ONE VITAL lesson that some players never learn is that most moves hardly matter at all. As long as you keep your head above water and play with a straight bat, your game will take care of itself. Just once or twice in every game, however, it is important to find the only precise move. Any time spent thinking about other moves is a poor investment, as Anatoly Karpov found to his distress in the following game.

White: Viswanathan Anand

Black: Anatoly Karpov

World Championship, 1998; Game Two

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Bc5

From a man who has spent the whole of his life playing 5...Be7, this is a surprise. Yet the difference between the two moves is no more than the choice between chicken soup and prawn cocktail.

6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bg4 9.d3 0-0 10.h3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 Na5 12.Bc2 b4 13.Nd2 Rb8 14.Qe2 Re8 15.Nf3

White is ready to push in the centre with d4, but Black's counterplay is prepared.

15...bxc3 16.bxc3 Nb3!

Winning back the bishop pair that he conceded at move 10.

17.Bxb3 Rxb3 18.d4 exd4 19.cxd4 Rxf3!

Quite correct. For a small material in-vestment, Black keeps his game full of life.

20.Qxf3 Bxd4 21.Ra2 Nxe4 22.Qd3 c5 23.Qxa6 d5 24.a5 c4

The pawns start to roll. But Black is no worse off.

25.Be3 Be5 26.Bb6 Qd7 27.Qa7 Qc6 28.Bd4 Bc7 29.Rb2 c3 30.Rb7 Rc8 31.Bb6 Be5! 32.Rxf7 c2 33.Rc1 Nc3! 34.Rf3 (See diagram.)

Had White played 34.Rxc2, he would have lost at once to 34...Ne2+! Now he plans to meet the knight check with 35.Kf1, when the knight is attacked and Qf7+ threatened.

34...h6?

Missing 34...Ne2+ 35.Kf1 Qe8! when Black wins, since 36.Kxe2 Bb8+ 37.Re3 Qb5+ wins the queen. Black pleaded time-shortage in his defence, yet until now he had had little of importance to think about.

35.Qf7+ Kh8 36.Re3 d4 37.Rxe5 d3 38.Bd4!

White will mate before the black pawns can reach their goal. The threat is Re8+.

38...Rg8 39.Re6 d2 40.Rxc6 dxc1(Q)+ 41.Kh2 Qd2 42.Rc8! resigns.