With the disintegration of the USSR, many ethnic and territorial conflicts came to light. One of them was the Nagorno-Karabakh War, concerning a small territory with an Armenian majority within Azerbaijan.
By GM Zenón Franco Ocampos

In 1991 a referendum was held, and in 1992 the region declared itself an independent republic. The fighting had begun after the region decided to unite with Armenia on 20 February 1988 and continued until 1994.

In January 1990, the conflict reached Baku, where Kasparov had been born and lived with his family. Because they were Armenians, their lives were in danger.

“After the escape” is the heading Kasparov gives, in Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov, Part 2, to the chapter that begins in January 1990. He recounts the cinematic flight from his native city: he and a group of 60 people were evacuated on a plane sent from Moscow on 17 January 1990. That break with his homeland was irreversible.

“Strangely, a month after the tragedy of January, I made a good debut in the important Linares tournament, despite not having the strength or the time to prepare seriously for this popular super-tournament,” Kasparov noted.

The 8th Linares tournament was played from 17 February to 4 March 1990. There Kasparov encountered new challenges. First of all, it was the only major tournament in which he had not yet participated. There he could also face Vassily Ivanchuk, Boris Gelfand, and Valery Salov, the new generation. Kasparov believed that one of them would be his challenger for the title in the near future, and the task was demanding: his expectation was 8 points out of 11.

Karpov did not take part. In March he defeated Timman in the Candidates matches final and became Kasparov’s challenger.

In the first round Kasparov faced Gelfand, who in December 1989 had won the GMA tournament in Palma de Mallorca, a qualifier for the 2nd World Cup. One of the main variations of the King’s Indian Defence was played, and after a vibrant 45-move struggle the game ended in a draw.

That game was later chosen as “The Most Brilliant of the Tournament.” The not very practical prize was a 50-kilogram sculpture. After tossing a coin, the “lucky winner” of the draw was Kasparov.

In round 2 Kasparov defeated Short; both played imprecisely, since “we were both simply getting into shape.” Kasparov’s play did show that he was on the right track in his victory over Portisch in round 3.

Boris Spassky arrived for round 4 dressed in formal wear because, as he commented, “A meeting with the world champion is a festive occasion for any Grandmaster!”

Kasparov obtained an opening advantage and finished with fine blows to score his second victory over Spassky and level their individual score at +2-2=4.

With 3½ points out of 4, it seemed that Kasparov was already taking the lead at high speed, but that was not so: a representative of the new generation, Gelfand, had the same score.

In round 5 Kasparov won with his effective King’s Indian against Yusupov, but Gelfand stayed right on his heels by defeating Boris Gulko. Earlier he had already beaten Salov, Beliavsky, and Illescas.

Fatigue appeared in round 6, where Gelfand seemed about to seize sole first place. He had a winning position against Short, while Kasparov could do no better than a draw against Ljubojevic, but Gelfand squandered his advantage and even lost.

Kasparov increased his lead in round 7 by defeating Ivanchuk with Black in a sharp line of the Najdorf Variation. “Ivanchuk, like Gelfand in round 1, played resolutely for a win against me; the leaders of the new generation did not tremble before the world champion!” Kasparov commented, expressing satisfaction at having fought with such intensity and solved the problems posed to him.

Kasparov had 6 points out of 7, followed by Gelfand with 5. In round 8 he had to face another master against whom he had an unfavorable score, Gulko (+2-0=1). Kasparov took risks and sacrificed two pawns, but he suffered his third defeat against Gulko, which allowed Gelfand to catch him after defeating Spassky.

In the next two rounds the tie remained. Kasparov was unable to convert two favorable endgames against Salov and Beliavsky, while Gelfand lost to Yusupov and defeated Ljubojevic.

In the last round Gelfand had Black against Ivanchuk; the game was drawn after three and a half hours. In theory the world champion had a less dangerous opponent, the local representative Miguel Illescas, but it was not easy. It was a hard struggle: Kasparov came out worse in the middlegame, recovered, and ended up winning after six hours of play, also taking home the Suzuki jeep made in Linares, an extra prize in addition to the financial award.

Ivanchuk considered Kasparov’s victory fair, highlighting his splendid opening preparation “and also his desire to fight to the very end.”

The final standings were:

1st Kasparov - 8 points; 2nd Gelfand - 7½; 3rd Salov - 7; 4th Ivanchuk - 6½; 5th Short - 6; 6th/7th Gulko and Yusupov - 5½; 8th Beliavsky - 5, etc.

New in Chess noted that this edition of the Linares tournament would be remembered for the tremendous fighting spirit in every game and also for the breakthrough of the new generation, something that can be seen in the standings above.