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Okay, I know I was supposed to be taking a break from Kasparov items, but this is a good one. The NY Post reveals that Penguin books has won the bidding war for Garry Kasparov's next book project. The fee? How about half a million dollars! First off, it won't have any chess notation in it. It's called "How Life Imitates Chess" and is about, well, life's lessons from chess.
"Before I knew much about life, I understood chess," it begins — and then goes on to explain how advantage, initiative, opinion, threat and hope (among other ideas) influence both life and game.
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Crown and Simon & Schuster were the underbidders for the philosophical self-help tome. Kasparov's co-author, is Mark Reiter, who is also acting as agent. Reiter performed the same two services for Twyla Tharp's best-selling "The Creative Habit" last year.
I've perused the proposal and sample chapter, but I'm not the best person to comment. I'm sure there are many insights to be gleaned from a life of top-level chess, but this sort of forced authorial introspection is weird coming from someone you know. It's not really a self-help book, but it's not a memoir either. On the other hand, maybe he could write one on getting in touch with your inner child!
Okay, cheapo there. If this is as big a hit as they must expect considering the price tag, it could push Kasparov fully into the American mainstream. His regular Wall Stree Journal articles keep him visible, but his Q-rating still isn't that great, at least not for someone who was in a Pepsi Super Bowl commercial a few years ago. And if it's good enough for Twyla Tharp...
There's a fluffy little piece on Anand's current chess promotion tour in India. Most mainstream chess news coverage in English comes from India or the Philippines. Spanish and Latin American papers are also good. As for other languages, a Google news search in German turns up 76 hits for "Kramnik" right now and only 24 in English. That despite there being over six times as many English sources, although many of them are small, local US newspapers. US and UK papers feel that chess needs to be ghettoized with the classified adds or the comics instead of included in the sports pages. It's one thing (and a good thing) for the Olympics to rule us out again, but being dumped in with the crossword is humiliating.
Where was I? Oh yes, tennis. Anand joked about how his mother originally put him into a tennis program.
No doubt. I'm much more likely to be going to bed at 5am than getting up. Actually, I'm even more likely to be playing blitz online. We don't know what tennis lost by Anand's defection; certainly it was a coup for chess. Reminding me of the immortal line about Reuben Fine's retirement from the game: "a loss for chess, at best a draw for psychology".
Slipping in one more Kasparov item before the Kramnik-Leko match starts up again. GK just arrived in Turkey, where he will be playing in the Euro Club Championship starting next week. There is a brief item on his presence in a Turkish paper online.
When I talked to Kasparov today he said he was "in the middle of nowhere" 100 kilometers from the event site of Cesme. The Turks run these events on a for-profit basis, something that has brought them into conflict with the ACP on occasion. Kasparov called the energetic organizer and federation chief Ali Nihat Yazici "sort of a Turkish Bill Goichberg."
Kasparov arrived early to finally focus on chess and train for a few days after so much running around in the past few months. Last year in this event he started very strongly, winning four games in a row, several of them excellent, before blundering into the ugliest loss of his career against Huzman. That's what a combination of age and lack of practice will do to you. Kasparov hasn't played since June.
It was pretty informal, but I managed to get a few answers to your questions for Garry Kasparov. He dodged a few of the more complicated ones, but at least he was funny about it. Thanks for all your questions.
He considers Kramnik the favorite against Leko (game one was in its early stages at this point).
About Kramnik getting a rematch if he loses to Leko, Kasparov said, "It's none of my business. Probably Kramnik will think he should!"
Re if he would play in a qualifier if he loses to Kasimdzhanov or Kramnik/Leko, "That's too many "ifs" for FIDE."
Re if there will be rule changes in chess in the future. "I wouldn't rule it out. Many people are thinking about the openings." [Meaning things like balloted openings.]
Re getting his My Story videos on DVD, or continuing them: "There are no plans, but these ChessBase [Fritz Trainer] DVDs are a better format anyway. No interviewer, just speaking directly to the camera." For those who don't know, Kasparov is making a series of these with many of them already recorded. I think the first to be released is on the Najdorf.
Re who will be world champion in 2010. "A better question is how many champions will there be. And who will run such an event in 2010?"
Re Kamsky comeback: "He may fall short of Fischer's comeback! Who knows, it's up to him."
Re the last book he read: "Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, better, or more believable, than Da Vinci Code. And Jefferson's Second Revolution." Kasparov is a serious American history buff, btw.
Re are GMs over-reliant on computers these days: "Yes, but there's really no choice."
Re has his style of play changed in the last few years. "It evolves, but I'm not playing like Karpov yet!"
Re is there any particular child prodigy he is watching: "Not really watching, but probably Carlsen is the most promising."
Re playing Hydra. He'd heard of it, and said he is always willing to play a computer opponent. "To continue the experiment" is how he usually puts it.
Re 2004 Olympiad predictions (he's not playing): "Russia of course, India could surprise. Anand on board one changes everything, it's huge. The young Ukrainian team."
I asked him what he thought of Nakamura not being on the US men's team and he initially didn't want to comment. "They got us (the Kasparov Chess Foundation) to work with the women's team only!" Eventually he settled for "I'll just say it's strange to see a US team without Nakamura."
Re the current hierarchy: "The results speak for themselves. Obviously Anand has been in great form." He then went on to point out the irony of people complaining about his benefiting from the static FIDE rating system when he organized the development and the propagation of the more advanced and much more dynamic Thompson rating system (aka Professional list) a decade ago. Just two years ago he started the now-defunct World Chess Rating with the hopes of reforming the system.
Note the September 2004 Professional list below. It is much more dynamic, but still doesn't punish inactivity, so GK is still #1. That last number is an index of volatility. The lower the number, the more stable your rating.
1 Kasparov,Garry 13.04.1963 RUS 2764 137
2 Morozevich,Alexander 18.07.1977 RUS 2734 163
3 Anand,Viswanathan 11.12.1969 IND 2725 142
4 Topalov,Veselin 15.03.1975 BUL 2714 153
5 Kramnik,Vladimir 25.06.1975 RUS 2692 120
6 Polgar,Judit 23.07.1976 HUN 2690 161
7 Adams,Michael 17.11.1971 ENG 2687 143
8 Leko,Peter 08.09.1979 HUN 2680 130
9 Svidler,Peter 17.06.1976 RUS 2677 128
10 Shirov,Alexei 04.07.1972 ESP 2669 150
He blew off the New Chronology stuff and said he didn't want to discuss his political aspirations.
I've found something much better than ChessBase or Playchess.com for watching live games. Even the new ChessBase 9 coming out next week doesn't come close. It's watching games live with Garry Kasparov in the room making comments. Really, ChessBase needs to incorporate this feature. Watching game one of Kramnik-Leko at Playchess.com with Garry in the room is a great user experience. He's reasonably user friendly, his graphics aren't bad for 41, and his endgame evaluations are much better than Fritz's.
We had the game on in the background as Garry packed to leave New York for Turkey, where he'll play in the Euro Team Championship next week. Every once in a while he'd wander by the screen, work through a few lines in his head, render a verdict, and go back to packing. For the record, Kasparov pronounced Leko "dead meat" when he played 44.Qf4 instead of taking on g6. (Kramnik won with black, analysis and report coming at ChessBase.com.)
The tiny town of Brissago, Switzerland will be the center of the chess world for the next three weeks. It is already drawing the usual suspects of the chess world in like a black hole. Let's hope it doesn't suck like one. Oh yes, I forgot, I'm trying to be positive. It's going to be great. I mean, GREAT!
My partner in crime at ChessBase.com, Frederic Friedel, just arrived in Brissago and will be filing reports and photos. I'll be spectating and commenting on some of the games at Playchess.com and we can expect a host of GMs to be there too. They are really playing up the betting angle at the official match website. So we have smoking and gambling, all we need is some sex and booze and we'll really have a match!
Let's look back four years to the 2000 world championship match, where Kramnik took the title from Kasparov. Below is the transcript of the post-match press conference. Unfortunately, most of the questions were for the dethroned Kasparov, who hardly needs an invitation to talk, so we didn't hear much from the quiet new champion. It seemed odd to many of us in attendance (including Kasparov) that Kramnik didn't say anything to honor his victim's 15 years on top. But really he just didn't say much.
[Below is a transcript of the final press conference of the World Championship, held Sunday, November 5, 2000. Conditions for recording the conference, particularly the questions asked by the press, were not optimal. Several passages were lost or were sufficiently unclear that we did not want to risk misrepresenting someone and thus small sections have been stricken. Small omissions are indicated by ellipses (...). Corrections will be made if we acquire a better recording. We have limited the text to statements by the players.]
Q: There has been some speculation that you may be thinking about retiring. What can you say about that?
Kasparov: Absolutely not! (laughter) That statement has absolutely no substance. I am eager to hear from BrainGames about the next plans and I’m still very much in business. I will prove that it (the match) was a very unfortunate slip in my career. I’ll be starting from the Wijk aan Zee tournament in January next year.
Q: You said that there might be outside factors affecting your play…can you expand?
Kasparov: I don’t have any business outside of chess to complain about. The reasons were totally related to my preparation which went the wrong way, in face of superior and admirable preparation and play by the winner of this match and very good strategical decisions and actually in a good sense robbed me from positions that I play best, and actually the match went wrong from the very beginning. I just ran out of energy because I had to work ten hours a day to change the entire course of the opening strategy. I had many chances at the end but I missed them because I was very tired. Probably most of the mistakes were made in preparation last summer and also, one thing which was unfortunate for me, which I couldn’t anticipate, was the two games played on Saturday and Sunday and it’s very difficult to play the second game like this with white because you need more energy to win it, especially when your opening preparation is not yet sophisticated for the moment. I basically threw away three whites, in games 5, 9, and 13. And this had an effect on the match. But these things are all chess-related and most of these reasons are the product of very wise and smart preparation by Kramnik.
Q: Emotionally how does it feel to reach the top of the chess world and what is the secret to your invincibility?
Kramnik: Of course it’s been very very special for me. I knew I had good chances I knew I was well prepared, and especially at the end, I was pretty sure I was going to win or at least that the match was going my way… I feel happy that I achieved this goal... I know that now I have a lot of responsibilities and I need to play well.
Q: Vladimir, do you think this is the top of your career?
Kramnik: So far yes, but maybe I will have some even better achievements. So, we will see.
Q: (something about FIDE)
Kramnik: At the moment, I just want to enjoy these days of my life and I don’t want to get involved in any kind of chess politics, I just want to have a nice time and maybe in a month, two months, come back to this question, that way I can think and then maybe come up with something…I don’t really think it’s fair to ask me questions like that right now, because, right now I don’t really want to think about it at the moment.
Q: How do you think you played during the match? What was your quality of your chess, perhaps compared to other matches and other great achievements at the board in this match?
Kramnik: It’s not easy to say… it also depends very much on the opponent’s play and I think that the first half of the match I played very well in, but lack of experience stopped me from having an even bigger margin than I had ... The second part, my play was not so good as I would like it to be, but still I kept my defense possibilities… that’s sure….this is something I should work on, but I wasn’t satisfied with my play in the second half of the match.
Kasparov: I agree with that, that statement is correct, of course in the first half I think he played much better, determination and my experience helped me in games four and six so basically, otherwise by that time the margin would be much more in Vladimir’s favor…by game 8 if I had had enough strength and good ideas, I could have changed the course of the event …and suddenly, starting from game ten I got chances in games 12 and especially 14 it wasn’t up to Vladimir to save the game, but to me to win the games.
Q: About Kramnik playing a computer next year.
Kramnik: It depends on many things, I mean generally, I wouldn’t mind, but it’s an idea with many details to be discussed and important details so, I need to wait and discuss them.
Kasparov: I don’t plan to change my plans. I’ve already made certain commitments for charity events which, I’m not in the mood now, but I have to stand by word and so I have two events in New York to fulfill this month, charity events, and I want to continue my quest for bringing chess to the educational system. I hope that Vladimir will be able to help, it would be nice to have some support that I have not had from the chess world so far…I think it’s crucial to make chess popular in the classroom.
Q: If you have a rematch with Kramnik, what would you do differently this time?
Kasparov: I’ve always been willing to learn. Playing this match I understood I was a bit behind or different than his generation in approaching certain problems so I have to change my preparations and one of the problems before the match was that I won nearly every event I played in for the last few years and after winning so many events it’s very difficult to start making changes, you start to believe you are invincible so you just have to strengthen what you already have in your hands. So, I have already drawn certain conclusions and no matter when the next match is and what the next event is, I will incorporate these changes. It’s quite important, but since I believe our rivalry is just in the beginning, let me say more words in a few years’ time.
Q: After this win you are still behind Kasparov on the elo list. Is this a case of ‘primus inter pares”?
Kramnik: The only thing I can say is that I’ll just like to be first on the ratings also to prove that it wasn’t accidental because I’m completely sure it was not accidental.….I’ll just try to prove it and not just to prove I’m the best but to be a better player.
Q: ..it would be very hard for you to come back at this age, do you share that?
Kasparov: No. I can outcalculate anyone of the younger generation easily in any straight position. I had probably the best experience of my life working with chess this summer. I checked myself in certain positions and tests, and my vision of the board, my calculating ability, my energy level was very good. But, I recognize that I was behind in the development of chess. Maybe some people don’t like these new developments, maybe it’s a bit negative, it’s a new thing, it’s something that I have to learn, so if I could learn it, if I could make certain changes in my style. I had the best results of my life in the past two years and I’m very happy to hear that Vladimir is intending to became first on the rating lists and I’ll do my best to make sure that won’t happen for at least five years.
Q: John Levitt: Now that you’ve had a few days to come to terms with this, how do you feel about yourself and your motivation for chess? Has the pressure come off or has it increased?
Kasparov: Some pressure is off because it was very painful for me to play at the end of the match, missing one opportunity after another. The worst night, in fact, wasn’t after game fifteen, but after game fourteen. I mean, this position wasn’t for Kramnik to save, but for me to win…after this game, I wouldn’t say I was ruined, but I was not pleased. It was the most unpleasant night. I missed this rook maneuver and again I missed my chance, quite a good chance. And game twelve I could have played Rc8 and had good chances but I saw some things for white and made a bad decision. …I just made a bad move…so now …I’m looking towards the future so something happened, I made a mistake, I made many mistakes maybe, but I still have a future ahead of me. I’m thinking about Wijk aan Zee, I’m thinking about my preparation. I’m thinking about the next world championship cycle, how it will be organized. I want to hear from BrainGames what their plans are because I fell that I have a lot of energy and fresh ideas to challenge and take back the title and my goal will be to make his reign as short as possible.
Q: There was a lot of speculation about you shaking your head people were assuming that’s because you were disturbed or upset, it seemed to me it was more an attempt to shake into focus…can you comment on that?
Kasparov: When everybody’s thinking deep you may incorporate different pauses because I was thinking and I don’t care about the impression I make on the whole, so I could shake my head, I could look desperate, but still, my mind was working, so except for game 10, I was probably, in most cases, I was in control of what was happening on the board.
Q: Your preparation included a lot of things, including a lot of physical preparation, which you haven’t done much of before, could you comment on why you did it and what affect it had on your play and your stamina?
Kramnik: It’s clear I had some negative experiences about it. I’ve played in many tournaments where I did very well in the beginning and then at the end, in some critical games, but it was clear I needed just some physical training. For this strategy I used in this match you need to be able to sit there for six or seven hours at a time and in any position you feel cramped and I think I did well. I think I defended very well. I cannot agree with Garry game fourteen. I don’t think I was losing that game. The result was not accidental. The other thing, of course in the future my opponent will make some preparations and he is still a brilliant player, it’s clear.
Kasparov: Yes, I’d like to call on him to share with us his analysis of the final position [of game 14]. The only position that was not lost was the final position!
Q: Chess City: Do you feel optimistic that the World Championship is back on track?
Kasparov: I’ve always had a very strong sense of principle in my life, that since I dropped FIDE, the official organization that stamped your title, it’s been based on my tournament results, my hand…since 1997 I’ve been looking for an opportunity to play another match. In 1997, you know, we had a general agreement with Anatoly Karpov, the money was not there. In 1998, Alexei Shirov qualified through this two-phase cycle, short cycle by beating Vladimir - the money was not there to play Shirov. There was one offer but Shirov refused to play. In 1999, there was an agreement with Anand, the money was not there. So, for me, the lack of money indicated that the public had no interest in a sporting event…always Shirov’s accusations about me, you know,…don’t deserve any comment because BrainGames from day one wanted Vladimir and not Anand because they wanted the best challenger. And, I stood up by this decision because I believe my obligation as the World Champion is to play against the strongest and most dangerous opponent. That’s the only way to keep the succession, and now it’s in Vladimir’s hands. I believe whatever happens with the future plans of BrainGames, I hope he will stand by the same moral standards and whatever offer is going to be made it will be up to the honor of the World Champion will accept, because if not then we will lose the credibility and I hope that Vladimir will play under the same rules.
Kramnik: Well, actually, you know I’m a man of my word and I will always fulfill all my obligations and you can have confidence in my words. Well let’s just say we’ll see what BrainGames wants to do, if they want to do something new, then we’ll consider the possibility, and we’ll see. If they want to seek to do what they were planning to do before I’m ready to fulfill my obligations…once I promise to do something, then I do it.
Q: Is it possible that there could be rematch between the two of you?
Kramnik: I’m sorry I’m not very good at predictions. (laughter)
Kasparov: You know, if I knew that would happen I could have easily install a rematch clause in the contracts six months ago…I was always against the idea of the guaranteed right of the World Champion to play a rematch because it’s not for him to decide, but the public and whether it’s of interest. Now, my predictions are not as good, because very little depends on me, the future depends on BrainGames, on their decision on how to proceed, on their ability to raise money, on public interest, how the public would like to see a development of the World Championship cycle, and World Championship matches and the interest of sponsors, which really depends on the public interest, and, at the end of the day it is for the World Champion to decide if he wants to satisfy this interest. For me it was always a matter of honor, but this is for Vladimir to decide now.
Q: Who do you personally admire, both players? Who do you admire for their brain capacity?
Kasparov: Well, I don’t think this is really a question I should be answering. (laughter)
Kramnik: It’s a difficult question, I don’t think I can answer this right now.
Q: What exactly do you mean by the new style? You’ve never dominated Vladimir the way you have almost every other player. Why have you never done it?
Kasparov: You could see it in the games, if you’re a chess player. Obviously, it’s very pragmatic it’s very professional, …it’s a very good choice of openings, excluding extraordinary risks, we were on different paths for the past three years. Vladimir was building this repertoire, which prevented him from losing games, I was aiming for plus six, plus seven in other tournaments and you have to take more risks when you want good these results. So it worked in the tournaments, it didn’t work in the match. They’re two separate approaches, his proved to be superior today. It means that I have to learn… I’m only 37 and I believe there is always room for learning. I wouldn’t say I’m very happy to play this kind of chess, but when I had to beat Karpov, I had to go through this kind of academy by trying to play Karpov’s kind of chess in order to strengthen my own ability because eventually, when the battle came to my territory I was well prepared. So the same has happened now, …I still think I have years ahead of me to prove that my concept is at least as good.
Q: So there are two different kinds of chess, one for matches and one for tournaments?
Kasparov: Obviously it’s a big big difference between a match and a tournament because in the match you have a single opponent with the same strength, even in a very strong tournament you still have some drops in the player’s strengths. In order to win tournaments like Wijk aan Zee you have to take risks that’s why I employed a strategy that was perfect in tournament chess, but at the same time, I missed that a strategy that’s successful in tournaments, which did bring great great results, would be successful in a match.
It's a pretty slow week as things ramp up for the Kramnik-Leko match that starts on Saturday. Meanwhile Garry Kasparov in here in NY for meetings with publishers, among other things. In a few hours I'll post a long article at ChessBase.com about Kasparov's recent stay in Pamplona, Spain. There are also some interesting comments about the third volume of his My Great Predecessors book series. I'll see him again before he leaves this weekend, and if you have some good questions that haven't been answered many times already, post'em if ya got'em.
Poker bots? An interesting article on using computers to play online poker. It serves as a follow-up to our interesting discussion of poker a few weeks ago. A comparison to chess is again made. Slashdot has a long discussion thread on the story with many insightful posts.
While bots have been used to play the optimal strategy in other online card games, like blackjack, poker is a different animal. The biggest obstacles lie in the amount of information unavailable to the player and the need for the program to be able to employ a variety of strategies at different times, such as bluffing and laying traps for opponents, explained Billings, a doctoral student and master poker player.
"With chess – I don’t want to trivialize it – but it’s just a matter of calculation," he said. “With poker, you really need to write a program that can think about the game and reason.”
The solution, in the case of the Vex Bot, was adding a layer of artificial intelligence over its ability to calculate probabilities.
Of course the implications of computer cheating for a game based on gambling are severe. Online chessplayers obsess about computer cheating, but that's about ego, rating points, and the occasional small prize. With the typical love of Big Round Numbers, they describe poker as a "billion dollar industry." I'm not sure gamblers would even care. These are people who pour money into slot machines, roulette, and other games in which they have only the casino's word that they have an honest chance of winning. Online poker is the same. You trust that it's not rigged or cheatable.
I suppose it's time to start talking about the Kramnik-Leko classical world championship match that starts on September 25. And why not? Nobody else is talking about it. With a roomful of chessplayers and fans at the Accoona match, nobody mentioned it once. It was all about the Olympiad. The two most consistently conservative elite players in a 14-game match. Yawn. Not that the 2000 Kasparov-Kramnik match wasn't a draw-fest. I was there for the duration. But the ongoing shock of seeing the heavily favored Kasparov down and increasingly desperate added tension and drama.
Anand said it best when he called Kramnik-Leko a battle of immovable object versus immovable object. Kasparov favors Kramnik, and thinks there will be more action than many predict. ("At least three or four decisive games. Two wins each if it's a draw. If Leko wins it will be plus two minus one.") What happens if both players just wait for mistakes? In K-K 2000 both decisive games (wins by Kramnik) were directly out of the opening. As well-prepared as Leko and Kramnik are, and as cautious as they tend to be, this could be a drag.
But let's be optimistic. Kramnik and Leko have played some very exciting games in the past. Leko has the game and the mental toughness to be able to beat Kramnik, who has the edge in experience and, I would say, in sheer talent and depth. If I were betting even money I'd go with Kramnik. But since you can get good odds on Leko, that's the smart bet. Leko even has a career plus against Vlady in classical chess.
Go vote on the winner in our message board poll and predict the score.
Either someone in FIDE actually has a sense of humor, or it's an amusing coincidence that they extended the deadline for bids on the Kasimdzhanov-Kasparov match to September 25, the day that the Kramnik-Leko world championship match starts in Brissago, Switzerland. Extended deadlines are rarely good news.
I heard about the HB Global Chess Challenge a week or so ago, but didn't want to rain on Maurice Ashley's press conference. It's quite an amazing sum: a $500,000 open tournament, doubling the prize fund of the US Championship, which had claims on being the richest annual tournament in the world. When I told Kasparov about it he responded that maybe he should play in that if the Kasimdzhanov match doesn't get off the ground!
Update: As several people have pointed out, perhaps an equally amazing sum is the entry fee: $350!
Been a bit busy with the aftermath of the Krush-Skripchenko match and the beforemath of Kasparov's arrival in NY. Meanwhile, the remnants of some hurricane or other has arrived here in Brooklyn and it's getting biblical out my window. Okay, it's not exactly what happened in Florida or Jamaica, but I'm still not going outside.
Some Dirt from in and around the Accoona match. As mentioned below, today there is an event with Susan Polgar facing Anatoly Karpov in Kansas. It was originally announced they would play blitz, rapid, and advanced chess (computer assisted). The advanced chess was later changed to shuffle chess (aka Fischerandom). From the press release: "Due to the current situation of Bobby Fischer, both World Champions agreed to change the format to include 2 Fischer random chess games instead. This is to show support and respect to their fellow World Champion Bobby Fischer for what he has accomplished over the chess board."
The word is that Karpov freaked out when he heard it was advanced chess, at which the veteran is predictably horrible. He was massacred in that format by ChessBase whiz Anand 5-1 in Leon in 1999. So it was hastily changed to Fischerandom. To show respect to Fischer they could have just had some sushi. Or played to 10 wins, draws not counting! I don't know how much Polgar has been training in private, but Karpov has been playing the worst chess of his life in the past year.
Of the four or five noise interruptions during the Krush-Skripchenko match, two were caused by Accoona employees. One with a cell phone ringing three meters from the board, another yelling across the room downstairs. But the worst was a restaurant worker, as mentioned in my onsite photo report on the match. The video of Irina waving at arbiter John Fernandez will be priceless.
Speaking of, as I pointed out to my chess-newbie friend Ann LePore, a video artist who was there to film the match for ChessBase Magazine, no matter what countries the players represent, the post-mortem is always in Russian. It was. See below for photos and a caption contest.
The post-game analysis
Ann LePore in action
An apple a day doesn't keep arbiter John Fernandez away
Post your own caption to this one below. Best one gets fame and fortune.
The press conference announcing the event was so long ago you might not remember it. (And there was so much vodka after the press conference I wouldn't remember it myself without the photos.) The match between Almira Skripchenko and Irina Krush has finally arrived.
The match is two rapid games tomorrow (not four over two days as originally planned), starting at 2pm NY time. The control is 25'+10" and tiebreak will be a pair of 5'+10" blitz games. Then there's a sudden-death "armageddon" game of six minutes for white versus five minutes for black (no increment), with a draw being a win for black. The name of the sponsor has also changed. It's now Accoona, a new technology company. The money behind the curtain is the same (well, similar) as the sponsor of the X3D Kasparov matches I worked on.
I'll be at the Russian Samovar sitting near the board doing live commentary at Playchess.com. Download and install the client, log in and go to the Broadcast room to see the show. We'll also be filming for a future issue of ChessBase Magazine (CD-ROM) and some clips will be available on the web at ChessBase.com and the Accoona site. Contrary to what we were first told, the match WILL be open to the public, within reason. So if you're in midtown Manhattan Thursday afternoon, stop by. There will be live expert commentary downstairs.
I think they have more space than they thought because they scheduled the match on Rosh Hashanah. Oops. I'll bring the apples if you bring the honey. Susan Grumer writes in to point out that the Kramnik-Leko match starts on Yom Kippur, a major blunder. Quick, someone tell Fischer that maybe Jews really don't run the chess world.
Viswanathan Anand is always in the news in India, not that he hasn't deserved it with his dominance of the past year and a half at the board. He's about to embark on a tour of India to promote chess. Vishy has also been in the papers in the past week talking about the chances of the Olympiad team he will lead for the first time in a decade and corporate sponsorship of chess in India. It's nice to see the easy-going Anand taking an active role, and playing for the national team is a huge part of that. Even with the strongest board one (Kasparov isn't playing, as was revealed here) and Sasikiran on board two, Anand doesn't sound too optimistic, at least not about the men's team.
"Compared to the men's team, probably the women's team has a very good chance of winning a medal as they not only have a very good team but their opponents too are not as formidable as in the men's field," he added.
Touching on various topics, the champion said that his next important assignments are to see that his team does well at the Olympiad and to win the Chess Oscar.
On his recent performances this year, Anand said, "this year has been very good for me and I hope it will continue for some time. I think I did pretty well to win the Corus Grandmasters tournament in Wijk Aan Zee and then the Dortmund Chess and Mainz Chess in Germany which had chess greats like Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik in the fray."
Perhaps a misquote, as Kasparov didn't play in any of those events. But they did meet in the Armenia vs the World match in Moscow this year, a 26-move draw. (My report here.)
I've added an email notification list sign-up on the left. Submit your address and receive an email + excerpt of each new Daily Dirt item. You'll receive a one-click address verification e-mail and that's it. When I tested it, SpamAssassin flagged the verification email, so check your junk box if you don't see the verification message in a few minutes. I won't sell your address to porn spammers, even if you ask.
Please click the Add button and the verification e-mail link ONCE or you could be added multiple times. I'll cull the doubles, but try to help out.
UPDATE: I'll put the usual XML link up on the left later, but if you are into the wide and wonderful world of RSS news feeds, there IS one for the Daily Dirt. http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/index.rdf. I recommend FeedDemon or if you want browser-based RSS, Bloglines.com. If you've never heard of RSS it basically culls news headlines from thousands of sites and blogs in channels you select. Very handy.
Vladimir Putin's latest power grab will do away with the direct election of local governors and presidents in the far-flung Russian republics. Although not mentioned in any of the reports I can find, that should include Kalmykia, where FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov rules. The Kremlin's move means Ilyumzhinov will, come next election, be serving at the whim of Moscow. Putin backed Ilyumzhinov's opponent last time around (third item). Next time Putin will essentially pick the candidates, if I understand the early descriptions of the changes.
Ilyumzhinov has proven a canny operator and a survivor, and the next elections there are far off. He might even steal enough money to stay in charge of FIDE after losing in Kalmykia. Still, it's fun to fantasize about restoring the game under a beneficent administration. My big three: 1) A return to classical chess. 2) A more dynamic rating system. 3) A rigorous world championship system.
Garry Kasparov is keeping up his attacks on the government of Vladimir Putin. Since January he has done so as the Chairman of the Committee 2008: Free Choice, a Russian pro-democracy coalition that is dedicated to stopping Putin from keeping power in 2008. Last week Kasparov had another strong editorial in the Wall Street Journal, bashing Putin's government on its reaction to the Beslan horror and on Chechnya. You might wonder if Kasparov won't become the second world champion to have his passport revoked this year...
This week, today actually, Kasparov in in Hamburg speaking to the Baltic Development Forum on the prospects for relations between Russia and Europe. Even if the subject matter doesn't interest you, that there will be an online video of the event might. The organizers say there will be streaming video of Kasparov's 15-minute address this evening at their website. You probably have to go to the "Videofeatures" link.
Update: Still no sign of a video link, but we've posted the entire address at ChessBase.com with pics. Video of it should be on a future ChessBase Magazine.
Safely ensconced as I am in a blue state, it would take more than Swedish meatballs to get me to Kansas. But I like chess and I love a parade. Next weekend Susan Polgar and Anatoly Karpov will play an unusual three-format match in the tiny town of Linsborg, Kansas, which is becoming something of a chess Mecca these days. They'll play two games each of rapid chess, blitz, and shuffle chess (aka Fischerandom, aka Chess960, some of my thoughts on it here). The official press release (below) has enough hyperbole for six DD items. NPR has a truncated audio file of the note they did with the event's organizer, Mikhail Korenman. The Kansas City Star has a story on it, but it's a long registration page required, so they clearly don't want anyone to read it.
It's a shame there isn't any classical chess involved. After their last training session, Kasparov told me that Polgar is likely to be playing at a 2600 level come the Olympiad, where she'll lead the US women's team. It will be something if she can reach that level without playing a public game of serious chess before Calvia. That's a seven year break!
Anyone else remember an old Chess Life that had Karpov (and Polgar?) on the cover dressed up as a king and queen? Post or send me a scan if you've got it.
(NEW YORK, NY; LINDSBORG, KANSAS) The United States Chess Federation (USCF) is pleased to announce a six-game Clash of The Titans Chess Battle between 7-time World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov and 4-time Women’s World Champion Susan Polgar on September 18-19, 2004.
The legendary World Chess Champions will compete in the most exciting triple challenge of rapid chess, blitz chess and Fischer random chess. This historic colossal battle and unique match will mark the first ever official chess match between a Men’s World Chess Champion and a Women’s World Chess Champion. Anatoly Karpov and Susan Polgar have long been true ambassadors to chess. This time, their mammoth battle is designed to help promote chess in the United States.
World Champion Susan Polgar, a three-time Olympic Champion and six-time Olympic medalist will also lead the US Women’s Olympiad team in the upcoming 2004 Chess Olympiad in Mallorca, Spain in October 2004. The US Women’s Olympiad team will attempt to bring home the first ever Women’s Olympiad medal for the United States. World Champion Anatoly Karpov will be participating in the 57th Super Russian Championship in Moscow in November 2004. The Russian Championship is the strongest and most prestigious national championship in the world.
On Saturday, September 18, 2004, the Clash of the Titans Opening Ceremony will start with a Chess Parade. It will be held in downtown Lindsborg, Kansas from 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM. The King and Queen Parade headed by World Champions Anatoly Karpov and Susan Polgar will lead a group of top chess grandmasters and scholastic chess teams. These teams will participate in the Champion’s Cup Scholastic Tournament followed by exciting strategic chess exploration. The official media press conference will be held immediately after the Parade.
The Battle of two World Champions will be held at the Bethany College Theater on September 18-19 in 6 exciting matches with 2 rapid games at the time control of 25 minutes with 5 seconds delay, 2 blitz games at the time control of 5 minutes and 2 Fischer random chess games at the time control of 15 minutes.
The players originally agreed to include 2 advanced chess games as part of their six-game match. However, due to the current situation of Bobby Fischer, both World Champions agreed to change the format to include 2 Fischer random chess games instead. This is to show support and respect to their fellow World Champion Bobby Fischer for what he has accomplished over the chess board.
The United States Chess Federation (USCF) has officially sanctioned the match. The Karpov - Polgar match is supported by the State of Kansas and the city of Lindsborg.
A trio has published a fascinating paper on how they hacked the Internet Chess Club. They produced a client with which they could easily cheat by controlling the amount of time they used per move, even setting it to zero. They also hacked the communications stream and could eavesdrop on all communications between any user and the ICC server, including credit card info, or even take control of the system to solicit information from an unsuspecting user. Read the abstract of their paper below.
They say they won't release their code and they offer suggestions to fix the problems. They also made their info available to the ICC before they published last week. I just chatted with George MacDonald, the general manager of the ICC, and they are still working on the system. Today they updated their help file to include a security disclaimer (see below).
As for it being easy, as the paper's authors imply, that's from a mathematical standpoint not a practical one. It's not as if anyone with a few hours free time would be able to whip up a cheat client. The danger would be an expert distributing such a thing.
How to Cheat at Chess: A Security Analysis of the Internet Chess Club
J. Black ∗ M. Cochran ∗ R. Gardner ∗
September 3, 2004
Abtract
The Internet Chess Club (ICC) is a popular online chess server with more than 30,000 members worldwide including various celebrities and the best chess players in the world. Although the ICC website assures its users that the security protocol used between client and server provides su.cient security for sensitive information to be transmitted (such as credit card numbers), we show this is not true. In particular we show how a passive adversary can easily read all communications with a trivial amount of computation, and how an active adversary can gain virtually unlimited powers over an ICC user. We also show simple methods for defeating the timestamping mechanism used by ICC. For each problem we uncover, we suggest repairs. Most of these are practical and inexpensive.
**********************
The ICC has added a security item to their online help file. It reads:
ICC is committed to keeping confidential data secure and cheaters out of business. We are actively engaged in improving our current security mechanisms, while at the same time, devoting substantial resources to catching cheaters.
All data communicated between the ICC and Timestamp-enabled clients such as BlitzIn is encrypted.
However, no computer system can be guaranteed as completely safe from dedicated hackers and the ICC is no exception. ICC is aware of theoretical vulnerabilities mentioned in some reports on the internet. We are taking steps to address these issues.
If you have any questions or comments, you can ask a question in Channel 1, the Help Channel, send a message to icc or an email to icc@chessclub.com.
The Washington Post has an interesting article on the popularity boom poker is enjoying.
The game Mark Twain once complained was "unpardonably neglected" in the United States is now played by hundreds of thousands of people online 24 hours a day and by celebrities on television."
Ah, what the elements of chance and money can do for a game. Sure, poker has a fairly high skill quotient and the longer a game goes the better chance the more skilled players will win. But chess it ain't. An amateur with good nerves and a few months of study can beat the world's best if he has a lucky streak. The last few poker championships were won by amateurs. With so many amateurs flooding the game, their sheer numbers overwhelm the pros for the top prizes. Still, the pros benefit overall from all the "dead money" coming into the game since they win more on the percentages over time.
Not much of a model for chess to imitate. The bluffing and odds-beating that make poker fun for amateurs, even beginners, to gamble on don't exist in chess. Some people just like to gamble, period. Bluffing, losing money, and beating odds all translate directly to television viewers, even if they barely understand the rules. And without the gambling element you won't see the massive promotion poker is getting from casinos.
Many chess players are heavily into card games, including poker. Six-time US champion Walter Browne is a veteran card shark. There are countless anecdotes about Lasker and other pre-WWII champions' addiction to whist, changing the names and the game to bridge post-war.
Big exclusive. Former US champion and FIDE world championship challenger Gata Kamsky will play in the 2004 US Championahip in San Diego on Nov. 24. He has been awarded one of the two wildcard spots by the AF4C, necessary if he was to play because his long inactivity left him ineligible by rating and he declined to play in any of the many qualifiers.
UPDATE 12:09 - The AF4C now has a press release announcing his participation. Full text below.
Despite my earlier waffling on the matter, I agree with the choice to break with the AF4C tradition of giving the spots to juniors (the other wildcard almost surely will go that way). I'm still concerned about giving a player a spot after he passed up a chance to play in a qualifier. It's a precedent that the organizers may regret next year when every GM who didn't make it will plead his case. Giving wildcards to GMs also contradicts the commendable policy of emphasizing qualification over free tickets by rating. It's a worthy prize, players should be willing to fight for it.
Kamsky is an exception for several reasons, mostly due to his long inactivity and recent return to the game. Past glories alone shouldn't cut the mustard. (Walter Browne played in many qualifiers and didn't make it from what I can tell.) I've heard that Kamsky offered his services to the US Olympiad team and was turned down.
Speaking of spots, another good AF4C idea is about to see the light. An online tournament of state champions starting in a few weeks will decide an entry spot to the US Championship. It's blitz and it's online, but it's an exciting idea that could add a lot of needed pizzazz to state championships, which get little to no publicity. There wasn't much time for such PR this time, but next year should be different.
[Official press release of the AF4C - 7/9/04]
The AF4C announces the 2005 US championship wild card selections
The stated mission of the AF4C is to use two wild card spots in the US Championship to promote the development of exceptionally promising junior players. Last year, in line with our mission, we selected Varhuzan Akobian (based on his being the Samford fellow) and Laura Ross (based on her being the highest rated girl under 16). Those turned out to be fine choices, with Akobian battling for first place in the final round, and Ross benefiting from her experience to earn a qualifying spot for this year's championship at the World Open.
This year one wild card spot has been offered to Salvijus Bercys. Bercys, who is 14 years old, is the #1 US rated player under the age of 16 (USCF rating 2424). He was the 2003 US junior open champion and finished clear second in the 2004 US Junior invitational championship, half of a point behind Milman (who earned a US championship qualifying spot for this victory) and ahead of Friedel Lopez, Hoekstra and Schneider (all of whom have earned qualifying spots at other tournaments).
This was an unusual year with so many top juniors earning qualifying spots. Because of this unique situation the AF4C was in a position to recognize the return of Gata Kamsky to active tournament chess, and offer him the second wild card spot. Gata Kamsky is America's highest rated USCF chess player, and one of the top rated players in the world. In 1996 he played Karpov for the world championship. Having reached the pinnacle of the chess world, Kamsky unexpectedly took a sabbatical from chess to pursue a higher education, and has just recently graduated with a degree in Law. He is preparing to take the NY bar exam. With the completion of his formal education, Kamsky has returned to chess, is a regular player at the New York Masters and is anxious to participate in the US Championship.
As the only American to become the official challenger for the World Championship since Bobby Fischer, Gata is a most deserving contender for the US Championship. His omission at a time that he is actively playing chess would be a serious oversight. As the US Championship is the premier event in America, the AF4C is very excited to have the opportunity to offer to Gata the, number one ranked player, a wild-card spot.
The chairman of the selection committee was AF4C co-founder and board member, Dr. Jim Roberts, and committee members were GM Yasser Seirawan, AF4C president Erik Anderson and chess journalist John Henderson. The committee would like to thank numerous US championship chess players and others in the chess community for their input into these decisions.
Let's look in on the state of the regular chess column. If you're new here, this is one of my regular cheerleader sections to find more and to get more chess out there. Daily doesn't exist (even here, ahem) since George Koltanowski passed in 2000 after over 19,000 columns starting in 1948.
One of the best out there is GM Lubomir Kavalek's in the Washington Post. The UK Telegraph Chess Club section is also good. I believe both require free registration. The Scotsman column by John Henderson has been made hard to find. Go here to the Games section and click Chess on the right. His name isn't on it for some reason, but he assures me it's still him.
Few newspaper columns contribute much in the way of new news if you are already reading sites like ChessBase and TWIC (the aforementioned are exceptions), but they usually have an analyzed game. Does your local paper have a chess column? If not, write the editors online AND with a letter. Make suggestions, talk about kids and the game, be personal. Get other chess friends to do the same. I'll send'em a column for free if they'll run it.
Post links to other good columns, or mention offline ones you like. There's a list here, but I'd rather hear the ones you like and why. Too many just phone it in.
Sometimes it seems every American football player is a chess fan. Hall of Famer Barry Sanders is appearing at a Kansas club. Top star Priest Holmes has been on TV in his home's "chess room" complete with suits of armor for decorations. Then we have boxers like the Klitschkos, tennis players like Boris Becker, and many more. Such crossover appeal is an effective, if somewhat cheesy and desperate, way to promote chess, particularly in the USA where the game has a reputation for geekiness. List a few other stars into chess, with links if possible.
The US Men's Olympiad team has been announced. There are new faces on the team, although they are only new for the US. Onischuk is the highest-rated player and is also the youngest, turning 29 tomorrow. Novikov and Goldin are making their Olympiad debuts for the US, although both are 40-year-old veterans. Gulko, Kaidanov, and Shabalov round out the Soviet, I mean American, squad. According to John Donaldson's Mechanic's newsletter, even the USA team captain will be a Soviet veteran; Boris Postovsky led many Soviet teams in his long career and will now do the same for the US. (It's possible he may have even led a few of his current charges back when they were juniors.)
Two years ago it was already trite to suggest that the US team was getting too long in the tooth to compete under the rigors of the faster time controls and fewer off days of the Olympiad. The US won silver with a veteran team in 1998, but has shown more wear and tear in the last two events. From top to bottom the US team is one of the highest rated in the field. You still have to wonder why top young American stars Nakamura and Akobian aren't on the squad.
Not literally; we KNOW why. The selection formula goes back to April, 2003, so their strong performances in recent months don't have much impact. They focus on the US rating. Using the latest FIDE list would put Nakamura on the team as #6 since Seirawan has largely retired and Kamsky hasn't been active. Young American players have very few chances to gain international experience. While the "ratings only" system avoids controversy (witness the brouhaha over the women's team), it seems a shame. John Henderson suggests that the team's plane take a detour on the way to Calvia and play in the world senior championship!
With all the Bobby Fischer blather coming out of Japan these days over his ridiculous predicament, let's not miss an important anniversary. Today in 1972 Fischer won the world title from Boris Spassky. The final game started on August 31, but Spassky phoned in his resignation on September 1.
