World Championship 1985: Kasparov – Karpov
After their first match collapsed under its own weight, the rules were cut back to twenty-four games — and this time Kasparov finished the job. At 22, he beat Karpov 13–11 to become the youngest World Champion in history.
◈A new format after the marathon
The pair's aborted 1984 contest had run five months and forty draws without a result before FIDE halted it; the debacle forced a return to a limited, twenty-four-game match. Kasparov came back transformed — sharper, fitter, and hungry to right the record.
This time there would be a finish.
◈Game 24 seals it
Karpov, trailing near the end, needed to win the final game to level the match at 12–12 and keep his crown. Instead he lost it, and Kasparov took the match 13–11 (+5−3=16).
At twenty-two, Garry Kasparov became the thirteenth and youngest World Champion. Karpov, as the deposed champion, retained the right to an immediate return match — which he exercised the following year.
◈Cross Table
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasparov | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 13 |
| Karpov | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 11 |
1 win · ½ draw · 0 loss — click a game number to replay it.