The veteran’s comeback coincides with the relaunch of his Kasparovchess website, aimed at ambitious and improving players and where the legend’s efforts to regain his old spark in St Louis can be watched on Friday evening.įide’s 150-nation online Olympiad is heading for its climax this week as 40 teams battled in four all-play-all groups from which the top two qualify for next week’s quarter-finals. There was just the ninth and final round, where he was due to meet France’s world No 10 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, still to come late on Friday night.
The 13th world champion capped a fine night with a sixth-round draw against the world No 2, Fabiano Caruana, then continued where he left off in round seven on Friday evening with a sparkling 24-move victory with the black pieces against his training partner and eight-time Russian champion Peter Svidler.Īn early eighth-round draw by repeated position against the five-time US champion Hikaru Nakamura put Kasparov at least temporarily at the top of the table with 5/8. Kasparov’s fifth-round game reached a level ending in which he outwitted the world No 5, Levon Aronian, who is in process of transferring from Armenia to the US, and scored by delicate finessing with king, rook and g pawn against king, bishop and f pawn. In Thursday night’s fourth round he won in fine attacking style in 24 moves against the 2018 US champion, Sam Shankland. Unlike Zagreb, defeat did not derail Kasparov but inspired him to a cameo replay of his long ago legend. But in round three nemesis struck, again in the shape of Mamedyarov, who calmly gained material and was a safe two pawns up when Kasparov resigned. The former world champion opted for a cautious style with fixed pawn chains more reminiscent of his old foe Anatoly Karpov than of the sharp attacks that fans used to admire. It's all behind us, all the controversies, and what is left is the unique contribution of Robert James Fischer to the game of chess and I'm here to pay this tribute.It began promisingly for Kasparov as he drew his first game, and should have won the next against Wesley So, the unofficial world champion at this format who crushed Magnus Carlsen 13.5-2.5 two years ago in Oslo. We could feel that so many great hopes and expectations have been buried, without being realized. It's not for us to come up with hypothetical versions of alternative history, but it's still very sad. It was not only his peak, but it was one of the most glorious moments in the history of the game of chess. This is the country where Robert Fischer reached his peak.
“I can't help but thinking that this is the graveyard also for great, unfulfilled hopes, because so much could be achieved. The author of these lines had the honor (it really was!) to be present at the historic moment when Kasparov arrived in Selfoss, walked towards the grave, had some photos taken, and sat inside the small church for a while.īelow is the brief interview with Mr Kasparov - in it you will also see images from his visit to the new Bobby Fischer Center in Selfoss. At the same time Mr Kasparov would have the opportunity to meet several Presidents of Scandinavian chess federations, to try and convince them to vote for him at the upcoming FIDE Presidential elections.įor Kasparov, the visit to Fischer's grave was the most important event, and it was carefully planned to take place on March 9th - Fischer's birthday.
About half a year earlier he had invited the 13th World Champion to come to Iceland, to visit both Fischer's grave, and the Reykjavik Open. On Sunday, March 9th, 2014 the President of the Icelandic Chess Federation, Gunnar Björnsson, took Garry Kasparov to the small town of Selfoss, which is about 50 km east of Reykjavik. was there to witness the moment and for a brief interview with Mr Kasparov. It was a historic moment for chess: arguably the two greatest players of the game never met, and so they were never as close to each other. On the day Bobby Fischer would have celebrated his 71st birthday, Garry Kasparov paid a visit to his grave in Selfoss, Iceland.