Karpov vs Istratescu in Bucharest

Anatoly Karpov, double world champion (1975 – 1985 and 1993 – 1999), is one of the leading personalities of the history of chess. In his Romanian debut he is playing a chess match against GM Andrei Istratescu. The event is organised by Astral Chess Foundation, Gambit Foundation, Elisabeta Polihroniade and Sah Campion Chess Club. It is being held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Bucharest from March 20th to March 26th.

Karpov arriving in Bucharest

According to the organisers the media attention is overwhelming. "In Romania, chess has an old and famous tradition, earned by several medals in Chess Olympics and many gold medals in European and World Junior Championships. The number of Romanians interested in chess is so big that it is nearly impossible to find a family that has no member who is a chess player, either amateur or professional one."

For the first time in Romania, the games are being broadcast live on the Internet. The chess board and the chess clock were ordered especially for this event. They allow projection of the game on big screens for the onsite public.

20.03.2005 – Sunday	14:00h	Game 1	Istratescu-Karpov	1/2
21.03.2005 – Monday	14:00h	Game 2	Karpov-Istratescu	1-0
22.03.2005 – Tuesday	14:00h	Game 3	Istratescu-Karpov	1-0
24.03.2005 – Thursday	14:00h	Game 4	Karpov-Istratescu	1-0
25.03.2005 – Friday	14:00h	Game 5	Istratescu-Karpov	0-1
25.03.2005 – Friday	16:00h	Game 6	Karpov-Istratescu	1-0
26.03.2003 – Saturday	14:00h	Game 7	Istratescu-Karpov
26.03.2003 – Sunday	16:00h	Game 8	Karpov-Istratescu
Score: Karpov: 4½ – Istratescu: 1½

Time controls:

Games 1 - 4: 40 moves in 1 hour 40 minutes, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move from the first move.
Games 5 – 8: whole game in 30 minutes with an increment of 20 seconds per move from the first move

Karpov and Istratescu during the game

The public following the actions attentively

Postmortem analysis and commentary