I doubt that he's taking much career advice from Kasparov at this moment. Actually, his decision to opt out of this World Championship cycle does serve Kasparov (or Kasparov's legacy)--albeit in an oblique manner. After all, Carlsen would have had serious chances to eclipse Kasparov's own feat of being the Youngest ever World Champ in chess. (OK, discounting Ponomariov's Title as not having been won in a Classical Match) Magnus has decided to forego that opportunity.
Carlsen's objections about FIDE and the organization of the Cycle are all valid, but it doesn't seem convincing. The overarching Principle of chessplayers is self-interest. Maybe he and his handlers took a look at his prospects for success in progressing through 3 rounds of short matches against Elite rivals, and decided that he had more to lose than to gain. In these 4 or 6 game matches, a single loss would be liable to be decisive. Even though he would be the favorite in each individual match, the actual odds were probably less than 50% that he would win all through. And then he would face the prospect of a match with Anand.
There is also a bit of history arrayed against him, in that more times than not (at least since the advent of the FIDE WC Match era in 1950), a player who has eventually won the WC Title has more often than not failed in one or more cycles prior to succeeding. Smyslov failed to win the 1954 match vs. Botvinnik. Tal was a juggernaut, but Petrosian was already a veteran by the time he won in 1963. Same with Spassky in 1969, and Fischer, for whom the 1960s was practically a lost decade.
Karpov succeeded on his first try (it didn't hurt that he won the Title by forfeit), and Kasparov only avoided a crushing defeat in the Moscow Marathon by cynically exploited the open ended match clause. Kramnik and Anand needed multiple attempts to even earn Title matches....
Carlsen would probably have to taste defeat in his first *serious* run at the title. By opting out, he is staking much on success the next time out...It will probably be another 5 years before he can hope to sit for a title match, and if he falters, we are looking at 2018--assuming that FIDE could keep to any schedule. By then, he'd be nearing 30, almost certainly have peaked, and the chess world would be all agog at some 17 year old phenom.
"This decision of Carlsen backing out when it was the most challenging for him (everybody was looking forward to see whether it is in him to win the candidates) will be remembered as an act of a coward whether he becomes a champion later or not."
Exactly right...although there is no guarantee that future Candidates tournaments will be any easier than the 2011 tournament.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Bareev on K & K
Bareev about Kasparov and Karpov
Long article in Nezavisimaia gazeta
Author: Evgeny Bareev – IGM, gold medalist of four chess Olympiads with the Russian team (1990, 1994, 1996, 1998), two World Championships (1997, 2005) and two European Championships (1992, 2003).
Latest scandalous events surrounding the Russian Chess Federation (namely a desperate effort of two Russian chess legends Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, together with the Chairman of the RCF Board Alexander Bakh who joined them, to succeed in getting the news of Karpov’s nomination as Russia’s candidate to the position of the FIDE President, violating the Statutes of the organisation) made me think, why even the very idea of the joint management of the world chess movement by a tandem of the 12th and 13th World Champions seems to me a catastrophe for chess of the same scale as a Mexican bay fire for mankind.
During my entire professional chess career I have been a witness of a furious battle of Karpov - Kasparov against each other – both at the chess board, and around it – for the influence in various organisations and chess players’ unions and for various privileges. This fight always ended in eventual destruction of these organisations or receiving these privileges by depriving the rest of chess players of them. I would remind you in chronological order some episodes of the quasi-chess activities or actions of the Champions. and
1992. GMA (International Grandmaster Association) created on Kasparov’s initiative is split due to a implacable conflict of the 13th World Champion and his managers with the other members of the Association because of the GMA finances. According to the explanation given to me then by Karpov (I just qualified for my first World Cup organised by GMA, and was sad to receive an official notice that it stopped its existence), the team of Kasparov and himself demanded unrealistic salaries and stipends. Bessel Kok, the then CEO and one of the top managers of the Association’s Sponsor SWIFT, did not concede to this pressure and soon this young and aspiring organisation finished its existence.
1993. Kasparov refuses to play a match against Short for the title under the FIDE aegis, not wishing to give to them a small part of the prize fund according to the Statutes, and creates a new organisation – PCA (Professional Chess Association), under which he plays this match without any deductions. As a result for the following 15 years chess world is sinking into chaos. I’d like to note that Karpov immediately took advantage of the situation to his favour and having won the match against Timman, was announced again FIDE World Champion. Both Karpov and Timman before this lost their candidates’ matches to Short and disqualified from the race for the world chess crown.
1994. FIDE Presidential elections in Moscow. Unexpectedly for many the sportsmen exchanged their T-shirts. Karpov supported Kouatly as a candidate, and Kasparov – no matter how weird it would seem to you – his worst enemy – Florencio Campomanes, famous for stopping the “unlimited battle” Karpov-Kasparov of 1984-1985 with a score 5-3 in Karpov’s favour and publicly accused of defending the interests of the opponent. First vote is a tie! The next day Kasparov’s team won convincingly. I recall seeing Kasparov up to now, who during the summer of the same year at the Novgorod tournament was dreamingly mumbling “Khoper, Khoper”, rubbing his hands. This was the first time I heard this strange word from him. Then it turned out that this “organisation” is a financial pyramid, which deceived dozens thousands of people in the whole country – and which was a generous sponsor of those FIDE Presidential elections.
1995. Karpov wins a convincing revanche. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov makes his first entry to a chess stage and at the extraordinary FIDE Congress immediately becomes President. With Karpov behind it. The mother of the 13th World champion was most upset by the fact that prior to that Ilyumzhinov was eating soup in her kitchen and did not share his plans with them. She promised not to ever invite him for lunch.
The same year Kasparov wins in World Trade Center in New York his match over Anand under PCA version, which he and Short created after they left FIDE. As it turned out, this was the last official event under the PCA aegis. Since the moment of Ilyumzhinov’s election as FIDE President Kasparov refuses to play in the tournaments under FIDE aegis, stating that Ilyumzhinov organises his championships for “dirty money”.
Approximately around the same time the battle at the “Eastern front” is becoming more agitated: Karpov and Kasparov are clashing over the control in the Russian Chess Federation, and in reality – as it seems – just for the right to manage the Central chess club on Gogolevsky blvd. This time in an exhausting struggle, after long legal suits the 13th World champion and his team won. Immediately after this moment the legendary club was let to various private companies, having nothing to do with chess. It is a mystery for me personally, where the money from these leases went. As GM S. Dolmatov was saying at that time, these years “the RCF budget was of a totally closed character. I as a Grandmaster, was not aware how and what money the RCF was making and how it spends it”. Dolmatov meant first of all the Chess Club and was demanding to organise a “comprehensive” inspection of it, saying that “there are some dirty games going on behind our backs”.
1996. Elista is staging a World Championship title match between Karpov and Kamsky with the prize fund being provided by the President of Kalmykia. Karpov convincingly wins and Kamsky, declaring that Karpov and Kasparov will never allow him become World Champion, leaves chess for nearly a decade.
Kasparov plays a commercial match against Deep Blue, sponsored by IBM. Intel, an opponent of IBM, who has been sponsoring PCA for three years and spent during this period more than five million USD, immediately calls off future cooperation and leaves chess, which causes the collapse of Kasparov’s organisation. One year later, having lost another match to the same computer, Deep Blue, Great and Terrible, as admirers, followers and true friends of Kasparov call him, publicly and harshly accuses IBM in unfair play, and as a consequence, chess loses another large sponsor.
1997. First knockout World championship was organised. Ilyumzhinov thanked Karpov for his Presidency by a unique format – after winning six most difficult mini-matches, Anand – the current World Champion- in a few days- met Karpov for a six-game so-called final, where Karpov has been resting for a month preparing for the forthcoming event. So, it was not a surprise when exhausted Anand lost the tie-break. Karpov became a knockout “World Champion”.
1999. Second World knockout Championship is organised in Las Vegas. This time the negotiations with FIDE have not brought a desirable result and the Champion has to defend his title from the second round. Karpov is indignant and sues FIDE. Besides, after having refused to participate, in the US he is trying all his resorts to cancel the 3 million USD prize fund event, writing to the Nevada Governor a request to do it. Having learnt about it, chess players were very angry, and a German GM Lobron was chasing Karpov during a Dortmund tournament (Lobron has drank too much) with the aim to inflict light bodily damage.
The result of a conciliatory encounter of Ilyumzhinov and Karpov was his withdrawal of his suit. We can only guess the reason which made a principled person give up his claims.
2000. Kasparov, who has not defended his World Championship title for five years, finally picks up his challenger – Vladimir Kramnik. Before this, due to various reasons, including financial ones, two matches for the titles fell through – against Shirov and Anand. Kasparov loses the match in all aspects and violating the contract signed by both participants before the match, immediately demands the revenge. We should remind you here that in the mid-80s, as a result of some serious struggle, he managed to cancel such matches, as Karpov was a stickler of the revanche.
2001. M. Botvinnik Memorial in Moscow. Kasparov, Kramnik and Karpov in a match-tournament. Shortly before the start, after reaching the agreements with the organisers of this event which had aspirations to become historical, Karpov “suddenly” refused to play and preferred due to some reasons which we can only guess about, the knockout World Championship, “incidentally” organised by FIDE during the same dates in the same city. In the first very round he lost to a Chinese player, who was not well-known. This is the end of the brilliant chess career of Karpov.
2002. Ukrainian R. Ponomarjov becomes FIDE World Champion. Kasparov, as it seems, is trying a campaign of public lauding of Ilyumzhinov’s virtues with the aim of returning the World Championship title by any means. They say that at the Bled Chess Olympiad, having his turn for a move, but just seeing Ilyumzhinov in the playing hall, Kasparov rushed to hug and kiss him under the approving roar of the audience. The same year Kasparov in fact started a campaign against Ilyumzhinov’s “chase” by media, praising the achievements of the latter in his capacity as Kalmykia’s state figure and a unique world chess leader. “Kommersant” newspaper wrote: “ The most expensive present was handed to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov by a chess player Garry Kasparov – his assurances in sincere friendship and his support of all the initiatives as FIDE President, and recognition of his being wrong in the past”. Quote from “Moskovsky Komsomolets”: “Kasparov underlined that now they are connected by business and commercial relations, which sometimes are stronger than friendly ties”.
The result of these in my opinion, humiliating speeches of Kasparov was the famous Prague Agreement and the right for a FIDE World championship title without any sporting qualification, which actually was canceled the last moment. Ponomariov refused to play the match due to very strong pressure from Kasparov himself and a number of FIDE officials. Karpov at that period was accusing Kasparov in destructive activity: “Kasparov has made many mistakes. The situation in FIDE and the fact that the former harmonious World Chess Championship system is now turned into something incomprehensible – this is the result of Kasparov’s intrigues and activity”. Then chess circles had the following ironical saying: “President of FIDE and Kalmykia now has only clean banknotes. So Kasparov can play for them with his conscience being clear”.
2004. After Kasimdzhanov becomes new World knockout Champion, Kasparov of course receives a right to play a match for the title against him. Ilyumzhinov refused to personally provide the prize fund, and Kasparov failed to attract other sponsors. Years of public humiliation were wasted, he did not managed to return his title, and Kasparov again joins Ilyumzhinov’s opposition.
2005. Kasparov announces that his chess career is over.
2006. Karpov declares that he is going to run for the FIDE Presidency. As a result of a personal meeting Iyumzhinov succeeds to find solid arguments, and Karpov gives this idea up.
2006–2009. Happy years for chess. Several matches for the title were played. Chess world is unified. The number of top tournament increases alongside with earnings of professional chess players.
2007. Karpov as a member of the Public Chamber, brings the 64-Chess Review magazine to Kasparov in his detention cell. He was not allowed to see Kasparov, and he passes his small present through the mother of Kasparov – Klara. Historical reconciliation of earlier implacable opponents takes place.
2009. Karpov-Kasparov rapid chess match in Valencia. The announced series of similar matches does not take place due to the absence of interest in the world to their creative and sportive components.
2010. Karpov declares that he is intending to run for the FIDE President’s position with the objective of “saving chess which are in the deepest crisis”. Kasparov immediately renders him informational and moral support, trying to secure votes in a number of Western countries and the USA.
Of course, this is just a fraction of the events which have been taking place during these years with participation of Karpov and Kasparov. But even a quick glance is enough to understand that if destructive energy of two pupils of the Soviet chess school is united in one position – FIDE President, then chess players will have difficult times ahead of them. I do believe that this shall not happen.
Original: http://www.ng.ru/regions/2010-05-27/5_champions.html
Translation: Susan Polgar
Long article in Nezavisimaia gazeta
Author: Evgeny Bareev – IGM, gold medalist of four chess Olympiads with the Russian team (1990, 1994, 1996, 1998), two World Championships (1997, 2005) and two European Championships (1992, 2003).
Latest scandalous events surrounding the Russian Chess Federation (namely a desperate effort of two Russian chess legends Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, together with the Chairman of the RCF Board Alexander Bakh who joined them, to succeed in getting the news of Karpov’s nomination as Russia’s candidate to the position of the FIDE President, violating the Statutes of the organisation) made me think, why even the very idea of the joint management of the world chess movement by a tandem of the 12th and 13th World Champions seems to me a catastrophe for chess of the same scale as a Mexican bay fire for mankind.
During my entire professional chess career I have been a witness of a furious battle of Karpov - Kasparov against each other – both at the chess board, and around it – for the influence in various organisations and chess players’ unions and for various privileges. This fight always ended in eventual destruction of these organisations or receiving these privileges by depriving the rest of chess players of them. I would remind you in chronological order some episodes of the quasi-chess activities or actions of the Champions. and
1992. GMA (International Grandmaster Association) created on Kasparov’s initiative is split due to a implacable conflict of the 13th World Champion and his managers with the other members of the Association because of the GMA finances. According to the explanation given to me then by Karpov (I just qualified for my first World Cup organised by GMA, and was sad to receive an official notice that it stopped its existence), the team of Kasparov and himself demanded unrealistic salaries and stipends. Bessel Kok, the then CEO and one of the top managers of the Association’s Sponsor SWIFT, did not concede to this pressure and soon this young and aspiring organisation finished its existence.
1993. Kasparov refuses to play a match against Short for the title under the FIDE aegis, not wishing to give to them a small part of the prize fund according to the Statutes, and creates a new organisation – PCA (Professional Chess Association), under which he plays this match without any deductions. As a result for the following 15 years chess world is sinking into chaos. I’d like to note that Karpov immediately took advantage of the situation to his favour and having won the match against Timman, was announced again FIDE World Champion. Both Karpov and Timman before this lost their candidates’ matches to Short and disqualified from the race for the world chess crown.
1994. FIDE Presidential elections in Moscow. Unexpectedly for many the sportsmen exchanged their T-shirts. Karpov supported Kouatly as a candidate, and Kasparov – no matter how weird it would seem to you – his worst enemy – Florencio Campomanes, famous for stopping the “unlimited battle” Karpov-Kasparov of 1984-1985 with a score 5-3 in Karpov’s favour and publicly accused of defending the interests of the opponent. First vote is a tie! The next day Kasparov’s team won convincingly. I recall seeing Kasparov up to now, who during the summer of the same year at the Novgorod tournament was dreamingly mumbling “Khoper, Khoper”, rubbing his hands. This was the first time I heard this strange word from him. Then it turned out that this “organisation” is a financial pyramid, which deceived dozens thousands of people in the whole country – and which was a generous sponsor of those FIDE Presidential elections.
1995. Karpov wins a convincing revanche. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov makes his first entry to a chess stage and at the extraordinary FIDE Congress immediately becomes President. With Karpov behind it. The mother of the 13th World champion was most upset by the fact that prior to that Ilyumzhinov was eating soup in her kitchen and did not share his plans with them. She promised not to ever invite him for lunch.
The same year Kasparov wins in World Trade Center in New York his match over Anand under PCA version, which he and Short created after they left FIDE. As it turned out, this was the last official event under the PCA aegis. Since the moment of Ilyumzhinov’s election as FIDE President Kasparov refuses to play in the tournaments under FIDE aegis, stating that Ilyumzhinov organises his championships for “dirty money”.
Approximately around the same time the battle at the “Eastern front” is becoming more agitated: Karpov and Kasparov are clashing over the control in the Russian Chess Federation, and in reality – as it seems – just for the right to manage the Central chess club on Gogolevsky blvd. This time in an exhausting struggle, after long legal suits the 13th World champion and his team won. Immediately after this moment the legendary club was let to various private companies, having nothing to do with chess. It is a mystery for me personally, where the money from these leases went. As GM S. Dolmatov was saying at that time, these years “the RCF budget was of a totally closed character. I as a Grandmaster, was not aware how and what money the RCF was making and how it spends it”. Dolmatov meant first of all the Chess Club and was demanding to organise a “comprehensive” inspection of it, saying that “there are some dirty games going on behind our backs”.
1996. Elista is staging a World Championship title match between Karpov and Kamsky with the prize fund being provided by the President of Kalmykia. Karpov convincingly wins and Kamsky, declaring that Karpov and Kasparov will never allow him become World Champion, leaves chess for nearly a decade.
Kasparov plays a commercial match against Deep Blue, sponsored by IBM. Intel, an opponent of IBM, who has been sponsoring PCA for three years and spent during this period more than five million USD, immediately calls off future cooperation and leaves chess, which causes the collapse of Kasparov’s organisation. One year later, having lost another match to the same computer, Deep Blue, Great and Terrible, as admirers, followers and true friends of Kasparov call him, publicly and harshly accuses IBM in unfair play, and as a consequence, chess loses another large sponsor.
1997. First knockout World championship was organised. Ilyumzhinov thanked Karpov for his Presidency by a unique format – after winning six most difficult mini-matches, Anand – the current World Champion- in a few days- met Karpov for a six-game so-called final, where Karpov has been resting for a month preparing for the forthcoming event. So, it was not a surprise when exhausted Anand lost the tie-break. Karpov became a knockout “World Champion”.
1999. Second World knockout Championship is organised in Las Vegas. This time the negotiations with FIDE have not brought a desirable result and the Champion has to defend his title from the second round. Karpov is indignant and sues FIDE. Besides, after having refused to participate, in the US he is trying all his resorts to cancel the 3 million USD prize fund event, writing to the Nevada Governor a request to do it. Having learnt about it, chess players were very angry, and a German GM Lobron was chasing Karpov during a Dortmund tournament (Lobron has drank too much) with the aim to inflict light bodily damage.
The result of a conciliatory encounter of Ilyumzhinov and Karpov was his withdrawal of his suit. We can only guess the reason which made a principled person give up his claims.
2000. Kasparov, who has not defended his World Championship title for five years, finally picks up his challenger – Vladimir Kramnik. Before this, due to various reasons, including financial ones, two matches for the titles fell through – against Shirov and Anand. Kasparov loses the match in all aspects and violating the contract signed by both participants before the match, immediately demands the revenge. We should remind you here that in the mid-80s, as a result of some serious struggle, he managed to cancel such matches, as Karpov was a stickler of the revanche.
2001. M. Botvinnik Memorial in Moscow. Kasparov, Kramnik and Karpov in a match-tournament. Shortly before the start, after reaching the agreements with the organisers of this event which had aspirations to become historical, Karpov “suddenly” refused to play and preferred due to some reasons which we can only guess about, the knockout World Championship, “incidentally” organised by FIDE during the same dates in the same city. In the first very round he lost to a Chinese player, who was not well-known. This is the end of the brilliant chess career of Karpov.
2002. Ukrainian R. Ponomarjov becomes FIDE World Champion. Kasparov, as it seems, is trying a campaign of public lauding of Ilyumzhinov’s virtues with the aim of returning the World Championship title by any means. They say that at the Bled Chess Olympiad, having his turn for a move, but just seeing Ilyumzhinov in the playing hall, Kasparov rushed to hug and kiss him under the approving roar of the audience. The same year Kasparov in fact started a campaign against Ilyumzhinov’s “chase” by media, praising the achievements of the latter in his capacity as Kalmykia’s state figure and a unique world chess leader. “Kommersant” newspaper wrote: “ The most expensive present was handed to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov by a chess player Garry Kasparov – his assurances in sincere friendship and his support of all the initiatives as FIDE President, and recognition of his being wrong in the past”. Quote from “Moskovsky Komsomolets”: “Kasparov underlined that now they are connected by business and commercial relations, which sometimes are stronger than friendly ties”.
The result of these in my opinion, humiliating speeches of Kasparov was the famous Prague Agreement and the right for a FIDE World championship title without any sporting qualification, which actually was canceled the last moment. Ponomariov refused to play the match due to very strong pressure from Kasparov himself and a number of FIDE officials. Karpov at that period was accusing Kasparov in destructive activity: “Kasparov has made many mistakes. The situation in FIDE and the fact that the former harmonious World Chess Championship system is now turned into something incomprehensible – this is the result of Kasparov’s intrigues and activity”. Then chess circles had the following ironical saying: “President of FIDE and Kalmykia now has only clean banknotes. So Kasparov can play for them with his conscience being clear”.
2004. After Kasimdzhanov becomes new World knockout Champion, Kasparov of course receives a right to play a match for the title against him. Ilyumzhinov refused to personally provide the prize fund, and Kasparov failed to attract other sponsors. Years of public humiliation were wasted, he did not managed to return his title, and Kasparov again joins Ilyumzhinov’s opposition.
2005. Kasparov announces that his chess career is over.
2006. Karpov declares that he is going to run for the FIDE Presidency. As a result of a personal meeting Iyumzhinov succeeds to find solid arguments, and Karpov gives this idea up.
2006–2009. Happy years for chess. Several matches for the title were played. Chess world is unified. The number of top tournament increases alongside with earnings of professional chess players.
2007. Karpov as a member of the Public Chamber, brings the 64-Chess Review magazine to Kasparov in his detention cell. He was not allowed to see Kasparov, and he passes his small present through the mother of Kasparov – Klara. Historical reconciliation of earlier implacable opponents takes place.
2009. Karpov-Kasparov rapid chess match in Valencia. The announced series of similar matches does not take place due to the absence of interest in the world to their creative and sportive components.
2010. Karpov declares that he is intending to run for the FIDE President’s position with the objective of “saving chess which are in the deepest crisis”. Kasparov immediately renders him informational and moral support, trying to secure votes in a number of Western countries and the USA.
Of course, this is just a fraction of the events which have been taking place during these years with participation of Karpov and Kasparov. But even a quick glance is enough to understand that if destructive energy of two pupils of the Soviet chess school is united in one position – FIDE President, then chess players will have difficult times ahead of them. I do believe that this shall not happen.
Original: http://www.ng.ru/regions/2010-05-27/5_champions.html
Translation: Susan Polgar
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Beatriz Marinello on Karpov's Campaign
In view of the upcoming World Chess Federation “FIDE” Presidential Election, most members of the chess communities, such as players, organizers, arbiters, trainers, teachers, leaders, etc have been facing the following questions:
Who is the best candidate for FIDE President?, and, What team is best to continue with the development of chess in the world?
As a candidate for the position of FIDE Vice President in Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s ticket my position is clear. Having said this, I was faced with the two aforementioned questions earlier in the election, since I had offers from both tickets, GM Anatoly Karpov and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. I would like to share my decision making process, as well as other facts which may astonish many of you.
My chess background is mostly related with scholastic chess in the United States, although I am also a Women’s International Master and Tournament Organizer.
From a very early age I came to the realization that I wanted chess to be a very important part of my life and have since dedicated my life to chess for the past 33 years. From the beginning I knew that the opportunities for chess players, especially women in chess were extremely limited. For this reason, I have dedicated most of my life to the development and promotion of chess, acting in different capacities.
I was born in Chile and have resided in the USA for about 20 years. I love both countries, but consider myself a citizen of the world.
My chess career began in 1979 when I started playing chess at Club Chile in the city of Santiago. The first time I won the Chilean Women’s Championship was in 1981, and I won this championship every year from 1984-1989.
Although, my home Federation is the United States, I have strong ties to Chile, and I remain an active member of the Chilean chess community, as well as other Nations in the American Continent (from Canada to Chile) where in my capacity as the General Secretary of FIDE America, I have the opportunity to assist in many of the chess activities taking place in this part of the world.
Most of my involvement in U.S. Chess has been as a chess promoter, scholastic chess and in leadership roles. I have been instrumental in the development of scholastic chess in the United States, and I worked for the U.S. Chess Federation from 1997-2000 as a National Scholastic Director.
Eventually, I became President of the U.S. Chess Federation (2003-2005), and I have been a member and currently Co-Chair of the Scholastic Chess Council . Currently, I am the Zonal President of Zone 2.1. (USA).
In 2008, I was awarded Chess Educator of the Year (UTD), where I also received acknowledgement for my dedication to chess and education. I focused on “chess and the development of social skills for at-risk-children”, which I strongly believe in and is a primary concern for me as I promote chess in the global chess community.
“Marinello has a long list of credits in establishing scholastic chess programs in New York City and has devoted many years to chess education for the U.S. Chess Federation (USCF). In 2003 she became the first woman president of the USCF after serving as that organization’s National Scholastic Director.”
“She has been important for the USCF not only in chess education but in overall leadership,” said Stallings, Director of the UTD Chess Program. “Ms. Marinello is also quite an accomplished tournament player. In fact, she became National Women’s Champion of Chile when she was 16 years old.”
As I mentioned, I had offers to collaborate with both candidates for FIDE President. I have great respect for the top players, especially our former World Champions.
I hoped from the beginning that these campaigns would concentrate on presenting the best programs and that they would focus on their contributions for chess development and promotion stressing their position on what each candidate and team could offer.
I do not believe in negative campaigning, and although I am very disappointed with my home federation (USA) for not supporting me, I will not attack or do anything that can damage the U.S. Chess Federation or any other chess organization for that matter.
Resorting to such tactics is against the very thing we are trying to do in the “One World. One Vision.” campaign and it is against everything I have done to promote chess on a National and International level.
I will not stoop to our opponents level by using the methods they have implemented from the beginning of this election which are harmful to the global chess community. I will simply tell my story as it occurred.
The question here is:
Why didn’t the U.S. Chess Federation support my decision to accept the invitation to be part of Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s Presidential Ticket?
I will answer this question matter of factly.
Back in February (2010), I was approached by Mr. Michael Khodarkovsky who is the President of the Kasparov Chess Foundation and a U.S. Chess Federation’s FIDE Delegate. At that time, Michael Khodarkovsky informed me that GM Ron Henley wanted to talk to me about GM Anatoly Karpov running for FIDE President. He told me that Mr. Henley also asked for a meeting with him. I mentioned to Michael Khodarkovsky that I could not meet with Mr. Henley at the time, but maybe later. Early in March, I agreed to meet with Mr. Henley since I have known GM Henley for a long time and I always thought he was a nice person.
The same week, I received a letter from FIDE President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov inviting me to be part of his electoral ticket. When I meet with Mr. Henley, he offered to appoint me as FIDE Vice President in Mr. Karpov’s Presidential Board and compensation for actively campaigning.
After carefully reviewing the situation, I considered that FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was the best candidate as FIDE President, and I was highly supportive of his team as well.
I did not think that Former World Champions Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov, both great players and important members of our community, were the best people to run FIDE.
In the past they were both chess enemies, and I considered how this could create potential issues between them, in case that GM Anatoly Karpov became FIDE President. I also thought, that their motivations were not in the best interest of FIDE and GM Karpov was lacking the necessary experience to run an organization such as FIDE.
Something just didn’t quite fit or feel right about this situation and I held firm in this belief.
Additionally, I also did not wish to divide the Americas, since we have been working for 10 years in building a block in the American Continents.
During this time it also became clear that the Karpov team was going to try to split the continent by dividing the Americas in hopes of gaining ground in that region.
My vision is for a united chess community, which is best represented by Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s Ticket and his team.
Once I made the decision, I asked the U.S. Chess Federation’s Executive Board for a meeting, innocently I also included Michael Khodarkovsky as FIDE Delegate to join us in a conference call.
At the conference call, all members of the board (5) were present: President, Jim Berry; Vice President, Ruth Haring; VP of Finances, Randy Bauer; Members at Large, Michael Atkins and Bill Goichberg.
Mr. Goichberg is a former U.S. Chess Federation President and the main tournament organizer in the United States. Mr. Goichberg is very anti-FIDE and especially very anti-Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. I presented the situation to the Executive Board, Mr. Bauer got disconnected from the conference call, so he did not hear everything and did not vote. However, the Board took an unofficial vote. Mr. Berry and Ms. Haring voted ‘Yes’ to endorse me as a candidate in Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s ticket, Mr. Atkin said that he did not know enough, but was initially agreeable to support me, but decided to abstain, and Mr. Goichberg voted ‘No’ to my endorsement.
Acting on Mr. Khodarkovsky’s advice the Board postponed the meeting for two days later. At the time, I did not know that Mr. Kasparov was the person running the campaign for Mr. Karpov and Mr. Khodarkovsky clearly had a conflict of interest, since he works for the Kasparov Chess Foundation and he is also serving as USA FIDE Delegate.
During those two days, Grandmaster Kasparov and Grandmaster Henley made several phone calls asking the Board members not to endorse me in order to prevent me from joining Kirsan’s ticket and to only support Mr. Karpov. He even called a very influential person in U.S. Chess, who is also a major sponsor of the U.S. Chess Federation.
This whole situation reminded me of the 1994 Presidential FIDE Election, when the U.S. FIDE Delegate was Mr. Fan Adams and in a meeting held prior to the Chess Congress in Moscow, the U.S. Chess Federation decided to support the candidacy of Mr. Kouatly, but then after GM Kasparov’s phone calls to members of the U.S. Chess Federation’s Board, the United States changed their position at the last minute in favor of FIDE President Mr. Campomanes, resulting in the resignation of Mr. Adams. Back then, many promises were made but nothing happen in the end.
Now, back to March, 2010, two days after we had a conference call, we met again over the phone with the members of the Federation’s Executive Board, Mr. Khodarkovsky and GM Henley. Karpov’s team made a new offer to me in exchange for me not accepting Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s invitation to be a member of his electoral ticket. The offer was an appointment in GM Karpov’s Presidential Board (in the event that he won the election) and full support to become Continental President. In addition they would not require that I campaign on behalf of Mr. Karpov.
I told them that I would not accept the offer. One hour later, Bill Hall, USCF Executive Director and Ms. Haring called me to tell me that I should accept the offer or else they would not endorse me and that they would even remove me as Zonal President.
By then it became clear that I was dealing with a very undemocratic organization, and the way in which they were pressuring me and trying to force me to accept Karpov’s offer by use of threats, convinced me more than ever that I was making the right decision.
I did not accept the offer, the board did not remove me as Zonal President, but the U.S. Chess Federation sent me a letter denying me the endorsement and making a statement that they would not support anyone who is on Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s ticket.
Fortunately, the National Federations of Chile and Brazil gave me an endorsement since I am also a member of these Federations.
What Do I Think of GM Karpov’s Campaign?
According to Mr. Richard Conn, his team stands for transparency, integrity and fairness. He also said, in front of the U.S. Delegates, that chess is dying, which is absurd considering that chess is more popular now than ever before, I am talking about scholastic and youth chess.
Let’s talk about the transparency of the GM Karpov Team…
The strategy to influence the votes in Latin America has been based on pressuring Presidents of the Chess Federations through Government officials.
We have been seeing this in Peru and Bolivia, as well as other countries. In Peru, they made a connection with the Minister of Sport and tried to force the President of the Chess Federation, Mr. Iturry to sign a letter of endorsement, and he refused to do it, since he was not ready to make this decision he was told that he would be removed from his position in 10 days.
Regardless of the fact that the first Latin American Cup was organized in Cuzco, Peru, the President of the Peruvian Chess Federation was removed from office. The connection there was through a Peruvian businessman who lives in New York City.
Transparency, integrity and fairness does not seem to be part of this story.
Another situation, the President of the Chilean Chess Federation went to play chess at the U.S. Open in California.
Mr. Khodarkovsky invited him over for “coffee“. Once they met to have coffee, an attorney for the Karpov campaign joined them to ask questions.
Transparency, integrity and fairness do not seem to be a part of this story either and we can go on and on…
Many more similar stories and situations can be mentioned.
I understand the desire to win this FIDE Presidential Election, but at this point the numbers are speaking loudly, with three more weeks left in the campaign 93 National Federations are supporting our team, and only 25 are supporting GM Karpov’s team.
Despite the negative campaigning from Mr. Karpov’s Team, I remain positive that we will be able to bring everyone together in the end and we will all unite for the common goal of making chess more popular, more prominent and a viable alternative for those who decide to make chess their career.
Gens Una Sumus
WIM Beatriz Marinello
Candidate for FIDE Vice President
“One World. One Vision.”
Who is the best candidate for FIDE President?, and, What team is best to continue with the development of chess in the world?
As a candidate for the position of FIDE Vice President in Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s ticket my position is clear. Having said this, I was faced with the two aforementioned questions earlier in the election, since I had offers from both tickets, GM Anatoly Karpov and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. I would like to share my decision making process, as well as other facts which may astonish many of you.
My chess background is mostly related with scholastic chess in the United States, although I am also a Women’s International Master and Tournament Organizer.
From a very early age I came to the realization that I wanted chess to be a very important part of my life and have since dedicated my life to chess for the past 33 years. From the beginning I knew that the opportunities for chess players, especially women in chess were extremely limited. For this reason, I have dedicated most of my life to the development and promotion of chess, acting in different capacities.
I was born in Chile and have resided in the USA for about 20 years. I love both countries, but consider myself a citizen of the world.
My chess career began in 1979 when I started playing chess at Club Chile in the city of Santiago. The first time I won the Chilean Women’s Championship was in 1981, and I won this championship every year from 1984-1989.
Although, my home Federation is the United States, I have strong ties to Chile, and I remain an active member of the Chilean chess community, as well as other Nations in the American Continent (from Canada to Chile) where in my capacity as the General Secretary of FIDE America, I have the opportunity to assist in many of the chess activities taking place in this part of the world.
Most of my involvement in U.S. Chess has been as a chess promoter, scholastic chess and in leadership roles. I have been instrumental in the development of scholastic chess in the United States, and I worked for the U.S. Chess Federation from 1997-2000 as a National Scholastic Director.
Eventually, I became President of the U.S. Chess Federation (2003-2005), and I have been a member and currently Co-Chair of the Scholastic Chess Council . Currently, I am the Zonal President of Zone 2.1. (USA).
In 2008, I was awarded Chess Educator of the Year (UTD), where I also received acknowledgement for my dedication to chess and education. I focused on “chess and the development of social skills for at-risk-children”, which I strongly believe in and is a primary concern for me as I promote chess in the global chess community.
“Marinello has a long list of credits in establishing scholastic chess programs in New York City and has devoted many years to chess education for the U.S. Chess Federation (USCF). In 2003 she became the first woman president of the USCF after serving as that organization’s National Scholastic Director.”
“She has been important for the USCF not only in chess education but in overall leadership,” said Stallings, Director of the UTD Chess Program. “Ms. Marinello is also quite an accomplished tournament player. In fact, she became National Women’s Champion of Chile when she was 16 years old.”
As I mentioned, I had offers to collaborate with both candidates for FIDE President. I have great respect for the top players, especially our former World Champions.
I hoped from the beginning that these campaigns would concentrate on presenting the best programs and that they would focus on their contributions for chess development and promotion stressing their position on what each candidate and team could offer.
I do not believe in negative campaigning, and although I am very disappointed with my home federation (USA) for not supporting me, I will not attack or do anything that can damage the U.S. Chess Federation or any other chess organization for that matter.
Resorting to such tactics is against the very thing we are trying to do in the “One World. One Vision.” campaign and it is against everything I have done to promote chess on a National and International level.
I will not stoop to our opponents level by using the methods they have implemented from the beginning of this election which are harmful to the global chess community. I will simply tell my story as it occurred.
The question here is:
Why didn’t the U.S. Chess Federation support my decision to accept the invitation to be part of Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s Presidential Ticket?
I will answer this question matter of factly.
Back in February (2010), I was approached by Mr. Michael Khodarkovsky who is the President of the Kasparov Chess Foundation and a U.S. Chess Federation’s FIDE Delegate. At that time, Michael Khodarkovsky informed me that GM Ron Henley wanted to talk to me about GM Anatoly Karpov running for FIDE President. He told me that Mr. Henley also asked for a meeting with him. I mentioned to Michael Khodarkovsky that I could not meet with Mr. Henley at the time, but maybe later. Early in March, I agreed to meet with Mr. Henley since I have known GM Henley for a long time and I always thought he was a nice person.
The same week, I received a letter from FIDE President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov inviting me to be part of his electoral ticket. When I meet with Mr. Henley, he offered to appoint me as FIDE Vice President in Mr. Karpov’s Presidential Board and compensation for actively campaigning.
After carefully reviewing the situation, I considered that FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was the best candidate as FIDE President, and I was highly supportive of his team as well.
I did not think that Former World Champions Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov, both great players and important members of our community, were the best people to run FIDE.
In the past they were both chess enemies, and I considered how this could create potential issues between them, in case that GM Anatoly Karpov became FIDE President. I also thought, that their motivations were not in the best interest of FIDE and GM Karpov was lacking the necessary experience to run an organization such as FIDE.
Something just didn’t quite fit or feel right about this situation and I held firm in this belief.
Additionally, I also did not wish to divide the Americas, since we have been working for 10 years in building a block in the American Continents.
During this time it also became clear that the Karpov team was going to try to split the continent by dividing the Americas in hopes of gaining ground in that region.
My vision is for a united chess community, which is best represented by Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s Ticket and his team.
Once I made the decision, I asked the U.S. Chess Federation’s Executive Board for a meeting, innocently I also included Michael Khodarkovsky as FIDE Delegate to join us in a conference call.
At the conference call, all members of the board (5) were present: President, Jim Berry; Vice President, Ruth Haring; VP of Finances, Randy Bauer; Members at Large, Michael Atkins and Bill Goichberg.
Mr. Goichberg is a former U.S. Chess Federation President and the main tournament organizer in the United States. Mr. Goichberg is very anti-FIDE and especially very anti-Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. I presented the situation to the Executive Board, Mr. Bauer got disconnected from the conference call, so he did not hear everything and did not vote. However, the Board took an unofficial vote. Mr. Berry and Ms. Haring voted ‘Yes’ to endorse me as a candidate in Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s ticket, Mr. Atkin said that he did not know enough, but was initially agreeable to support me, but decided to abstain, and Mr. Goichberg voted ‘No’ to my endorsement.
Acting on Mr. Khodarkovsky’s advice the Board postponed the meeting for two days later. At the time, I did not know that Mr. Kasparov was the person running the campaign for Mr. Karpov and Mr. Khodarkovsky clearly had a conflict of interest, since he works for the Kasparov Chess Foundation and he is also serving as USA FIDE Delegate.
During those two days, Grandmaster Kasparov and Grandmaster Henley made several phone calls asking the Board members not to endorse me in order to prevent me from joining Kirsan’s ticket and to only support Mr. Karpov. He even called a very influential person in U.S. Chess, who is also a major sponsor of the U.S. Chess Federation.
This whole situation reminded me of the 1994 Presidential FIDE Election, when the U.S. FIDE Delegate was Mr. Fan Adams and in a meeting held prior to the Chess Congress in Moscow, the U.S. Chess Federation decided to support the candidacy of Mr. Kouatly, but then after GM Kasparov’s phone calls to members of the U.S. Chess Federation’s Board, the United States changed their position at the last minute in favor of FIDE President Mr. Campomanes, resulting in the resignation of Mr. Adams. Back then, many promises were made but nothing happen in the end.
Now, back to March, 2010, two days after we had a conference call, we met again over the phone with the members of the Federation’s Executive Board, Mr. Khodarkovsky and GM Henley. Karpov’s team made a new offer to me in exchange for me not accepting Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s invitation to be a member of his electoral ticket. The offer was an appointment in GM Karpov’s Presidential Board (in the event that he won the election) and full support to become Continental President. In addition they would not require that I campaign on behalf of Mr. Karpov.
I told them that I would not accept the offer. One hour later, Bill Hall, USCF Executive Director and Ms. Haring called me to tell me that I should accept the offer or else they would not endorse me and that they would even remove me as Zonal President.
By then it became clear that I was dealing with a very undemocratic organization, and the way in which they were pressuring me and trying to force me to accept Karpov’s offer by use of threats, convinced me more than ever that I was making the right decision.
I did not accept the offer, the board did not remove me as Zonal President, but the U.S. Chess Federation sent me a letter denying me the endorsement and making a statement that they would not support anyone who is on Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s ticket.
Fortunately, the National Federations of Chile and Brazil gave me an endorsement since I am also a member of these Federations.
What Do I Think of GM Karpov’s Campaign?
According to Mr. Richard Conn, his team stands for transparency, integrity and fairness. He also said, in front of the U.S. Delegates, that chess is dying, which is absurd considering that chess is more popular now than ever before, I am talking about scholastic and youth chess.
Let’s talk about the transparency of the GM Karpov Team…
The strategy to influence the votes in Latin America has been based on pressuring Presidents of the Chess Federations through Government officials.
We have been seeing this in Peru and Bolivia, as well as other countries. In Peru, they made a connection with the Minister of Sport and tried to force the President of the Chess Federation, Mr. Iturry to sign a letter of endorsement, and he refused to do it, since he was not ready to make this decision he was told that he would be removed from his position in 10 days.
Regardless of the fact that the first Latin American Cup was organized in Cuzco, Peru, the President of the Peruvian Chess Federation was removed from office. The connection there was through a Peruvian businessman who lives in New York City.
Transparency, integrity and fairness does not seem to be part of this story.
Another situation, the President of the Chilean Chess Federation went to play chess at the U.S. Open in California.
Mr. Khodarkovsky invited him over for “coffee“. Once they met to have coffee, an attorney for the Karpov campaign joined them to ask questions.
Transparency, integrity and fairness do not seem to be a part of this story either and we can go on and on…
Many more similar stories and situations can be mentioned.
I understand the desire to win this FIDE Presidential Election, but at this point the numbers are speaking loudly, with three more weeks left in the campaign 93 National Federations are supporting our team, and only 25 are supporting GM Karpov’s team.
Despite the negative campaigning from Mr. Karpov’s Team, I remain positive that we will be able to bring everyone together in the end and we will all unite for the common goal of making chess more popular, more prominent and a viable alternative for those who decide to make chess their career.
Gens Una Sumus
WIM Beatriz Marinello
Candidate for FIDE Vice President
“One World. One Vision.”
Sunday, July 4, 2010
From Mig's Daily Dirt
Posted by Irv | July 4, 2010 12:39 PM
The truth is that Karpov and his "billionaire" friends do not have a penny to invest in chess and can't generate a penny in legitimate, long term sponsorship. They know as much and that's the only reason they go through the trouble of trying to depose Kirsan, who enjoys the insurmountable advantage of providing some money to the starving chess world.
If these group of challenged challengers had an ounce of funds and professionalism with them, they would only need to create a competing entity (International Chess Federation), adopt a similar rating structure, give credit to titled players, create a new title for Super GM (above 2750) and use their "sponsorship money" and "sponsorship connections" to lure all chess players away from corrupt, inept FIDE.
That's much easier and cheaper than trying to unseat Kirsan. It will not be done - of course - because Karpov & Co. are lying about their capability, their funds, their sponsorship potential and everything else. There is nothing of substance about this group of pretenders.
And, no, it is not illegal to create a competing chess entity (hey, there was nothing illegal about the GMA - remember?). It happens in boxing and many other activities. But they know that a new entity would be quickly killed by Kasparov and his stupid ideas and friends.
That's all there is to it.
The truth is that Karpov and his "billionaire" friends do not have a penny to invest in chess and can't generate a penny in legitimate, long term sponsorship. They know as much and that's the only reason they go through the trouble of trying to depose Kirsan, who enjoys the insurmountable advantage of providing some money to the starving chess world.
If these group of challenged challengers had an ounce of funds and professionalism with them, they would only need to create a competing entity (International Chess Federation), adopt a similar rating structure, give credit to titled players, create a new title for Super GM (above 2750) and use their "sponsorship money" and "sponsorship connections" to lure all chess players away from corrupt, inept FIDE.
That's much easier and cheaper than trying to unseat Kirsan. It will not be done - of course - because Karpov & Co. are lying about their capability, their funds, their sponsorship potential and everything else. There is nothing of substance about this group of pretenders.
And, no, it is not illegal to create a competing chess entity (hey, there was nothing illegal about the GMA - remember?). It happens in boxing and many other activities. But they know that a new entity would be quickly killed by Kasparov and his stupid ideas and friends.
That's all there is to it.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Jews and Chess
Chess and Jews
Edward Winter
(2003, with additions in 2007)
We have compiled a non-exhaustive list of magazine items (pre-Second World War) on chess and Jews:
From page 335 of the Chess Player’s Chronicle, 17 January 1891:
‘Jewish Players. The Jewish Standard says: “It seems strange that the chess championship of the world should be again fought out between two Jews. The pre-eminency of our brethren in this particular game is hard to understand, and certainly ought to give the lie to the current accusations that Jews are not fond of acting on the square.’
In his ‘Personal and General’ column on page 264 of the International Chess Magazine, September 1891 Steinitz gave from his New York Tribune column of 6 December [sic] 1891 a rebuttal (received from Chigorin) of allegations that anti-Semitism was rife in the St Petersburg Chess Club.
‘The Jewish National Game’ on page 163 of the March 1905 American Chess Bulletin quoted from the New Era Illustrated Magazine:
‘If there is such a thing among the Jews as a “National game”, surely that title belongs by overwhelming right to the royal game of chess. The peculiar charm of chess, which affords entertainment at the same time that it instructs, has appealed from time immemorial to the race. Chess is more than a mere game, and those who “play” at it are known to the really expert as “woodshifters”. The masters have raised it to the dignity of a study, and many there are who regard it as equal with the arts and sciences. For upward of 50 years there has not been a tournament of any account in Europe or America that has not had a Jew taking a prominent part therein, and today, as has been the case often [sic] before, the world’s champion is one of them.’
After listing various Jewish chess figures, the item concluded:
‘All these form a goodly company, who, were it possible to array them side by side, could easily sweep from the field any team of equal numbers composed of all other nationalities. What more indeed could be said in support of the claim that in the world of chess the Jew reigns supreme?’
A ‘Chess Chat’ item on page 323 of the Chess Amateur, August 1908:
‘“I have often been struck with the ubiquity of the Jewish chessplayer”, writes Mr A. Porter, in the American Hebrew. “I once saw in a café in Tunis two well-to-do Jews playing a game that would have done credit to the leading players of New York or London; in going through the steerage of a North-German Lloyd liner, westward bound from Bremen, I noticed three games by German Jews in progress, and on a summer’s day at the Delaware Water Gap, on reaching the top of Mount Minsi, expecting to be the monarch of all I surveyed, I found the summit already occupied by two young Jewesses engaged in mimic warfare on the chess board.”’
‘Dr Hermann Adler and Steinitz’, on page 367 of the Chess Amateur, September 1911:
‘Mr Sharp, chess editor of the Reading Observer, gives a very interesting account of the connection of the late Dr Hermann Adler (Chief Rabbi) with chess. In his younger days, in common with so many learned Jews, he was very fond of chess. Lasker, of course, it is well known, is a Jew, and that great man Steinitz was of the same persuasion. Wilhelm Steinitz once expressed the opinion that the reason why Jews are so clever at chess is because of their patience, pure breeding, and good nature. Having been the most persecuted race in the world, they have had the least power to do harm, and have become the best natured of all peoples. Their religion, also, is a factor which contributes in the same direction, because it is combined with persecution to preserve their morals and good nature. Then the purity of their breed, as Steinitz asserted, largely helps the Jews in every walk of life, and contributes to their remarkable success, even in the science of chess …’
More particulars are sought on the above statements by Steinitz.
From a report about the Carlsbad, 1911 tournament on page 369 of the October 1911 BCM:
‘It is a curious fact that of the 26 competitors no less than half were Jews. The rivalry on strictly logical lines characterizing the game of chess, and the scope for ingenuity it affords make, we fancy, a special appeal to the Jewish temperament. Anyway, in a considerable experience we hardly remember to have met a single individual of that race who did not display at least some intelligent appreciation of the game.’
The Chess Amateur, October 1911, page 392, commented: ‘Exactly half of the competitors in the Carlsbad Congress are Jews, viz. Alapin, Chajes, Cohn, Jaffe, Levenfish, Nimzowitsch, Rabinovich, Rotlewi, Rubinstein, Perlis, Salwe, Spielmann and Tartakower.’
‘Chess and the Jews’ on pages 262-263 of the September 1918 BCM quoted from an ‘interesting and suggestive’ article by M.A. Geoffroy-Dausay (a pseudonym of Alphonse Goetz) entitled ‘The Parallel Progress of Chess and Civilization’, in L’Eco degli Scacchi:
‘Since chess entered upon its third period of splendour, the period in which we actually are, the Israelitish element has exercised a predominance out of all proportion to the number and position of the Jews.
The branches of activity are well known in which the Israelites have excelled for so long, and, as it were, by the force of atavism – banking, business, industry. In chess their supremacy began to manifest itself scarcely two generations ago. It has not ceased to grow stronger and stronger since then.
If this fact has a meaning from the point of view of culture, it must be this, that the nineteenth century is the century of the emancipation of the Jews.
When we apply our observations to Russian affairs, we see the latter suddenly made clear in a blinding flash of light. The expansion, the formidable development of Russian chess, is more or less confined to the short space of time between 1904-1918; the period in which the Judaeo-Russian masters affirmed themselves victoriously, the period of the tournament triumphs of Rubinstein - the same Rubinstein who used to conduct in his native town of Lodz a chess column in a little Yiddish paper, printed in Hebrew characters.
The dates mentioned are those of the two Russian revolutions, the first of which, as we know, was averted, while the second succeeded completely. If it brought to the Allies the cruellest surprise and deception, on the other hand it procured for the Russian Jews their absolute emancipation, if not power. Yiddish has henceforward become an officially-recognized language, and the German philologists, who up to now have neglected and despised this idiom, are devoting themselves to it with fervour.
So the evolution of chess proceeds equally with the formidable Messianic movement which has been manifesting itself for some decades in the Jewish people, and is now crowned by the hope of seeing the ancient kingdom of Israel re-established in the land once flowing with milk and honey. I can foresee, in the not very distant future, the great world’s championship tournament being held in Jerusalem.
I trust that a Gentile will be pardoned for thus pointing out the meaning of the development of chess among the Jews. The question whether this development is favourable to our game or not is quite immaterial. The phenomenon exists, plain and indisputable. Philosemitism, Antisemitism, Indifferentism have no existence in face of the reality of things. It is a curious and significant fact that chess, which in its early form, at the dawn of the Middle Ages, was brought to its height by the genius of the Semitic race, has in its modern form been actually carried to perfection again by the genius of the same race.’
Page 86 of the March 1919 BCM carried J. du Mont’s response to the above item:
‘I presume it relates more particularly to chess professionals. In this country, at any rate, it does not seem to me that the Jews hold rank amongst first-class amateurs in proportion to their numbers. In London there are very few if any of the class of R.C. Griffith, G.A. Thomas, J.H. Blake, H.G. Cole, E.G. Sergeant, and many others, to say nothing of the youngest recruits, W. Winter and R.H.V. Scott. It has, of course, been questioned whether it is desirable for a man of intellect to become purely a professional chessplayer, though no doubt in many cases it means a gain to the chess world and no very great loss otherwise. With regard to “Chess and the Jews” I feel inclined to think that in absolute genius the non-Jewish element holds the palm, from Philidor, Labourdonnais, Morphy, down to Pillsbury and Capablanca. I think a team of “gentiles”, as your correspondent calls them, could hold their own against any combination, if selected from Capablanca, Alekhine, Teichmann, Schlechter, Maróczy, Marshall, Atkins, Duras, Vidmar. In point of number I suppose the Jews would prevail. At Petrograd in 1914 there were only four “gentiles” out of eleven, but three of them were amongst the five prize-winners, and the fourth, J.H. Blackburne, was 72 years of age at the time. As your correspondent says, Philosemitism, Antisemitism or Indifferentism have nothing to do with it, but the facts are not quite so convincing as he makes out.’
‘Some Interesting Facts on Chess from the Jewish Encyclopedia’ by L. Fainlight, on pages 237-239 of the July 1923 BCM presented a condensed account from the earliest times. A brief item on page 371 of the October 1923 BCM:
‘The well-known chess enthusiast, Peter P. Saburov, writes to point out some errors in Mr Fainlight’s article from the Jewish Encyclopedia. He states that Schiffers, Schlechter and Zukertort were not Jews. Zukertort was the son of a Pastor. Emanuel Schiffers (not B. Schiffers as stated on page 239) was a Russian of German origin; he was born in Petrograd, but his ancestors were from Aachen. Schlechter was a German-Austrian and a catholic.’
(On page 13 of Carl Schlechter! Life and Times of the Austrian Chess Wizard (Yorklyn, 1994) Warren Goldman wrote that Schlechter ‘was born of a Catholic family known for its industry and creativity in the field of music’.)
The above-quoted BCM item occasioned a follow-up piece on page 412 of the November 1923 issue:
‘A correspondent writes: “With all deference to M. Saburov (BCM, page 371), the great Zukertort was of Jewish race, whatever the religion of his father. The name Zukertort (? Zucker-torte, ‘sugar-tart’) probably derives from the period when the Jews were compelled by the authorities to adopt surnames very often fancy, in place of their original patronymics. Is it not also a fact well known to such as are sufficiently veteran to remember him distinctly that the famous master was clearly a member of the race which has given the world so many illustrious chessplayers? My own recollection of him is perhaps too juvenile to trust.”’
‘A Wolf on the Fold’, in the Australasian Chess Review, 30 March 1938 (pages 71-72) is quoted below in full:
‘The Wiener Schachzeitung has become a weekly instead of a fortnightly, and its great popularity is likely to increase thereby, as there is something very attractive in the idea of getting a chess paper with hot news every week.
It remains to be seen how recent events will affect chess in Austria, but the effect will certainly be adverse. Many, if not most, of the leading masters in Austria, as in many other countries, are of the Jewish race. German chess is now a shadow of what it was.
In no field have the Jews excelled more than in chess. A New Zealand correspondent gives us the following list of famous Jewish masters: Löwenthal, Zukertort, Steinitz, Chigorin, Lasker, Schlechter, Janowsky, Winawer, Tarrasch, Rubinstein, Bernstein, Spielmann.
Among younger masters we have Reshevsky, Fine, Kashdan, Dake, Simonson, Horowitz and many other Americans; Flohr, Botvinnik, Levenfish and so on ad lib. Strangely enough, no Jewish player has won or even competed for the world championship since Lasker lost it in 1921 – yet two Jews held the title for the first 55 years. Steinitz was the son of a rabbi and was to have been a rabbi himself; Lasker is also a professing Jew. Reshevsky belongs to the strictest of all Jewish sects.
H.G. Wells, himself a chessplayer, mentions the eminence of the Jewish race in chess, in his History of the World. He appears to attribute it entirely to an innate sense of values – a capacity for judging between relative gains and losses with the utmost subtlety.
That is almost certainly a factor, but one could also argue from the fact of racial oppression. The reaction to the oppression has been a tendency among Jews to strive to excel in whatever they take up, whether it be commerce, mathematics, chess or purely artistic spheres in which H.G. Wells’ idea would not apply.
Again, in countries where there actually has been oppression of Jews from time to time there would be a tendency for them to seek fields in which they would depend entirely on their own efforts, and not on such things as official preferment.’
Afterword: This article originally appeared as C.N. 3120. See also the Factfinder.
Copyright: Edward Winter. All rights reserved.
Edward Winter
(2003, with additions in 2007)
We have compiled a non-exhaustive list of magazine items (pre-Second World War) on chess and Jews:
From page 335 of the Chess Player’s Chronicle, 17 January 1891:
‘Jewish Players. The Jewish Standard says: “It seems strange that the chess championship of the world should be again fought out between two Jews. The pre-eminency of our brethren in this particular game is hard to understand, and certainly ought to give the lie to the current accusations that Jews are not fond of acting on the square.’
In his ‘Personal and General’ column on page 264 of the International Chess Magazine, September 1891 Steinitz gave from his New York Tribune column of 6 December [sic] 1891 a rebuttal (received from Chigorin) of allegations that anti-Semitism was rife in the St Petersburg Chess Club.
‘The Jewish National Game’ on page 163 of the March 1905 American Chess Bulletin quoted from the New Era Illustrated Magazine:
‘If there is such a thing among the Jews as a “National game”, surely that title belongs by overwhelming right to the royal game of chess. The peculiar charm of chess, which affords entertainment at the same time that it instructs, has appealed from time immemorial to the race. Chess is more than a mere game, and those who “play” at it are known to the really expert as “woodshifters”. The masters have raised it to the dignity of a study, and many there are who regard it as equal with the arts and sciences. For upward of 50 years there has not been a tournament of any account in Europe or America that has not had a Jew taking a prominent part therein, and today, as has been the case often [sic] before, the world’s champion is one of them.’
After listing various Jewish chess figures, the item concluded:
‘All these form a goodly company, who, were it possible to array them side by side, could easily sweep from the field any team of equal numbers composed of all other nationalities. What more indeed could be said in support of the claim that in the world of chess the Jew reigns supreme?’
A ‘Chess Chat’ item on page 323 of the Chess Amateur, August 1908:
‘“I have often been struck with the ubiquity of the Jewish chessplayer”, writes Mr A. Porter, in the American Hebrew. “I once saw in a café in Tunis two well-to-do Jews playing a game that would have done credit to the leading players of New York or London; in going through the steerage of a North-German Lloyd liner, westward bound from Bremen, I noticed three games by German Jews in progress, and on a summer’s day at the Delaware Water Gap, on reaching the top of Mount Minsi, expecting to be the monarch of all I surveyed, I found the summit already occupied by two young Jewesses engaged in mimic warfare on the chess board.”’
‘Dr Hermann Adler and Steinitz’, on page 367 of the Chess Amateur, September 1911:
‘Mr Sharp, chess editor of the Reading Observer, gives a very interesting account of the connection of the late Dr Hermann Adler (Chief Rabbi) with chess. In his younger days, in common with so many learned Jews, he was very fond of chess. Lasker, of course, it is well known, is a Jew, and that great man Steinitz was of the same persuasion. Wilhelm Steinitz once expressed the opinion that the reason why Jews are so clever at chess is because of their patience, pure breeding, and good nature. Having been the most persecuted race in the world, they have had the least power to do harm, and have become the best natured of all peoples. Their religion, also, is a factor which contributes in the same direction, because it is combined with persecution to preserve their morals and good nature. Then the purity of their breed, as Steinitz asserted, largely helps the Jews in every walk of life, and contributes to their remarkable success, even in the science of chess …’
More particulars are sought on the above statements by Steinitz.
From a report about the Carlsbad, 1911 tournament on page 369 of the October 1911 BCM:
‘It is a curious fact that of the 26 competitors no less than half were Jews. The rivalry on strictly logical lines characterizing the game of chess, and the scope for ingenuity it affords make, we fancy, a special appeal to the Jewish temperament. Anyway, in a considerable experience we hardly remember to have met a single individual of that race who did not display at least some intelligent appreciation of the game.’
The Chess Amateur, October 1911, page 392, commented: ‘Exactly half of the competitors in the Carlsbad Congress are Jews, viz. Alapin, Chajes, Cohn, Jaffe, Levenfish, Nimzowitsch, Rabinovich, Rotlewi, Rubinstein, Perlis, Salwe, Spielmann and Tartakower.’
‘Chess and the Jews’ on pages 262-263 of the September 1918 BCM quoted from an ‘interesting and suggestive’ article by M.A. Geoffroy-Dausay (a pseudonym of Alphonse Goetz) entitled ‘The Parallel Progress of Chess and Civilization’, in L’Eco degli Scacchi:
‘Since chess entered upon its third period of splendour, the period in which we actually are, the Israelitish element has exercised a predominance out of all proportion to the number and position of the Jews.
The branches of activity are well known in which the Israelites have excelled for so long, and, as it were, by the force of atavism – banking, business, industry. In chess their supremacy began to manifest itself scarcely two generations ago. It has not ceased to grow stronger and stronger since then.
If this fact has a meaning from the point of view of culture, it must be this, that the nineteenth century is the century of the emancipation of the Jews.
When we apply our observations to Russian affairs, we see the latter suddenly made clear in a blinding flash of light. The expansion, the formidable development of Russian chess, is more or less confined to the short space of time between 1904-1918; the period in which the Judaeo-Russian masters affirmed themselves victoriously, the period of the tournament triumphs of Rubinstein - the same Rubinstein who used to conduct in his native town of Lodz a chess column in a little Yiddish paper, printed in Hebrew characters.
The dates mentioned are those of the two Russian revolutions, the first of which, as we know, was averted, while the second succeeded completely. If it brought to the Allies the cruellest surprise and deception, on the other hand it procured for the Russian Jews their absolute emancipation, if not power. Yiddish has henceforward become an officially-recognized language, and the German philologists, who up to now have neglected and despised this idiom, are devoting themselves to it with fervour.
So the evolution of chess proceeds equally with the formidable Messianic movement which has been manifesting itself for some decades in the Jewish people, and is now crowned by the hope of seeing the ancient kingdom of Israel re-established in the land once flowing with milk and honey. I can foresee, in the not very distant future, the great world’s championship tournament being held in Jerusalem.
I trust that a Gentile will be pardoned for thus pointing out the meaning of the development of chess among the Jews. The question whether this development is favourable to our game or not is quite immaterial. The phenomenon exists, plain and indisputable. Philosemitism, Antisemitism, Indifferentism have no existence in face of the reality of things. It is a curious and significant fact that chess, which in its early form, at the dawn of the Middle Ages, was brought to its height by the genius of the Semitic race, has in its modern form been actually carried to perfection again by the genius of the same race.’
Page 86 of the March 1919 BCM carried J. du Mont’s response to the above item:
‘I presume it relates more particularly to chess professionals. In this country, at any rate, it does not seem to me that the Jews hold rank amongst first-class amateurs in proportion to their numbers. In London there are very few if any of the class of R.C. Griffith, G.A. Thomas, J.H. Blake, H.G. Cole, E.G. Sergeant, and many others, to say nothing of the youngest recruits, W. Winter and R.H.V. Scott. It has, of course, been questioned whether it is desirable for a man of intellect to become purely a professional chessplayer, though no doubt in many cases it means a gain to the chess world and no very great loss otherwise. With regard to “Chess and the Jews” I feel inclined to think that in absolute genius the non-Jewish element holds the palm, from Philidor, Labourdonnais, Morphy, down to Pillsbury and Capablanca. I think a team of “gentiles”, as your correspondent calls them, could hold their own against any combination, if selected from Capablanca, Alekhine, Teichmann, Schlechter, Maróczy, Marshall, Atkins, Duras, Vidmar. In point of number I suppose the Jews would prevail. At Petrograd in 1914 there were only four “gentiles” out of eleven, but three of them were amongst the five prize-winners, and the fourth, J.H. Blackburne, was 72 years of age at the time. As your correspondent says, Philosemitism, Antisemitism or Indifferentism have nothing to do with it, but the facts are not quite so convincing as he makes out.’
‘Some Interesting Facts on Chess from the Jewish Encyclopedia’ by L. Fainlight, on pages 237-239 of the July 1923 BCM presented a condensed account from the earliest times. A brief item on page 371 of the October 1923 BCM:
‘The well-known chess enthusiast, Peter P. Saburov, writes to point out some errors in Mr Fainlight’s article from the Jewish Encyclopedia. He states that Schiffers, Schlechter and Zukertort were not Jews. Zukertort was the son of a Pastor. Emanuel Schiffers (not B. Schiffers as stated on page 239) was a Russian of German origin; he was born in Petrograd, but his ancestors were from Aachen. Schlechter was a German-Austrian and a catholic.’
(On page 13 of Carl Schlechter! Life and Times of the Austrian Chess Wizard (Yorklyn, 1994) Warren Goldman wrote that Schlechter ‘was born of a Catholic family known for its industry and creativity in the field of music’.)
The above-quoted BCM item occasioned a follow-up piece on page 412 of the November 1923 issue:
‘A correspondent writes: “With all deference to M. Saburov (BCM, page 371), the great Zukertort was of Jewish race, whatever the religion of his father. The name Zukertort (? Zucker-torte, ‘sugar-tart’) probably derives from the period when the Jews were compelled by the authorities to adopt surnames very often fancy, in place of their original patronymics. Is it not also a fact well known to such as are sufficiently veteran to remember him distinctly that the famous master was clearly a member of the race which has given the world so many illustrious chessplayers? My own recollection of him is perhaps too juvenile to trust.”’
‘A Wolf on the Fold’, in the Australasian Chess Review, 30 March 1938 (pages 71-72) is quoted below in full:
‘The Wiener Schachzeitung has become a weekly instead of a fortnightly, and its great popularity is likely to increase thereby, as there is something very attractive in the idea of getting a chess paper with hot news every week.
It remains to be seen how recent events will affect chess in Austria, but the effect will certainly be adverse. Many, if not most, of the leading masters in Austria, as in many other countries, are of the Jewish race. German chess is now a shadow of what it was.
In no field have the Jews excelled more than in chess. A New Zealand correspondent gives us the following list of famous Jewish masters: Löwenthal, Zukertort, Steinitz, Chigorin, Lasker, Schlechter, Janowsky, Winawer, Tarrasch, Rubinstein, Bernstein, Spielmann.
Among younger masters we have Reshevsky, Fine, Kashdan, Dake, Simonson, Horowitz and many other Americans; Flohr, Botvinnik, Levenfish and so on ad lib. Strangely enough, no Jewish player has won or even competed for the world championship since Lasker lost it in 1921 – yet two Jews held the title for the first 55 years. Steinitz was the son of a rabbi and was to have been a rabbi himself; Lasker is also a professing Jew. Reshevsky belongs to the strictest of all Jewish sects.
H.G. Wells, himself a chessplayer, mentions the eminence of the Jewish race in chess, in his History of the World. He appears to attribute it entirely to an innate sense of values – a capacity for judging between relative gains and losses with the utmost subtlety.
That is almost certainly a factor, but one could also argue from the fact of racial oppression. The reaction to the oppression has been a tendency among Jews to strive to excel in whatever they take up, whether it be commerce, mathematics, chess or purely artistic spheres in which H.G. Wells’ idea would not apply.
Again, in countries where there actually has been oppression of Jews from time to time there would be a tendency for them to seek fields in which they would depend entirely on their own efforts, and not on such things as official preferment.’
Afterword: This article originally appeared as C.N. 3120. See also the Factfinder.
Copyright: Edward Winter. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Kasparov: "Child of change... of mind"
3648. Kasparov and retirement
‘I announce my retirement from chess.’ That laconic would-be bombshell somehow failed to jounce the chess world off its axis when published, under the heading ‘Flamboyant Exit’, on page 107 of CHESS, 4 December 1964. The full text of the letter to the editor is given below:
‘I announce my retirement from chess, as from 24 November 1964.
David Mabbs
Harrow, 21 November 1964
P.S. – Please – no more tempting circulars!’
In Linares on 10 March 2005 Kasparov’s declaration of retirement from professional chess was far more of a bomba, and, unlike Mr Mabbs, he will certainly receive many a tempting offer to recant his decision. For now, though, he goes down in history among those world champions whose careers ended on a sombre note, i.e. all of them.
After enjoying a decade and a half of pugnacious pre-eminence, Kasparov lost a matchlet to Kramnik in Hammersmith, London in 2000 through atypically listless play, after which his supporters, and then others, took to describing him not as ‘the former world champion’ but, on account of his rating, as ‘the world’s number one player’. It was an Elo-inspired variation of the description of Capablanca on the title page of the US edition of his 1935 book A Primer of Chess: ‘World’s foremost chess expert’.
In the late 1990s FIDE was favouring rapid play, knock-out tournaments, mini-champions and, more generally, whatever flew in the face of chess tradition. In the meantime, the top masters were left to their own devices. At first they indulged in tractations about a new world championship cycle, with each potential contender seeing any anticipated personal benefit as a birthright and any putative personal disadvantage as an affront. But was it all really necessary? If a direct re-match had been organized between Kramnik and Kasparov, without any qualification system, the other leading lights would, of course, have complained long and hard, yet Kasparov’s status was incomparable and anno Domini was becoming a factor.
Qualifying matches were projected, announced and abandoned, but in May 2002, 18 months after the Hammersmith débâcle, the seemingly impossible was achieved in Prague with the thrashing-out and signing of a Resolution ‘on the Unification of the Chess World’. Although a compromise which fell short of Yasser Seirawan’s original proposal, it became the only realistic prospect of bringing about a match for the undisputed world championship.
Throughout that process, steered by Seirawan, Kasparov conducted himself better than most and better than usual. All the signatories undertook to ‘do their utmost to achieve the unification of the Chess World’, but ‘utmost’ is an undefinable word. More qualifying matches were projected, announced and abandoned, and when the Resolution eventually wilted away into limbo Kasparov was the most aggrieved party. Some of his detractors no doubt viewed this as his come-uppance, and it could indeed be regarded as the culmination of events which he himself had set in train during the nadir of his chess career, i.e. the break-away from FIDE in 1993. That episode, which has caused world championship bedlam for a dozen years, was seen as an obvious calamity by any level-headed observer at the time. To Kasparov, however, the reality did not sink in until much later: on page 13 of the 2/1999 New in Chess he described the founding of the PCA in 1993 as his biggest mistake of all.
A pattern can be discerned which takes us to the heart of how Kasparov’s off-the-board career went off the rails and how his personal reputation slumped from unparalleled heights. Until the mid-1980s he was widely regarded as the unimpeachable golden boy of chess, the fresh newcomer/victim/anti-Communist who stood in such stark, attractive contrast to Karpov. Increasing shifts of opinion against Kasparov were detectable from 1985 onwards, but it was not until 1987, and the publication of his autobiography Child of Change, a deeply untrustworthy shambles, that the real deterioration in his public standing began. Kasparov failed to realize that if a book of his repeatedly made statements which did not add up, including vicious scatter-gun attacks, readers would notice and some of them would even say so publicly. For him, however, this was another epiphany which came far too late. (On page 49 of the 1/1990 New in Chess he acknowledged what all but the oiliest sycophant had recognized since the year of the book’s publication: ‘I deserved the critical reception of Child of Change.’)
In the above-mentioned 1999 issue of New in Chess Kasparov added that he had made ‘so many mistakes’ and that ‘many things went wrong, both in business and in chess’. Such breast-beating, a rarity for a chessmaster with a jumbo ego, prompts a simple question: why has he been so prone to making so many mistakes that were so easily identifiable and avoidable? The explanation, we believe, is a fil rouge through his chess career: singularly poor personal judgment (aggravated by hot-headedness) which not only causes gaffes of all kinds but also makes him incapable of selecting an appropriate entourage to help protect him against recurrences. Nobody was there to persuade him in 1993 that his urge to abandon FIDE would occasion almost universal condemnation. Nobody convinced him in 1986-87 that publication of Child of Change was an insult to the intelligence of any reader and would, sooner or later, do untold harm to his own reputation. Nobody ensured that he steered clear of cheap literary associations with can’t-learn-won’t-learn writers. Nobody has made him see, even today, that his moribund ‘chesschamps’ website, about which he was formerly so enthusiastic, would be unworthy of a junior fan, let alone a figure of his standing. The Predecessors series is a further example of how Kasparov’s passion for truth and the highest standards at the chess board has difficulty in spreading elsewhere. Before volume two had even been published he was showing (limited) contrition over what had gone so badly wrong with volume one and how amends might be made in a revised edition. But why did he receive no proper counsel on that high-profile project before anything at all was published?
Whereas Fischer, even during his periods of relative mental steadiness, viewed attempts to befriend or assist him with narrow-eyed paranoia, Kasparov’s failure has been at the opposite extreme and has, down the years, enabled some spectacularly unsuitable individuals to work their way in as neo-associates and pseudo-friends. A master with Kasparov’s star quality and marketability inevitably has to endure many opportunistic approaches from those wanting a seat in the inner circle, and, in his own interests, he should have obstructed each new arrival on the threshold with an inquisition which began: ‘Halt. Who goes there? Friend or leech?’
Who, if anyone, gave Kasparov helpful advice over his wish to abandon professional chess is impossible to know. There will be a widespread yearning for him to resume, one day, a chess career of some kind, for it seems improper and unwarranted that lovers of the game, and not least in future generations, should be denied any brilliancies by him bearing a date later than 2005. It must be hoped that, at a moment of his own choosing and properly advised, this chess genius but deeply flawed man will revoke a retirement announcement which – in terms of his age, at least – is the equivalent of Emanuel Lasker folding up his board in 1910.
‘I announce my retirement from chess.’ That laconic would-be bombshell somehow failed to jounce the chess world off its axis when published, under the heading ‘Flamboyant Exit’, on page 107 of CHESS, 4 December 1964. The full text of the letter to the editor is given below:
‘I announce my retirement from chess, as from 24 November 1964.
David Mabbs
Harrow, 21 November 1964
P.S. – Please – no more tempting circulars!’
In Linares on 10 March 2005 Kasparov’s declaration of retirement from professional chess was far more of a bomba, and, unlike Mr Mabbs, he will certainly receive many a tempting offer to recant his decision. For now, though, he goes down in history among those world champions whose careers ended on a sombre note, i.e. all of them.
After enjoying a decade and a half of pugnacious pre-eminence, Kasparov lost a matchlet to Kramnik in Hammersmith, London in 2000 through atypically listless play, after which his supporters, and then others, took to describing him not as ‘the former world champion’ but, on account of his rating, as ‘the world’s number one player’. It was an Elo-inspired variation of the description of Capablanca on the title page of the US edition of his 1935 book A Primer of Chess: ‘World’s foremost chess expert’.
In the late 1990s FIDE was favouring rapid play, knock-out tournaments, mini-champions and, more generally, whatever flew in the face of chess tradition. In the meantime, the top masters were left to their own devices. At first they indulged in tractations about a new world championship cycle, with each potential contender seeing any anticipated personal benefit as a birthright and any putative personal disadvantage as an affront. But was it all really necessary? If a direct re-match had been organized between Kramnik and Kasparov, without any qualification system, the other leading lights would, of course, have complained long and hard, yet Kasparov’s status was incomparable and anno Domini was becoming a factor.
Qualifying matches were projected, announced and abandoned, but in May 2002, 18 months after the Hammersmith débâcle, the seemingly impossible was achieved in Prague with the thrashing-out and signing of a Resolution ‘on the Unification of the Chess World’. Although a compromise which fell short of Yasser Seirawan’s original proposal, it became the only realistic prospect of bringing about a match for the undisputed world championship.
Throughout that process, steered by Seirawan, Kasparov conducted himself better than most and better than usual. All the signatories undertook to ‘do their utmost to achieve the unification of the Chess World’, but ‘utmost’ is an undefinable word. More qualifying matches were projected, announced and abandoned, and when the Resolution eventually wilted away into limbo Kasparov was the most aggrieved party. Some of his detractors no doubt viewed this as his come-uppance, and it could indeed be regarded as the culmination of events which he himself had set in train during the nadir of his chess career, i.e. the break-away from FIDE in 1993. That episode, which has caused world championship bedlam for a dozen years, was seen as an obvious calamity by any level-headed observer at the time. To Kasparov, however, the reality did not sink in until much later: on page 13 of the 2/1999 New in Chess he described the founding of the PCA in 1993 as his biggest mistake of all.
A pattern can be discerned which takes us to the heart of how Kasparov’s off-the-board career went off the rails and how his personal reputation slumped from unparalleled heights. Until the mid-1980s he was widely regarded as the unimpeachable golden boy of chess, the fresh newcomer/victim/anti-Communist who stood in such stark, attractive contrast to Karpov. Increasing shifts of opinion against Kasparov were detectable from 1985 onwards, but it was not until 1987, and the publication of his autobiography Child of Change, a deeply untrustworthy shambles, that the real deterioration in his public standing began. Kasparov failed to realize that if a book of his repeatedly made statements which did not add up, including vicious scatter-gun attacks, readers would notice and some of them would even say so publicly. For him, however, this was another epiphany which came far too late. (On page 49 of the 1/1990 New in Chess he acknowledged what all but the oiliest sycophant had recognized since the year of the book’s publication: ‘I deserved the critical reception of Child of Change.’)
In the above-mentioned 1999 issue of New in Chess Kasparov added that he had made ‘so many mistakes’ and that ‘many things went wrong, both in business and in chess’. Such breast-beating, a rarity for a chessmaster with a jumbo ego, prompts a simple question: why has he been so prone to making so many mistakes that were so easily identifiable and avoidable? The explanation, we believe, is a fil rouge through his chess career: singularly poor personal judgment (aggravated by hot-headedness) which not only causes gaffes of all kinds but also makes him incapable of selecting an appropriate entourage to help protect him against recurrences. Nobody was there to persuade him in 1993 that his urge to abandon FIDE would occasion almost universal condemnation. Nobody convinced him in 1986-87 that publication of Child of Change was an insult to the intelligence of any reader and would, sooner or later, do untold harm to his own reputation. Nobody ensured that he steered clear of cheap literary associations with can’t-learn-won’t-learn writers. Nobody has made him see, even today, that his moribund ‘chesschamps’ website, about which he was formerly so enthusiastic, would be unworthy of a junior fan, let alone a figure of his standing. The Predecessors series is a further example of how Kasparov’s passion for truth and the highest standards at the chess board has difficulty in spreading elsewhere. Before volume two had even been published he was showing (limited) contrition over what had gone so badly wrong with volume one and how amends might be made in a revised edition. But why did he receive no proper counsel on that high-profile project before anything at all was published?
Whereas Fischer, even during his periods of relative mental steadiness, viewed attempts to befriend or assist him with narrow-eyed paranoia, Kasparov’s failure has been at the opposite extreme and has, down the years, enabled some spectacularly unsuitable individuals to work their way in as neo-associates and pseudo-friends. A master with Kasparov’s star quality and marketability inevitably has to endure many opportunistic approaches from those wanting a seat in the inner circle, and, in his own interests, he should have obstructed each new arrival on the threshold with an inquisition which began: ‘Halt. Who goes there? Friend or leech?’
Who, if anyone, gave Kasparov helpful advice over his wish to abandon professional chess is impossible to know. There will be a widespread yearning for him to resume, one day, a chess career of some kind, for it seems improper and unwarranted that lovers of the game, and not least in future generations, should be denied any brilliancies by him bearing a date later than 2005. It must be hoped that, at a moment of his own choosing and properly advised, this chess genius but deeply flawed man will revoke a retirement announcement which – in terms of his age, at least – is the equivalent of Emanuel Lasker folding up his board in 1910.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Chess politics 2010
Champions’ Indian summer by super GM Bareev
“Kasparov and Karpov are playing another game, this time a political one.”
by GM Evgeny Bareev
May 28, 2010
Subjective speculations on a strange Kasparov-Karpov tandem
Kasparov and Karpov are playing another game, this time a political one.
Author: Evgeny Bareev – IGM, gold medalist of four chess Olympiads with the Russian team (1990, 1994, 1996, 1998), two World Championships (1997, 2005) and two European Championships (1992, 2003).
Latest scandalous events surrounding the Russian Chess Federation (namely a desperate effort of two Russian chess legends Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, together with the Chairman of the RCF Board Alexander Bakh who joined them, to succeed in getting the news of Karpov’s nomination as Russia’s candidate to the position of the FIDE President, violating the Statutes of the organisation) made me think, why even the very idea of the joint management of the world chess movement by a tandem of the 12th and 13th World Champions seems to me a catastrophe for chess of the same scale as a Mexican bay fire for mankind.
During my entire professional chess career I have been a witness of a furious battle of Karpov - Kasparov against each other – both at the chess board, and around it – for the influence in various organisations and chess players’ unions and for various privileges. This fight always ended in eventual destruction of these organisations or receiving these privileges by depriving the rest of chess players of them. I would remind you in chronological order some episodes of the quasi-chess activities or actions of the Champions. and
1992. GMA (International Grandmaster Association) created on Kasparov’s initiative is split due to a implacable conflict of the 13th World Champion and his managers with the other members of the Association because of the GMA finances. According to the explanation given to me then by Karpov (I just qualified for my first World Cup organised by GMA, and was sad to receive an official notice that it stopped its existence), the team of Kasparov and himself demanded unrealistic salaries and stipends. Bessel Kok, the then CEO and one of the top managers of the Association’s Sponsor SWIFT, did not concede to this pressure and soon this young and aspiring organisation finished its existence.
1993. Kasparov refuses to play a match against Short for the title under the FIDE aegis, not wishing to give to them a small part of the prize fund according to the Statutes, and creates a new organisation – PCA (Association of Professional Chess players), under which he plays this match without any deductions. As a result for the following 15 years chess world is sinking into chaos. I’d like to note that Karpov immediately took advantage of the situation to his favour and having won the match against Timman, was announced again FIDE World Champion. Both Karpov and Timman before this lost their candidates’ matches to Short and disqualified from the race for the world chess crown.
1994. FIDE Presidential elections in Moscow. Unexpectedly for many the sportsmen exchanged their T-shirts. Karpov supported Kouatly as a candidate, and Kasparov – no matter how weird it would seem to you – his worst enemy – Florencio Campomanes, famous for stopping the “unlimited battle” Karpov-Kasparov of 1984-1985 with a score 5-3 in Karpov’s favour and publicly accused of defending the interests of the opponent. First vote is a tie! The next day Kasparov’s team won convincingly. I recall seeing Kasparov up to now, who during the summer of the same year at the Novgorod tournament was dreamingly mumbling “Khoper, Khoper”, rubbing his hands. This was the first time I heard this strange word from him. Then it turned out that this “organisation” is a financial pyramid, which deceived dozens thousands of people in the whole country – and which was a generous sponsor of those FIDE Presidential elections.
1995. Karpov wins a convincing revanche. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov makes his first entry to a chess stage and at the extraordinary FIDE Congress immediately becomes President. With Karpov behind it. The mother of the 13th World champion was most upset by the fact that prior to that Ilyumzhinov was eating soup in her kitchen and did not share his plans with them. She promised not to ever invite him for lunch.
The same year Kasparov wins in World Trade Center in New York his match over Anand under PCA version, which he and Short created after they left FIDE. As it turned out, this was the last official event under the PCA aegis. Since the moment of Ilyumzhinov’s election as FIDE President Kasparov refuses to play in the tournaments under FIDE aegis, stating that Ilyumzhinov organises his championships for “dirty money”.
Approximately around the same time the battle at the “Eastern front” is becoming more agitated: Karpov and Kasparov are clashing over the control in the Russian Chess Federation, and in reality – as it seems – just for the right to manage the Central chess club on Gogolevsky blvd. This time in an exhausting struggle, after long legal suits the 13th World champion and his team won. Immediately after this moment the legendary club was let to various private companies, having nothing to do with chess. It is a mystery for me personally, where the money from these leases went. As GM S. Dolmatov was saying at that time, these years “the RCF budget was of a totally closed character. I as a Grandmaster, was not aware how and what money the RCF was making and how it spends it”. Dolmatov meant first of all the Chess Club and was demanding to organise a “comprehensive” inspection of it, saying that “there are some dirty games going on behind our backs”.
1996. Elista is staging a World Championship title match between Karpov and Kamsky with the prize fund being provided by the President of Kalmykia. Karpov convincingly wins and Kamsky, declaring that Karpov and Kasparov will never allow him become World Champion, leaves chess for nearly a decade.
Kasparov plays a commercial match against Deep Blue, sponsored by IBM. Intel, an opponent of IBM, who has been sponsoring PCA for three years and spent during this period more than five million USD, immediately calls off future cooperation and leaves chess, which causes the collapse of Kasparov’s organisation. One year later, having lost another match to the same computer, Deep Blue, Great and Terrible, as admirers, followers and true friends of Kasparov call him, publicly and harshly accuses IBM in unfair play, and as a consequence, chess loses another large sponsor.
1997. First knockout World championship was organised. Ilyumzhinov thanked Karpov for his Presidency by a unique format – after winning six most difficult mini-matches, Anand – the current World Champion- in a few days- met Karpov for a six-game so-called final, where Karpov has been resting for a month preparing for the forthcoming event. So, it was not a surprise when exhausted Anand lost the tie-break. Karpov became a knockout “World Champion”.
1999. Second World knockout Championship is organised in Las Vegas. This time the negotiations with FIDE have not brought a desirable result and the Champion has to defend his title from the second round. Karpov is indignant and sues FIDE. Besides, after having refused to participate, in the US he is trying all his resorts to cancel the 3 million USD prize fund event, writing to the Nevada Governor a request to do it. Having learnt about it, chess players were very angry, and a German GM Lobron was chasing Karpov during a Dortmund tournament (Lobron has drank too much) with the aim to inflict light bodily damage.
The result of a conciliatory encounter of Ilyumzhinov and Karpov was his withdrawal of his suit. We can only guess the reason which made a principled person give up his claims.
2000. Kasparov, who has not defended his World Championship title for five years, finally picks up his challenger – Vladimir Kramnik. Before this, due to various reasons, including financial ones, two matches for the titles fell through – against Shirov and Anand. Kasparov loses the match in all aspects and violating the contract signed by both participants before the match, immediately demands the revenge. We should remind you here that in the mid-80s, as a result of some serious struggle, he managed to cancel such matches, as Karpov was a stickler of the revanche.
2001. M. Botvinnik Memorial in Moscow. Kasparov, Kramnik and Karpov in a match-tournament. Shortly before the start, after reaching the agreements with the organisers of this event which had aspirations to become historical, Karpov “suddenly” refused to play and preferred due to some reasons which we can only guess about, the knockout World Championship, “incidentally” organised by FIDE during the same dates in the same city. In the first very round he lost to a Chinese player, who was not well-known. This is the end of the brilliant chess career of Karpov.
2002. Ukrainian R. Ponomarjov becomes FIDE World Champion. Kasparov, as it seems, is trying a campaign of public lauding of Ilyumzhinov’s virtues with the aim of returning the World Championship title by any means. They say that at the Bled Chess Olympiad, having his turn for a move, but just seeing Ilyumzhinov in the playing hall, Kasparov rushed to hug and kiss him under the approving roar of the audience. The same year Kasparov in fact started a campaign against Ilyumzhinov’s “chase” by media, praising the achievements of the latter in his capacity as Kalmykia’s state figure and a unique world chess leader. “Kommersant” newspaper wrote: “ The most expensive present was handed to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov by a chess player Garry Kasparov – his assurances in sincere friendship and his support of all the initiatives as FIDE President, and recognition of his being wrong in the past”. Quote from “Moskovsky Komsomolets”: “Kasparov underlined that now they are connected by business and commercial relations, which sometimes are stronger than friendly ties”.
The result of these in my opinion, humiliating speeches of Kasparov was the famous Prague Agreement and the right for a FIDE World championship title without any sporting qualification, which actually was canceled the last moment. Ponomariov refused to play the match due to very strong pressure from Kasparov himself and a number of FIDE officials. Karpov at that period was accusing Kasparov in destructive activity: “Kasparov has made many mistakes. The situation in FIDE and the fact that the former harmonious World Chess Championship system is now turned into something incomprehensible – this is the result of Kasparov’s intrigues and activity”. Then chess circles had the following ironical saying: “President of FIDE and Kalmykia now has only clean banknotes. So Kasparov can play for them with his conscience being clear”.
2004. After Kasimdzhanov becomes new World knockout Champion, Kasparov of course receives a right to play a match for the title against him. Ilyumzhinov refused to personally provide the prize fund, and Kasparov failed to attract other sponsors. Years of public humiliation were wasted, he did not managed to return his title, and Kasparov again joins Ilyumzhinov’s opposition.
2005. Kasparov announces that his chess career is over.
2006. Karpov declares that he is going to run for the FIDE Presidency. As a result of a personal meeting Iyumzhinov succeeds to find solid arguments, and Karpov gives this idea up.
2006–2009. Happy years for chess. Several matches for the title were played. Chess world is unified. The number of top tournament increases alongside with earnings of professional chess players.
2007. Karpov as a member of the Public Chamber, brings the 64-Chess Review magazine to Kasparov in his detention cell. He was not allowed to see Kasparov, and he passes his small present through the mother of Kasparov – Klara. Historical reconciliation of earlier implacable opponents takes place.
2009. Karpov-Kasparov rapid chess match in Valencia. The announced series of similar matches does not take place due to the absence of interest in the world to their creative and sportive components.
2010. Karpov declares that he is intending to run for the FIDE President’s position with the objective of “saving chess which are in the deepest crisis”. Kasparov immediately renders him informational and moral support, trying to secure votes in a number of Western countries and the USA.
Of course, this is just a fraction of the events which have been taking place during these years with participation of Karpov and Kasparov. But even a quick glance is enough to understand that if destructive energy of two pupils of the Soviet chess school is united in one position – FIDE President, then chess players will have difficult times ahead of them. I do believe that this shall not happen.
Nezavisimaia gazeta ©
27.05.2010: http://www.ng.ru/regions/2010-05-27/5_champions.html
“Kasparov and Karpov are playing another game, this time a political one.”
by GM Evgeny Bareev
May 28, 2010
Subjective speculations on a strange Kasparov-Karpov tandem
Kasparov and Karpov are playing another game, this time a political one.
Author: Evgeny Bareev – IGM, gold medalist of four chess Olympiads with the Russian team (1990, 1994, 1996, 1998), two World Championships (1997, 2005) and two European Championships (1992, 2003).
Latest scandalous events surrounding the Russian Chess Federation (namely a desperate effort of two Russian chess legends Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, together with the Chairman of the RCF Board Alexander Bakh who joined them, to succeed in getting the news of Karpov’s nomination as Russia’s candidate to the position of the FIDE President, violating the Statutes of the organisation) made me think, why even the very idea of the joint management of the world chess movement by a tandem of the 12th and 13th World Champions seems to me a catastrophe for chess of the same scale as a Mexican bay fire for mankind.
During my entire professional chess career I have been a witness of a furious battle of Karpov - Kasparov against each other – both at the chess board, and around it – for the influence in various organisations and chess players’ unions and for various privileges. This fight always ended in eventual destruction of these organisations or receiving these privileges by depriving the rest of chess players of them. I would remind you in chronological order some episodes of the quasi-chess activities or actions of the Champions. and
1992. GMA (International Grandmaster Association) created on Kasparov’s initiative is split due to a implacable conflict of the 13th World Champion and his managers with the other members of the Association because of the GMA finances. According to the explanation given to me then by Karpov (I just qualified for my first World Cup organised by GMA, and was sad to receive an official notice that it stopped its existence), the team of Kasparov and himself demanded unrealistic salaries and stipends. Bessel Kok, the then CEO and one of the top managers of the Association’s Sponsor SWIFT, did not concede to this pressure and soon this young and aspiring organisation finished its existence.
1993. Kasparov refuses to play a match against Short for the title under the FIDE aegis, not wishing to give to them a small part of the prize fund according to the Statutes, and creates a new organisation – PCA (Association of Professional Chess players), under which he plays this match without any deductions. As a result for the following 15 years chess world is sinking into chaos. I’d like to note that Karpov immediately took advantage of the situation to his favour and having won the match against Timman, was announced again FIDE World Champion. Both Karpov and Timman before this lost their candidates’ matches to Short and disqualified from the race for the world chess crown.
1994. FIDE Presidential elections in Moscow. Unexpectedly for many the sportsmen exchanged their T-shirts. Karpov supported Kouatly as a candidate, and Kasparov – no matter how weird it would seem to you – his worst enemy – Florencio Campomanes, famous for stopping the “unlimited battle” Karpov-Kasparov of 1984-1985 with a score 5-3 in Karpov’s favour and publicly accused of defending the interests of the opponent. First vote is a tie! The next day Kasparov’s team won convincingly. I recall seeing Kasparov up to now, who during the summer of the same year at the Novgorod tournament was dreamingly mumbling “Khoper, Khoper”, rubbing his hands. This was the first time I heard this strange word from him. Then it turned out that this “organisation” is a financial pyramid, which deceived dozens thousands of people in the whole country – and which was a generous sponsor of those FIDE Presidential elections.
1995. Karpov wins a convincing revanche. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov makes his first entry to a chess stage and at the extraordinary FIDE Congress immediately becomes President. With Karpov behind it. The mother of the 13th World champion was most upset by the fact that prior to that Ilyumzhinov was eating soup in her kitchen and did not share his plans with them. She promised not to ever invite him for lunch.
The same year Kasparov wins in World Trade Center in New York his match over Anand under PCA version, which he and Short created after they left FIDE. As it turned out, this was the last official event under the PCA aegis. Since the moment of Ilyumzhinov’s election as FIDE President Kasparov refuses to play in the tournaments under FIDE aegis, stating that Ilyumzhinov organises his championships for “dirty money”.
Approximately around the same time the battle at the “Eastern front” is becoming more agitated: Karpov and Kasparov are clashing over the control in the Russian Chess Federation, and in reality – as it seems – just for the right to manage the Central chess club on Gogolevsky blvd. This time in an exhausting struggle, after long legal suits the 13th World champion and his team won. Immediately after this moment the legendary club was let to various private companies, having nothing to do with chess. It is a mystery for me personally, where the money from these leases went. As GM S. Dolmatov was saying at that time, these years “the RCF budget was of a totally closed character. I as a Grandmaster, was not aware how and what money the RCF was making and how it spends it”. Dolmatov meant first of all the Chess Club and was demanding to organise a “comprehensive” inspection of it, saying that “there are some dirty games going on behind our backs”.
1996. Elista is staging a World Championship title match between Karpov and Kamsky with the prize fund being provided by the President of Kalmykia. Karpov convincingly wins and Kamsky, declaring that Karpov and Kasparov will never allow him become World Champion, leaves chess for nearly a decade.
Kasparov plays a commercial match against Deep Blue, sponsored by IBM. Intel, an opponent of IBM, who has been sponsoring PCA for three years and spent during this period more than five million USD, immediately calls off future cooperation and leaves chess, which causes the collapse of Kasparov’s organisation. One year later, having lost another match to the same computer, Deep Blue, Great and Terrible, as admirers, followers and true friends of Kasparov call him, publicly and harshly accuses IBM in unfair play, and as a consequence, chess loses another large sponsor.
1997. First knockout World championship was organised. Ilyumzhinov thanked Karpov for his Presidency by a unique format – after winning six most difficult mini-matches, Anand – the current World Champion- in a few days- met Karpov for a six-game so-called final, where Karpov has been resting for a month preparing for the forthcoming event. So, it was not a surprise when exhausted Anand lost the tie-break. Karpov became a knockout “World Champion”.
1999. Second World knockout Championship is organised in Las Vegas. This time the negotiations with FIDE have not brought a desirable result and the Champion has to defend his title from the second round. Karpov is indignant and sues FIDE. Besides, after having refused to participate, in the US he is trying all his resorts to cancel the 3 million USD prize fund event, writing to the Nevada Governor a request to do it. Having learnt about it, chess players were very angry, and a German GM Lobron was chasing Karpov during a Dortmund tournament (Lobron has drank too much) with the aim to inflict light bodily damage.
The result of a conciliatory encounter of Ilyumzhinov and Karpov was his withdrawal of his suit. We can only guess the reason which made a principled person give up his claims.
2000. Kasparov, who has not defended his World Championship title for five years, finally picks up his challenger – Vladimir Kramnik. Before this, due to various reasons, including financial ones, two matches for the titles fell through – against Shirov and Anand. Kasparov loses the match in all aspects and violating the contract signed by both participants before the match, immediately demands the revenge. We should remind you here that in the mid-80s, as a result of some serious struggle, he managed to cancel such matches, as Karpov was a stickler of the revanche.
2001. M. Botvinnik Memorial in Moscow. Kasparov, Kramnik and Karpov in a match-tournament. Shortly before the start, after reaching the agreements with the organisers of this event which had aspirations to become historical, Karpov “suddenly” refused to play and preferred due to some reasons which we can only guess about, the knockout World Championship, “incidentally” organised by FIDE during the same dates in the same city. In the first very round he lost to a Chinese player, who was not well-known. This is the end of the brilliant chess career of Karpov.
2002. Ukrainian R. Ponomarjov becomes FIDE World Champion. Kasparov, as it seems, is trying a campaign of public lauding of Ilyumzhinov’s virtues with the aim of returning the World Championship title by any means. They say that at the Bled Chess Olympiad, having his turn for a move, but just seeing Ilyumzhinov in the playing hall, Kasparov rushed to hug and kiss him under the approving roar of the audience. The same year Kasparov in fact started a campaign against Ilyumzhinov’s “chase” by media, praising the achievements of the latter in his capacity as Kalmykia’s state figure and a unique world chess leader. “Kommersant” newspaper wrote: “ The most expensive present was handed to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov by a chess player Garry Kasparov – his assurances in sincere friendship and his support of all the initiatives as FIDE President, and recognition of his being wrong in the past”. Quote from “Moskovsky Komsomolets”: “Kasparov underlined that now they are connected by business and commercial relations, which sometimes are stronger than friendly ties”.
The result of these in my opinion, humiliating speeches of Kasparov was the famous Prague Agreement and the right for a FIDE World championship title without any sporting qualification, which actually was canceled the last moment. Ponomariov refused to play the match due to very strong pressure from Kasparov himself and a number of FIDE officials. Karpov at that period was accusing Kasparov in destructive activity: “Kasparov has made many mistakes. The situation in FIDE and the fact that the former harmonious World Chess Championship system is now turned into something incomprehensible – this is the result of Kasparov’s intrigues and activity”. Then chess circles had the following ironical saying: “President of FIDE and Kalmykia now has only clean banknotes. So Kasparov can play for them with his conscience being clear”.
2004. After Kasimdzhanov becomes new World knockout Champion, Kasparov of course receives a right to play a match for the title against him. Ilyumzhinov refused to personally provide the prize fund, and Kasparov failed to attract other sponsors. Years of public humiliation were wasted, he did not managed to return his title, and Kasparov again joins Ilyumzhinov’s opposition.
2005. Kasparov announces that his chess career is over.
2006. Karpov declares that he is going to run for the FIDE Presidency. As a result of a personal meeting Iyumzhinov succeeds to find solid arguments, and Karpov gives this idea up.
2006–2009. Happy years for chess. Several matches for the title were played. Chess world is unified. The number of top tournament increases alongside with earnings of professional chess players.
2007. Karpov as a member of the Public Chamber, brings the 64-Chess Review magazine to Kasparov in his detention cell. He was not allowed to see Kasparov, and he passes his small present through the mother of Kasparov – Klara. Historical reconciliation of earlier implacable opponents takes place.
2009. Karpov-Kasparov rapid chess match in Valencia. The announced series of similar matches does not take place due to the absence of interest in the world to their creative and sportive components.
2010. Karpov declares that he is intending to run for the FIDE President’s position with the objective of “saving chess which are in the deepest crisis”. Kasparov immediately renders him informational and moral support, trying to secure votes in a number of Western countries and the USA.
Of course, this is just a fraction of the events which have been taking place during these years with participation of Karpov and Kasparov. But even a quick glance is enough to understand that if destructive energy of two pupils of the Soviet chess school is united in one position – FIDE President, then chess players will have difficult times ahead of them. I do believe that this shall not happen.
Nezavisimaia gazeta ©
27.05.2010: http://www.ng.ru/regions/2010-05-27/5_champions.html
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