Former World Champion Anatoly Karpov was recently in China on a promotion tour. In addition to various simuls and lectures, Karpov played a couple of exhibition matches against the local talent. The 48-year-old Russian started off with a comfortable 4-2 win over reigning Women's World Champion Jun Xie in Guangzhou.

This match was officially dubbed "Male vs Female", but they might as well have called it "Super-GM vs Ordinary GM". For although Karpov no longer ranks among the top ten players in the world, he can still beat a 2550-player doing handstands and cartwheels.

The first four games were played with ordinary time controls, and Xie was lucky to escape with draws in games one and two after being clearly lost in both of them. In game three, Xie once again found herself in trouble, and this time Karpov was finally able to put the ball in the net.

View annotated game Karpov-Xie (m/3)

In the fourth regulation game, Karpov easily equalised as black and offered a draw after 17 moves. Xie saw no reason to decline. After this they played two rapid games, and Karpov wasted no time securing match victory by winning the first one in convincing fashion.

View annotated game Karpov-Xie (m/5)

In the sixth and final game Xie was clearly out for blood, but her early aggression on the kingside did not bring her much joy. Karpov quickly turned the tables by striking back on the same wing, and Xie had to pull several jumbo-sized rabbits out of her hat to avoid being mated. After trading heavy tactical punches in the middle of the ring, the players somehow wound up in a drawn pawn ending. An exciting finish to a not so exciting match.

Karpov ended his tour by beating Chinese Ace Ye Jiangchuan 3-1 in Dalian. The former champ had to settle for two draws in the regulation games, but took care of business in the rapid games.

All in all, Karpov has every reason to be content with his play in these two matches, especially after his disappointing result (3-3) in a similar match against teen star Etienne Bacrot earlier in the year.

- Einar Gausel

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