In his autobiographical book, Kasparov referred to the events surrounding the interruption of his first match with Karpov in February 1985 as "game number forty nine". As you know, it was never took place. FIDE President Campomanes, on the basis of his "right to a final decision on all issues related to the World Championship match", decided to put an end to it - and start a new duel, already limited to 24 games. From a 0-0 score.
As is often the case in history, both rivals considered themselves deprived. Karpov complained that two points had been stolen from him, because he led with a score of 5-3 ... Kasparov, who clearly seized the initiative in the match by winning games forty seven and forty eight, was angry that he was deprived of even a theoretical opportunity to build on his success. Doing that after game twenty seven when the score was in favor of the opponent 0-5 -a feat nobody thought possible.
The question of why Karpov could not or did not want to continue the match has been debated for almost forty years - and it seems that for the first time Kasparov tried to formulate it in simple and clear words. No, not because he was physically and mentally exhausted, but because he simply did not see how he could score a single last win... The psychological background was hopeless, and the future was unclear. "Probably, Sevastyanov, a close friend of Karpov, and part-time chairman of the U.S.S.R. chess federation, played a key role in resolving the issue of closing the match," according to Kasparov. "As an experienced apparatchik, he believed that the main thing was to solve the main problem: cut the losses here and now, and then figure out how to get out of the situation!"
How can one forget the historical words of Sevastyanov to Karpov, at a briefing of the match participants closed to the public after Campomanes announced its end: "Sign, Tolya, this is a good paper!" Or about Karpov's question to Campomanes, which was included in all the transcripts, right on stage: "We agreed on something completely different ..."
"Karpov was definitely a victim of that situation ... However, not at all in the quality in which he is trying to present it today to an audience that is not familiar with the events in detail, "concludes Garry Kasparov in his analysis of the history of 1985 in his discussion with Ilya Levitov.
0:00 An unlimited match
4:03 Point 6.11
12:24 Campomanes's visit
17:17 Five meters between the presidium's scene and the public
23:48 "Karpov agreed, Kasparov obeyed"
28:53 The ghost of Baguio
36:03 The decision to end the match
38:50 How come you don't lose when the score is 0-5?
45:04 Kasparov's interview in "Der Spiegel"
54:17 Who helped the participants?
58:31 Was there a wish to surrender the match?