	=	0	0	=	0	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	0	=	=	=	=	1	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	1	1	3		23

The championship match between Karpov and Kasparov had many ups and downs, and a very controversial finish. Karpov started in very good form, and after nine games Kasparov was down 4-0 in a "first to six wins" match. Fellow players predicted he would be whitewashed 6-0 within 18 games.

But Kasparov dug in and battled Karpov to 17 successive draws. He lost game 27, then fought back with another series of draws until game 32, his first-ever win against the World Champion. Another 14 successive draws followed, through game 46. The previous record length for a world title match had been 34 games, the 1927 match between José Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine. Games 47 and 48 were both won by the contender, making the score 5-3 in favor of Karpov and the eventual outcome far less certain.

Then the match was ended without result by Florencio Campomanes, the President of Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE), and a new match was announced to start a few months later. The termination was controversial, as both players stated that they preferred the match to continue. Announcing his decision at a press conference, Campomanes cited the health of the players, which had been strained by the length of the match (5 months: September 10, 1984 to February 8, 1985).

The match became the first, and so far only, world championship match to be abandoned without result.

The restarted match (the World Chess Championship 1985) was best of 24, with the champion (Karpov) to retain his title if the match was tied 12-12. Because Karpov's two-point lead from the 1984 match was wiped out, Karpov was granted the right of a return match (the World Chess Championship 1986) if he lost.