After Richard Rapport won his incredible game against Praggnanandhaa R. in round 6 of the UzChess Cup a few days ago, Garry Kasparov posted this on X:
“Wonderful game by Rapport! And I thank him for refreshing some fond memories of my own games with 15…Nxd5! similar to what I played against Jan Timman in two games (Moscow 1981 & Linares 1992). As Miracle Max said in The Princess Bride, The King’s Indian is only mostly dead! 😂”
I presented Rapport’s game here and am inclined to think that Kasparov is flattering himself if he thinks his …Nxd5 games with Timman hold a candle to what Rapport produced the other day. (Then again, he’s arguably the greatest attacking player of all time, so he’s entitled to flatter himself!) This isn’t intended as an insult to Kasparov, but in praise of Rapport’s achievement. But decide for yourself: here are Kasparov’s games, with my brief comments.