Author: signed by Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov
Year: 1994
Publisher: Match and Philips
Place: Linares
Description:
unpaginated with tables and color photographs. Royal octavo (9 3/4" x 6 3/4") bound in original publisher's pictorial stapled wrappers. Signed by Anatoly Karpov. First edition.
The XII Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez "Ciudad de Linares" was held in Linares, Spain from February 23rd to March 14th. It was sponsored by Match and Philips. Fourteen of the world's best players competed in a round robin format. They were: PCA World Champion Garry Kasparov (Elo rated #1 in the world), FIDE World Champion Anatoly Karpov (#2), Viswanathan Anand (#3), Alexey Shirov (#4), Vassily Ivanchuk (#5), Vladimir Kramnik (#6), Gata Kamsky (#7), Evgeny Bareev (#8), Boris Gelfand (#9), Alexander Beliavsky (#16), Veselin Topalov (#20) from Bulgaria, the best female player Judit Polgar (#22) from Hungary, Joel Lautier (#26) from France, and Miguel Illescas Cordoba (#68) from Spain. Of the the top 10 players, only Valery Salov (#10) was missing. When asked in advance about the strength of the tournament, Kasparov stated that the winner could consider himself the world champion of tournament chess. Ironically, it was to be Karpov, his longtime rival, who would be the man of destiny. There were no less than seven rest days between the rounds, which started in Hotel Anibal at 3 pm.
Karpov won by 2.5 points, undefeated, with a staggering 11/13. This was probably the greatest single tournament performance of all time (but see, e.g., Sinquefield Cup (2014)). Bareev made a historical blunder against him in Round 2 (35.Ba7??). Round 4 saw Karpov vs Topalov, 1994 which was later dubbed "Karpov's Immortal." In Round 7, after six straight wins, Karpov finally gave up a draw, as Black against Kasparov. Kasparov placed behind Karpov in a tournament for the first time since Moscow (1981). Of the teenagers, two were Linares debutants: Polgar and Topalov. In Polgar vs Kasparov, 1994 (Round 5), Kasparov apparently let go of his knight when playing 36.Nc5 and then retracted the move. But Polgar did not protest, and the arbiter did not either. Kasparov went on to play 36.Nf8 and win the game. The tournament director Luis Rentero Suarez was later accused of having the video removed from the public. There are some letters and pictures addressing the matter in Ocho x Ocho 146 (pp. 28, 32-33). Lautier beat Kasparov with the black pieces in the last round. "Possibly the worst defeat that Kasparov has ever suffered", according to Raymond Keene. Bareev won the brilliancy prize for Topalov vs Bareev, 1994.
Condition: Signed by Karpov next to his promotional picture. Corners bumped some light edge wear else very good.