Best Chess Games: Anand Defeats Kasparov in the World Championship - Anand vs. Kasparov, 1995

Viswanathan Anand's pivotal world championship match with Garry Kasparov took place early in his career. Kasparov had been stripped of his world championship title in 1993 when he formed the Professional Chess Association (PCA) and played Nigel Short under it's auspices. In 1995, Kasparov played Anand who won the right to a match by winning Candidates' matches against Michael Adams and Gata Kamsky.

Anand speaks of his frustrations with the organization of the match in his collection of best games. The venue was changed from Cologne to New York City (spectacularly atop the World Trade Center) without consulting or informing him, the prize fund was cut, and the players had to analyze the games daily for USA Today.

Despite these issues, Anand performed fantastically well for a first-time challenger, much better initially than did Kasparov in his first match against Anatoly Karpov. After eight draws (then a record), Anand struck beautifully in game nine.

I've annotated this game below in further depth. Anand's victory appears almost effortless, the mark of a truly instructive player!

Anand could not have been in a better position at this point in the match, but things quickly turned as he lost four of the next five games, including a masterpiece by Kasparov in the Open Ruy Lopez. Kasparov then needed just a few draws to cost to victory in this best of 20 match.

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