The Longest Game

On September 10, 1984, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov started the first game of their match for the World Chess Championship. In the next six years they would play five matches for the highest title and create one of the fiercest rivalries in sports history. The matches lasted a staggering total of 14 months and the 'two K's' played 5540 moves in 144 games. Kasparov's win of the world title in the second match was not only hailed as a triumph of imaginative attacking chess, but also as a political victory. The representative of 'perestroika' had beaten the old champion, a symbol of Soviet stagnation. Kasparov defended his title in three more matches, all of them full of drama. Karpov remained a formidable opponent and the overall score was only 7371 in Kasparov's favour. Jan Timman chronicles the many twists and turns of this fascinating saga, including his behindthe scenes impressions, and takes a fresh look at the games.