Kasparov wasn't just the best chessplayer of his time, he may have been the best of any time. Botvinnik used to say that he was primus inter pares, first among equals, but Kasparov wasn't like that at all. His rating was a long way ahead of his rivals. And he didn't like to win a tournament by doing just enough to win -- he wanted to win a long way ahead of second place. And he didn't just like to win a game -- he wanted to smash his opponents -- and he often did! He worked harder, he knew more opening theory, he put more energy into his games... Playing Kasparov could be crushing.
Here he is in action against Britain's John Nunn -- a top 10 player, and a notable openings expert, but he is blown away.
[Event "Luzern ol (Men)"] [Site "Luzern"] [Date "1982.11.08"] [Round "9"] [White "Kasparov, Garry"] [Black "Nunn, John DM"] [Result "1-0"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4 Bg7 8. Bb5+ Nfd7 9. a4 Na6 10. Nf3 Nb4 11. O-O a6 12. Bxd7+ Bxd7 13. f5 O-O 14. Bg5 f6 15. Bf4 gxf5 16. Bxd6 Bxa4 17. Rxa4 Qxd6 18. Nh4 fxe4 19. Nf5 Qd7 20. Nxe4 Kh8 21. Nxc5 1-0
And this is his most famous game.
[Event "Hoogovens"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "1999.01.20"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Black "Topalov, V."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "2812"]
[BlackElo "2700"]
[Annotator "Top 10: attacks"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "1999.??.??"]
{Kasparov showing that chess is not all preparation and analysis, there is
still a place for risk and fantasy} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5.
Qd2 c6 6. f3 b5 7. Nge2 Nbd7 8. Bh6 Bxh6 9. Qxh6 Bb7 10. a3 e5 11. O-O-O Qe7
12. Kb1 a6 13. Nc1 O-O-O 14. Nb3 exd4 15. Rxd4 c5 16. Rd1 Nb6 17. g3 Kb8 18.
Na5 Ba8 19. Bh3 d5 20. Qf4+ Ka7 21. Rhe1 d4 22. Nd5 Nbxd5 23. exd5 Qd6 {
# A sacrifice of a Rook!} 24. Rxd4 cxd4 25. Re7+ Kb6 (25... Qxe7 26. Qxd4+ Kb8
27. Qb6+ Bb7 28. Nc6+ Ka8 29. Qa7#) 26. Qxd4+ Kxa5 27. b4+ Ka4 28. Qc3 Qxd5 29.
Ra7 Bb7 30. Rxb7 Qc4 31. Qxf6 Kxa3 32. Qxa6+ Kxb4 33. c3+ Kxc3 34. Qa1+ Kd2 35.
Qb2+ Kd1 {Remarkable!} 36. Bf1 Rd2 37. Rd7 Rxd7 38. Bxc4 bxc4 39. Qxh8 Rd3 40.
Qa8 c3 41. Qa4+ Ke1 42. f4 f5 43. Kc1 Rd2 44. Qa7 1-0