Search
Library / Games / Kasparov, Garry vs Anand, Viswanathan
Linares 15th · Linares · 24 February 1998

Garry Kasparov vs Viswanathan Anand, Linares 15th

Kasparov, Garry 1–0 Anand, Viswanathan
Kasparov, Garry vs Anand, Viswanathan
87654321
abcdefgh
Black king
Black rook
Black pawn
Black pawn
White rook
Black pawn
Black queen
Black pawn
Black knight
Black pawn
White queen
White pawn
White pawn
Black pawn
White knight
White pawn
White pawn
White pawn
White pawn
White king
69/69
  1. 1.
  3. 2.
  5. 3.
  7. 4.
  9. 5.
  11. 6.
  13. 7.
  15. 8.
  17. 9.
  19. 10.
  21. 11.
  23. 12.
  25. 13.
  27. 14.
  29. 15.
  31. 16.
  33. 17.
  35. 18.
  37. 19.
  39. 20.
  41. 21.
  43. 22.
  45. 23.
  47. 24.
  49. 25.
  51. 26.
  53. 27.
  55. 28.
  57. 29.
  59. 30.
  61. 31.
  63. 32.
  65. 33.
  67. 34.
  69. 35.
Linares 15th, 24 February 1998

The Kasparov-Anand game at the 1998 Linares 15th tournament (Round 3, February 24) was won by Kasparov as White. The 1998 Linares was one of the strongest tournaments of the year, with Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, Shirov, Topalov, Ivanchuk, and Adams in the field.

Kasparov’s win was a sharp Sicilian Najdorf. The Najdorf English Attack — a system Kasparov had used famously in the 1995 World Championship — produced a similar attacking position here. Anand’s defence held through 25 moves before a small inaccuracy let Kasparov’s attack become decisive. The conversion took 40 moves.

The 1998 Linares was won by Anand and Shirov on co-shared first place with 7/11. Kasparov finished third. Linares had become by 1998 the strongest annual tournament in the world; its winners during 1990s-2000s were a who’s-who of elite chess. Kasparov won Linares 8 times during his career — the most of any player.

The Najdorf English Attack pattern Kasparov used in this game would appear again in subsequent matches. Its specific theoretical contributions through the 1995-1999 period reshaped Najdorf theory for the next decade. The 1998 Linares game was one piece of that larger theoretical contribution.

Game record

This game between Kasparov, Garry and Anand, Viswanathan was played at the Linares 15th in Linares in 1998. Played in round 3. At the time of the game, the players were rated 2825 (White) and 2770 (Black). The game lasted 35 moves, ending with White winning. It is part of the late-Soviet and Cold-War chess era.

Opening context

The opening sequence runs 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7, after which the players entered the middlegame proper.

See also

For more on this game’s protagonists and theory, see Kasparov, Garry and Anand, Viswanathan.

Match notes

This Linares 15th game sits in Kasparov dominance and the PCA split. Master-level chess of the period was published in tournament bulletins, magazine annotations, and — for the most-studied games — in published opening monographs by the participants and their successors. This game is preserved in the open historical record and can be replayed in full above.