Kasparov wants Carlsen to Win. Karpov has no Clear Preference. Kramnik thinks Anand can Win

World Champions Three: Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Anatoly Karpov - all of Russia, but of course: Photo: Chessbase.com.

World Chess Championship 2013 GM interview: Kasparov backs Magnus Carlsen; Karpov neutral and Vladimir Kramnik think Viswanathan Anand can win provided he does certain things. Here's the verdict of the Big Ks by Rakesh Rao for The Hindu.

“For the greatest part of my life, I’ve been fighting the three Ks — Karpov, Kasparov and Kramnik — I have played no fewer than a hundred games with them” — Viswanathan Anand on Moscow Radio in 2009

With less than a week to go for the World chess championship match, fans in over 150 countries have reasons to pick their favourite — champion Viswanathan Anand or World No.1 Magnus Carlsen. Going by form and rating, the majority surely favours the Norwegian.

For now, leave out the lesser mortals.

Here is what some of the Russian greats — Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov and Vladimir Kramnik — who know more about playing for the World title than most, have to say about the clash.

Kasparov wants Carlsen to win. Karpov has no clear preference. Kramnik thinks Anand can win provided he does a few things right.

Kasparov, who helped Anand during the 2010 World championship match against Veselin Topalov, attracted the champion’s ire for being openly critical of him during the 2012 title-clash against Gelfand in Moscow. Since then, Kasparov has offered to help Carlsen to prepare against Anand.

Last month, Carlsen declared that he would be happy to get help from the man under whom he had trained in 2009.

The 22-year-old is 95 points ahead of Anand on the world rating list, but Kasparov has a word of caution.

“There is no such thing as an easy win against the World champion. I think Vishy will be quite happy that he is the underdog. He’s got huge experience. As we saw (in the Candidates tournament in London in March-April) there are problems (for Carlsen), there are still clear problems. The match is for Magnus to lose, clearly, but it’s a 12-game match, and whatever you’ve got from the first nine games, may not count.

“He (Carlsen) has to work on a lot — (on) psychological preparation. His opening preparation should be more precise. Anand is an expert. Those who say that Magnus will win easily are doing him a great disservice.

“It’s all or nothing, and that’s a big challenge. The psychological pressure will just keep growing, and he will have to learn how to cope with it.”

Karpov, another former world champion, has a different take.

“Taking into account historic parallels, I would perhaps support Anand because I have defeated him in the matches twice.

“Although I’ve not been competing (laughs) for the crown for 10 years, it is still pleasant when the guy who sits on the throne has been defeated by you twice. From a self-importance point of view — although it’s not the time to talk about my significance — it’s somehow pleasant.

“I think the appearance of Magnus is a good sign for the progress of chess.

If he becomes the world champion it will give a tremendous boost to the development of chess, especially in European countries. That’s why from the point of view of the future of chess, I would like Carlsen to win.”

Kramnik, who was the only man to beat Kasparov in a World championship match (in 2000) before suffering his only defeat in match-play to Anand in 2008, asserts the champion is not badly placed.

“I believe Anand definitely has his chances. It is absolutely realistic. The only problem, I think, Anand faces is that he — this is just my opinion — is somewhat intimidated by Carlsen. He is scared of him, I would say.

“Anand should relax and not be afraid of Magnus. If Anand manages to prepare himself this way, then the chances will be equal.

If not, then his chances will be very (poor). If he manages to hold the pressure of Magnus for (the first) six games, then Anand will become a favourite in my eyes.”

For all Grandmaster verdics on the Viswanathan Anand versus Magnus Carlsen World Chess Championship 2013 check this collection of posts on our site.

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World Chess Match - A Chess Discussion without Kasparov is Never Complete: Indian Chess Fraternity

Chennai: Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, 50, may have retired from chess, but his aura as one of the strongest players in the game's history hasn't yet dimmed. Kasparov is the favourite player for even youngsters born after his retirement in 2005. “Kasparov is a legend. He was an undisputed world champion for more than 15 years. He will never be forgotten,“ said GM Sahaj Grover of Delhi.

GM-elect Ashwin Jayaram of Chennai says Kasparov is still revered by all chess players, because he left the game in his prime. “Kasparov was world no.1 for a long time and it was extremely difficult to face him until the final years of his retirement. Considering his political activism after retirement, he is still a very important figure,“ he said, adding that Kasparov was always dominant in tournaments, like Fischer before him and Carlsen after him.

A chess discussion without Kasparov is never complete. Not many chess players have enjoyed as much influence as the Russian post retirement.

Israeli GM Lev Psakhis, once a good friend of Kasparov, told Deccan Chronicle that the Azerbaijan-born world champion is a very interesting and clever person who produced a lot of noise.

“It would be good for chess if he came back,” he said, adding that he would choose Kasparov instead of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov for the Fide president post. The world’s popular chess player, who has won 11 chess Oscars and played in eight chess Olympiads, has recently announced his candidature for Fide president’s post in 2014.

“Once I told Kasparov that he was champion in making enemies. He asked me why? The truth is that he doesn’t want to create scandals. Many a time, it comes with him like thunder accompanying lightning,” said Psakhis, who added that his “former friend” respects Anand, even though he questioned the Indian’s enthusiasm during the world championship last year.

“Anand and Kramnik are great persons but maybe that’s why they are not very famous outside the chess world. We need some scandals, some blood possibly in good point of view and for that we need Kasparov,” said Psakhis. According to the Israeli, Kasparov, who held on to the world no. 1 ranking from 1996 to 2005, is an electric personality and he can add value to the game.

Anand may have won five world titles but none of them came against Kasparov. According to Ashwin, after his loss at the hands of Kasparov in 1995, Anand was certainly looking forward to another match with the Russian, but it didn’t materialise owing to politics.

While lack of personal goals forced Kasparov to quit chess on March 10, 2005, the person, who sat across the chessboard from Karpov for more than 600 hours in his life and one who is currently involved in a political battle with the Russian president Vladimir Putin could well play an important role in the forthcoming Fide world championship match between Anand and Carlsen. (Article continued after quote)

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Kasparov to visit Chennai during the world championship match 

The world chess championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen in Chennai will have an uninvited special guest: Garry Kasparov. The charismatic former world champion is expected to be in Chennai on November 11 and 12. Kasparov has consented to take part at the annual conclave of a weekly in Goa from November 8 to 10.

The presence of Kasparov will be a PR coup for the world championship, starting from November 9. At the same time, the organisers may also be worried over the Russian GM’s ability to court controversy.

During the last world championship between Anand and Boris Gelfand in Moscow, Kasparov infuriated the Indian by commenting that a spate of draws resulted from his “lack of enthusiasm.” The affable Anand later retaliated by saying “Kasparov misses the attention he used to get and he should come out of retirement.“

Understandably, Kasparov will not be an official guest of the organising committee. “But, as a chess player everyone is allowed to come and watch the game,“ said a member o the organising committee There is no love lost betwee Kasparov and the curren Fide establishment as the Russian has already declared his candidacy for the president's post of the world chess body in next year's elections.

In a recent survey conducted by this newspaper (Deccan Chronicle), most of the grandmasters most of the grandmasters in India chose either Bobby Fischer or Kasparov as their all-time favourite chess player. Kasparov is such a tall figure in chess that he has the magnetism to be the centre of attention during a world championship match he is not part of.

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Kasparov trained Carlsen for a year in 2009 and Anand had acknowledged the Russian GM’s help during his match against Topalov in 2010.

Further in a recent interaction with the media in Chennai, Carlsen did not rule out working with Kasparov for the match against Anand.

“It depends on how Carlsen feels about working with Kasparov. The general perception now is that Carlsen and Kasparov had parted ways because the latter was too domineering. So it’s basically up to Carlsen to assess if that is a bigger factor than consulting one of Anand's most difficult opponents. He would keep his association with Kasparov a secret to keep the doubt in the air,” Ashwin said.

-- S. Sujatha in Deccan Chronicle

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