In order to select a challenger for World Champion Garry Kasparov, this match was played in Sadler's Wells Theatre in Islington, London, England, 2-17 October 1989. It was best of eight games, and the first to achieve 4½ points would go to the final. In case of 4-4, two more games with normal time control would be played, and if 5-5, a series of "sudden death" games at ever increasing speeds would begin. The other semifinal match was held at the same time and on the same stage: Timman - Speelman Candidates Semifinal (1989). The pairings had been clear since early February (1989) when the quarterfinal matches were decided.
Photo: https://web.archive.org/web/2024030...
Sponsored by Pilkington Glass, the match was organized by William Hartston, Yvette Nagel and others. The opening ceremony in Frederick's Restaurant on 1 October saw a large delegation from FIDE, including president Florencio Campomanes, his secretary Kok Ann Lim, and Roman Toran, the president of the Western European zone. Karpov was seeded into the match as the 'loser' of the Kasparov - Karpov World Championship Match (1987), and Yusupov had qualified from the Yusupov - Spraggett Candidates Quarterfinal (1989). Karpov was seconded by Igor Zaitsev and Mikhail Podgaets, and also assisted by Ron Henley. Yusupov was seconded by Mark Dvoretzky and Smbat Lputian. During the match, each player could request a 2-day postponement (which explains the four days between rounds 4 and 5). Time controls: 2 hours to complete 40 moves and 3 hours to complete 60 moves. The match winner would receive $77,000, and the loser $46,000. Chief arbiter: Svetozar Gligoric.
London, England, 2-17 October 1989
Age Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Karpov 38 2755 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 4½
Yusupov 29 2610 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 3½
Karpov went on to the Karpov - Timman Candidates Final (1990). Best game prize: A Yusupov vs Karpov, 1989."The matches now in London are organized by the Pilkington Glass company, a new sponsor in the chess world. The company has been generous with a prize fund of 200,000 Swiss francs per match, but has not yet managed to please everyone. All players and seconds are housed in an apartment building. It is quiet and close to the games room, but the temporary residents of these beautiful apartments are not satisfied. A quick survey yielded a litany of complaints. The fire alarm howled in the middle of the night. The phone didn't work. A merciless daylight shone through the wafer-thin curtains, which woke chess players from their sleep, which would normally last until lunch hour. The towels were not changed. Timman has now moved into a nice hotel at his own expense. His second-in-command Andersson was left lonely in the apartment building. Karpov also seemed inclined to move, but was comforted by the organizers with a car and driver." (Hans Ree, transl. from Dutch)
"I left the semi-finals last week with Karpov and Timman enjoying the lead, albeit a narrow one. Then, at the weekend, both Yusupov and Speelman struck back in dramatic games to level the scores. Indeed, Yusupov nearly went one better since he had Karpov on the ropes in the next game as well. Thus, when the final round commenced on Tuesday all the players had 3½ points. It was at this moment that the two pre-match favourites, both more experienced in match play than their opponents, finally reasserted their authority. Karpov won a kind of clear attacking game which had been so typical of his victories against Yusupov before this match." (Keene)
Sources
Mark Weeks' website (https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/88...)
FIDE rating list July 1989 (https://web.archive.org/web/2022100...)
Deseret News, 20 October 1989 (https://www.deseret.com/1989/10/20/...)
Sakkélet, 10 March 1990, pp. 16-17 (https://adt.arcanum.com/en/view/Sak...)
Tidskrift för Schack, November 1989, pp. 372-377 (https://tfsarkiv.schack.se/pdf/1989...)
Jonathan Tisdall in Norsk Sjakkblad, 7/89, pp. 16-23 (https://dnkjuhc6if10z.cloudfront.ne...)
Hans Ree in NRC Handelsblad, 2 October 1989, p. 18 (https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/v...)
Eric Horsboll in Chess Life, January 1990, pp. 26-29 (https://uscf1-nyc1.aodhosting.com/C...)
Raymond Keene in The Spectator, 14 October 1989, p. 51 (http://archive.spectator.co.uk/arti...)
Raymond Keene in The Spectator, 21 October 1989, p. 52 (http://archive.spectator.co.uk/arti...)
Robert Byrne in The New York Times, 10 October 1989 (https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/10/...)
Robert Byrne in The New York Times, 17 October 1989 (https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/17/...)
Robert Byrne in The New York Times, 24 October 1989 (https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/24/...)
Leontxo Garcia in Jaque 272, 1 November 1989, pp. 690-697 (https://www.olimpbase.org/leagueES/...)
Original collections: Game Collection: WCC Index (Karpov-Yusupov 1989) by User: Hesam7 and Game Collection: Karpov - Yusupov Candidates Semifinal by User: Tabanus. Game dates (October 2, 3, 5, 7, 12, 14, 16, 17) are from the Dutch newspapers at https://www.delpher.nl/.
Kibitzing
