This indeed is a very famous game. But i think by just pointing out that this position is about restricting pieces doesn't fully appreciate the beauty of this position. This is part of the position and an yes it is important, but there's another theme here that is key.

This theme is that of the rooks and the (half) open files. Karpov demonstrates here his extraordinary understanding of this theme that goes far behond: place a rook on the open file. When looking at the position you should not only notice the open d-file but more importantly the half-open f-file. Black's king is potentially weak because of the g6-h5 pawns combined with white's (potential) pressure along the f-file. Notice how Karpov moves the rook off the open file on move 4 Re2 to get the knight to the kingside, only to return three moves later. When black then contests the open file white trade's one pair of rooks because black has to take back with the bishop because of a tactical resource, and after that white dominates the open d-file.