The 22nd and possibly decisive game of the world chess championship between defender Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov was postponed a second time, the organizers announced Sunday. A technical time-out was called so the game would not be played on Monday, Christmas Eve. Karpov took his third and final time-out on Saturday, pushing the 22nd game to Monday. Kasparov has used all his time-outs. With Christmas approaching, the president of the International Federation of Chess, Florencio Campomanas, reached an agreement with both players to put off the 22nd game until Wednesday. Regulations permit a technical time-out. Kasparov leads the series 11.5 to 9.5 and needs only a draw to gain the 12 points needed to win and retain the title. He will play white in the 22nd game, with Karpov defending with the black pieces. Kasparov has won the last three times he has played white in the nine games in Lyon. Karpov needs to win the final three games to take the title. He has won twice in the 21 previous games of this series. The two have played to a draw five times in the French portion of the championship. They drew 10 times in the 12 games played in New York between Oct. 8 and Nov. 7. Even if Kasparov clinches the title by reaching 12 points in the series, the two Soviet grandmasters will continue playing to see who wins the majority of the $3 million purse. If the overall series ends in a 12-12 draw, the prize money will be split. Kasparov won the title from Karpov in 1985 and defended it in 1986 and 1987. Karpov took the championship in 1975 when American Bobby Fischer refused to defend the title he won in 1972.
