Kasparov surprisingly lost to Piket in the KC Grand Prix final. Terra Ajedrez reports on various Kasparov scandals. Bobby Fischer refuses to pay his Florida property taxes. TWIC reports on a controversial new FIDE document. Pakistan revives the National Junior Championship. Women's chess is still neglected in India. Florencio Campomanes writes about
the difficulties of the chess life.
- Stephen Leary
El Pais
"The Ogre fell," Leontxo Garcia writes about Kasparov's loss to Piket in the KC Grand Prix final. Piket said Kasparov was not able to recover from the psychological blow of wasting a decisive advantage in the first game. In another article, Garcia writes of the controversial forfeiture of the computer program Deep Junior, which had been winning against Michael Adams before technical difficulties halted the game.
[In Spanish.]
Neglected World of Women's Chess
In India, there is a lack of opportunities for talented girls to achieve the grandmaster title.
Women's chess has come a long way, not because of a change in the system, but despite it.
"Today, an active Bhagyashree Thipsay represents the old order, the emergence of Koneru Humpy, Tania Sachdev and more recently Aarthie Ramaswamy, depicts the challenge posed by the new kids on the block."
National Junior Revived in Pakistan
After a lapse of 7 years, the Pakistan National Junior Chess Championship is underway in Karachi. Financial problems curtailed the event in recent years, but with the start of the new millennium it is being revived and hopefully will be held on a regular basis to groom a new breed of young players.
New Fischer Interview
In his 9th interview, Bobby Fischer announces that he will no longer pay taxes on his Florida property (in Tarpon Springs). I assume this means the Florida state government will eventually take possession of it. Fischer said he is doing this as a protest, and there is no sense in "throwing good money after bad" since his personal property was stolen before. An interviewer asked him about being named the "Chessplayer of the Millennium" in a German magazine. Fischer responded that the U.S. wants to make him the "Prisoner of the Millennium." Fischer complains that no other radio station wants to interview him live, without editing his words. Many of the usual inflammatory comments as in previous recent interviews.
KasparovChess.com
A new interview with Victor Korchnoi: "I think that the man who can take the crown from Kasparov has yet to be born." The website is launching a new program, "Searching for the future World Champion." Five promising youngsters have been assigned a GM trainer, and a unique program has been devised for each cadet.
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The Week In Chess
Mark Crowther says the top story this week isn't the forfeit of Deep Junior in the Kasparov
Chess Grand Prix. The real news is FIDE commercialisation. "Until I read the FIDE commercialisation document in detail today I didn't realise it, but the potential for a war between the top players (much of what they suggest seems especially aimed at Kasparov) and FIDE is there. Either that or FIDE are set to become a laughing stock as everyone ignores them. Neither situation can do the game any good at all." Also a recap of events which led to Deep Junior's forfeit.
Florencio Campomanes
In his Manila Times column, Campomanes writes that a chess career, be it as player, arbiter, promoter or organizer, is no bed of roses. It’s all tough work, plus a dash of inspiration and luck. "The best inspiration is to get to prove to oneself his excellence by exploiting his abilities to the limit."
Lubomir Kavalek
In his weekly column, Kavalek recaps the Kasparov Chess Grand Prix and annotates the
game Piket-Svidler. "Piket played the most exciting attacking game of the event against Svidler with many beautiful mating images hidden behind the actual moves."
Robert Byrne
In his weekly New York Times column, Byrne says that at Corus, the highest-rated players
took the top prizes. "Yet there are still grandmasters complaining that they are treated as a second tier and denied appearance fees, reimbursement for all expenses and the other usual prerogatives. They insist that they are on a par with the elite, but in competitions like the Corus, they usually take the lower places." Byrne analyses Anand-Nikolic.
Shelby Lyman
In his weekly column, Shelby describes Peter Leko as the man "nipping at the heels" of Kasparov. Leko is in frequent contact with Bobby Fischer, and exchanges ideas with him.
"It would be an ironic twist if this contact gives Leko the edge he needs to challenge Kasparov, who has publicly traded unflattering remarks with the American."
Terra Ajedrez
Garry Kasparov was expected to win his website's tournament but Jeroen Piket spoiled the
party. David Llada reports that the disqualification of Deep Junior "has raised the suspicions of the fans of the entire world" and recounts the details of how that happened. Llada notes other recent Kasparov controverises, such as his match versus the Rest of the World on the Internet which also ended in a scandal.
[In Spanish.]
Uganda Olympiad Qualifying Underway
The National Qualifiers are underway to decide who represents Uganda in the upcoming Olympiad.
Former Olympiad team players Steven Opio, Grace Nsubuga, Bob Bibasa, Kenneth Kakooza and Steven Kisuze have won their first two rounds.
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