Equal – Superior – Winning

[David Hirst]

Do you back yourself to outplay your opponent in an equal position? How many endgames do you outplay your opponent from a quiet position? Even grandmasters can lose an equal endgame! In this article Equal – Superior – Winning possibly the most powerful player in such positions, Anatoly Karpov demonstrates the technique to make top-class opponents slip from equality to worse and then to a loss. It is no co-incidence that he was one of the most successful tournament players of all time.

[Michael Jones]

Most of my games go more like equal - losing - superior - inferior - equal - winning - inferior - lost.

[Roger de Coverly]

Anatoly Karpov demonstrates the technique to make top-class opponents slip from equality to worse and then to a loss. It is no co-incidence that he was one of the most successful tournament players of all time.

Notwithstanding the opinions of computer engines, in the start positions of your diagrams. many players would assess the positions of Karpov's opponent as "worse". But then we've had the benefit of seeing Karpov win them, so know that they should be avoided. It's similar with Capablanca games, knowing that equal looking positions may not be as equal as they seem, means you try to avoid them.