Anatoly Karpov’s best games are a different kind of beautiful. You won’t find many wild sacrifices splattered across the board or screaming king hunts — that was his rival Kasparov’s department. Karpov’s masterpieces are quieter and, in a way, scarier: he coils around a position, snuffs out every scrap of counterplay, and squeezes until the opponent simply runs out of moves. Here are a few of his most celebrated games, told in plain English so you can enjoy the story even if you’d rather not push the pieces yourself.
Karpov vs. Unzicker, Nice Olympiad 1974 — the perfect squeeze
If you want to understand the “boa constrictor” nickname in a single game, this is the one. Playing White against the strong German grandmaster Wolfgang Unzicker at the 1974 Chess Olympiad in Nice, Karpov steered a Ruy Lopez into exactly the kind of slow, maneuvering battle he loved.
Nothing dramatic seems to happen — and that’s the point. Karpov methodically clamped down on the queenside, fixing Unzicker’s pawns and slowly depriving Black of any active plan. The signature moment was the astonishing 24.Ba7, tucking his bishop into the corner to completely blockade the a-file and freeze Black’s position solid. With his opponent reduced to shuffling helplessly, Karpov calmly opened a second front on the kingside with f4, brought his pieces to the strongest squares, and infiltrated. Unzicker was eventually left in near-total zugzwang — every move made his position worse — and had to resign.
The game is so clean it’s taught in strategy books to this day. Unzicker himself summed up the experience with a famous line: “One is permitted to lose to Karpov with Black!” When a world-class grandmaster laughs off a defeat because the winner was simply operating on another level, you know you’ve witnessed something special.
Karpov vs. Topalov, Linares 1994 — “Karpov’s Immortal”
Here’s the game for anyone who thinks Karpov could only grind. At the famous Linares 1994 super-tournament — the event where Karpov produced arguably the greatest tournament result in history — he faced a young Veselin Topalov with the white pieces in an English Opening.
When Topalov weakened the dark squares around his own king, Karpov pounced. On move 18 he unleashed a stunning knight sacrifice, Nc5, ripping open Black’s position and launching a coordinated assault that felt more like vintage Kasparov than the “quiet” champion’s usual style. Piece after piece came crashing in, and Topalov was overwhelmed. The game was so brilliant that it’s widely nicknamed “Karpov’s Immortal” — proof that behind the patient strategist was a player who could calculate a knockout with the best of them when the moment called for it.
It’s a perfect reminder that the “boa constrictor” label only tells half the story. Karpov didn’t attack often, but when he did, it was devastating.
The Kasparov rivalry — 144 games for the ages
You can’t talk about Karpov’s games without talking about Garry Kasparov. Between 1984 and 1990 the two contested five World Championship matches — an almost unbelievable 144 games in total, more than any pair of players has ever fought over the world title.
Their very first match, in 1984–85, is legendary for how it ended: it was halted without a result after five brutal months and 48 games, with FIDE controversially stepping in to stop play. Karpov won the early games and led comfortably, but Kasparov clawed his way back before the plug was pulled. Across all five matches the overall score was staggeringly close — Karpov scored 19 wins to Kasparov’s 21, with a mountain of 104 draws — a testament to how evenly matched these two titans really were. Every match was a clash of opposites: Karpov the smooth, prophylactic strategist against Kasparov the explosive attacker. Whichever side you rooted for, the chess was extraordinary.
Why Linares 1994 mattered so much
We keep coming back to Linares 1994, and for good reason. Karpov scored an outrageous 11 points out of 13 against a field stuffed with the world’s elite — including Kasparov himself — and finished a colossal 2½ points clear of the pack. His performance rating for the event, around 2985, stood as the highest ever recorded at a tournament for years afterward. Karpov later called it one of the most convincing victories in the entire history of chess, and few would argue.
It’s the ultimate showcase of everything that made him great: relentless consistency, flawless technique, and — as the Topalov game proved — a hidden attacking gear when the position demanded it. If you only ever explore one chapter of Karpov’s career, make it this tournament.
Why these games matter
Put together, these games capture the whole Karpov experience: the positional artist who could win without ever seeming to do anything special, the hidden attacker who produced an immortal brilliancy when it counted, and the iron competitor who went toe-to-toe with Kasparov across 144 championship games. They’re a masterclass in the idea that you don’t have to sacrifice a rook to win beautifully — sometimes the most crushing thing you can do is simply leave your opponent with no good moves at all.
Want to see how these ideas fit into his overall approach? Read about Karpov’s playing style, explore the openings he used, or head back to the main Anatoly Karpov profile.
FAQ
What is Anatoly Karpov’s most famous game? Two stand out: his textbook positional win over Wolfgang Unzicker at the 1974 Nice Olympiad, and his brilliant attacking victory against Veselin Topalov at Linares 1994, often called “Karpov’s Immortal.”
Why is Karpov called the “boa constrictor”? Because of games like the Unzicker classic — he wraps around the opponent’s position, prevents any counterplay, and slowly squeezes until there’s nothing left to do but resign.
How many games did Karpov play against Kasparov? An incredible 144 across their five World Championship matches from 1984 to 1990 — the longest championship rivalry in chess history.
Keep exploring
More Karpov: his playing style · his openings · his rating history · fun facts & records · or the full Anatoly Karpov profile.
Written and fact-checked by the Chess Lab Academy Editorial Team · Facts verified against Wikipedia, the Karpov–Unzicker and Karpov–Topalov game records, and Chess.com, as of July 2026 · Last verified 2026-07-10 · How we verify content.