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The Isolated Queen Pawn (IQP) is a very common pawn structure in many openings, such as the Queen's Gambit, the Nimzo-Indian, the Queen's Indian, and the Caro-Kann. Simply put, the Isolated Queen Pawn is a dynamic strength and a static weakness. One side accepts the weak isolated pawn and the weak squares in front of the pawn, for outposts on c5 and e5 and a potential kingside attack. In this game, World Champion Anatoly Karpov exploits the IQP as a weakness when former world champion Boris Spassky slips into a passive position. |
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1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5
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The Queen's Gambit. |
 
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4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3
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Karpov completes his queenside development with a slight advantage. |
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6... c5
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Spassky plays a central pawn break in hopes of taking advantage of Karpov's uncastled king. |
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7. dxc5 Nc6
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Hoping to win back the pawn later. |
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8. Qc2 Qa5
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It looks like Black is getting active. He has the threat of ...Ne4 and inflicting tripled pawns. |
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9. a3
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But this is only an illusion. Because of this pawn move, 9...Ne4?? is no good, because of 10. b4 and white wins 2 pawns. |
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9... Bxc5 10. Rd1
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Karpov activates his rook and simultaneously threatens the fork b2-b4. |
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10... Be7 11. Nd2
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Karpov prevents ...Ne4 and is ready to complete development. |
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11... Bd7 12. Be2 Rfc8 13. O-O
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Karpov gets his king out of the center and completes development and is now ready to take advantage of better mobilization. I think Spassky probably should have played ...Rd8 and ...d4 to try to get play against the white king, or 11...e5, to attack the bishop. |
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13... Qd8
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I don't know, why did Spassky retreat his queen? |
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14. cxd5
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Karpov takes advantage of the black queen's departure to forcefully give Black the isolated queen pawn. Because his pieces are somewhat passive, the IQP turns out to be a liability rather than an asset. |
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14... exd5
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This is better than 14...Nxd5 because after 15. Nxd5 exd5, a pair of knights has been traded. The side with the IQP should avoid trading minor pieces; the side playing against the IQP should seek trades of minor pieces. |
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15. Nf3
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Karpov prevents ...d4 which would trade off the IQP and equalize the pawn structure. |
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15... h6
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This only helps White continue with his plan. Ng5 and Bg5 were not dangerous. |
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16. Ne5
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Karpov begins trading minor pieces and improves his knight in the process. Note that 16. Nxd5?? would be a blunder, due to 16...Nd4 17. Nxe7+ Qxe7 18. Qd3 (Qe2 Rc2) Bb5 19. Qxd4 Bxe2. |
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16... Be6
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Black protects d5, which was hanging. |
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17. Nxc6 Rxc6
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The other recapture, 17...bxc6, would result in "hanging pawns": the black pawns on the b- and c-files have no support from other pawns. |
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18. Bf3
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Karpov pins the d5-pawn to the rook and starts to load up on the weak pawn. |
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18... Qb6
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Spassky activates his queen and attacks b2. |
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19. Be5
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Threatening Bxf6 and Bxd5. |
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