Karpov-Unzicker, Olympiad, Nice 1974
Position after 23...Qc7-d8
"Karpov at his best" could be the shortest summing-up of the game played on the first board of the match Soviet Union vs. West Germany at the 1974 Chess Olympiad. The game is a true lesson of using space advantage and the weak squares in the opponent's camp. Particularly impressive is the way White prevented his opponent from exchanging pieces along the only open file. After 44 moves Karpov managed to force his opponent to resign in a position with material equality and just a pair of pawns and pieces being exchanged.
A classic example of positional play in the Spanish Game!