Title prospects

As a result of the London Candidates tournament, Magnus Carlsen will challenge Viswanathan Anand for the World Championship in Chennai in November, with a match budget exceeding $5 million. Between now and then I shall give occasional extracts from heroic deeds from past world title clashes. This week’s game comes from the marathon series of battles between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. The puzzle is a coruscating victory by Alexander Alekhine, who held the world title from 1927 until 1946, when he died as champion, with a break of two years between 1935 and 1937.
 
Bogolyubov challenged Alekhine twice but was crushed both times. He was not an unworthy opponent, though, having won a match victory against Nimzowitsch, the simultaneous championship titles of the USSR and Germany, and two tournament triumphs ahead of Capablanca.
 
Kasparov-Karpov: World Championship Lyon/New York (Game 2), 1990; Ruy Lopez
 
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 d6 8 c3 0-0 9 h3 Bb7 10 d4 Re8 11 Nbd2 Bf8 12 a4 h6 13 Bc2 exd4 14 cxd4 Nb4 15 Bb1 bxa4 16 Rxa4 a5 17 Ra3 Ra6 18 Nh2 g6 19 f3 A powerful novelty from Kasparov.