Chess
TOiya totters FlaYmond Keene Baguio After a quiet draw in the fourth game of his title defence, an Open Ruy Lopez which followed the second game for fourteen Moves and lasted only another five, World ,iChampion Anatoly Karpov, Tolya to his friends, tottered in the fifth game. But he regained his balance when Korchnoi on move 56 played one of the most horrendous blunders ever seen in a world championship Match. 10 .y move 70 it became clear that Korchnoi's chance of winning had gone for Lood but the game meandered on and ;.mkallY ended in stalemate on move 124. 4"e boredom of the final stages of the game ,Was alleviated by the fact that it eventually Championship two records. It was the longest World ‘-hampionship game (and indeed longer than
the other five games put together) and the first ever to end in stalemate.
v. The opening of game 6 was a small moral ile,sr°rY for Korchnoi as Karpov abandoned -K4 with which he had obtained no advantage in games 2 and 4 in favour of the
English Opening. Again Korchnoi equalised easily and, in fact, had some advantage when the game was agreed drawn on move 23. The game was played in the interval between the second and third sessions of the traumatic fifth game and the early draw may reflect the exhaustion of both players. It has been suggested that Karpov is deliberately soft-pedalling with White in order to discover Korchnoi's main line defences and thus prepare more deeply for them at a later stage. However, this exposes him to a rough tune with Black and at the end of the second session of the fifth game he looked haggard and shattered.
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