Garry Kasparov is widely regarded by chess historians, grandmasters and fans as one of the greatest if not greatest chess player to ever live. He dominated the chess in the 80s and 90s and had a rivalry with another great player, Anatoly Karpov. He had outstanding longevity and held the world title from 1985 to 2000. In his heyday, he consistently won almost every elite tournament he entered, leaving a massive rating gap between himself and the rest of the world. Nowadays, the title of "Greatest of All Time" (GOAT) in chess usually a three way debate between Kasparov, Bobby Fischer and Magnus Carlsen.
Kasparov favored tactical and sharp positions where he could overwhelm his opponents. He liked to sacrifice, giving up material not for a concrete checkmate, but for a long-term initiative. The game we will see against then Dutch number one Jeroen Piket is an example of his aggressive style.
The game started with 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 O-O 5.e4 d6
The King's Indian Defence. The most aggressive reply to the Queen's Gambit. Black intends to attack White's king side while White will try to counter in Black's queen side. 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Be3 f5
Black's attack is faster, intending to open up White's king side with the f pawn. White has to stop it first before he can counter attack. 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 g5 13.b4 Nf6
White tries to counter in the queen side with his own pawn storm. 14.c5 Ng6 15.cxd6 cxd6 16.Rc1 Rf7 17.a4 Bf8 18.a5 Bd7 19.Nb5 g4
Opens up White's king side and paving the way for a sacrificial attack. 20.Nc7 g3
Black ignores the threat to his Rook and continues with the plan to open White's king. 21.Nxa8 Nh5
Black prioritizes the attack over recovering material. Of course, White Nc7 will be a mistake next move. Qh5 h3 Bxh3 will be too strong. 22.Kh1 gxf2 23.Rxf2 Ng3+
Taking the Knight will be a mistake and leads to mate in 4. 24.Kg1 Qxa8 25.Bc4 a6 26.Qd3 Qa7
Pins the Rook and making possible for a tactical shot. 27.b5 axb5 28.Bxb5 Nh1 0-1
Wins back the material he sacrificed with interest. Piket has seen enough and resigned.
Game link: https://lichess.org/89Fs6PYR#0
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