ChessBase has some documents detailing the latest developments in the First International Bank of Israel's lawsuit against Garry Kasparov. As I conjectured below, (DD 7, 11) they were trying to go after Kasparov instead of the company KasparovChess Online although the loan in question was made to KCO. They're after the Kasparov name and "brand" since those are the only things left of any value. It's been kicked out of a US court. (KCO is incorporated in Delaware for tax reasons, like millions of other companies.) Kasparov's lawyer has more.
FIBI is now threatening to sue Kasparov in Israel. This is the reason given for Kasparov canceling the exhibition games against Deep Junior scheduled for this week. (DD 12) The official schedule for the main GK-DJ event in New York is here. It finally starts on January 26 at the New York Athletic Club and lasts two weeks (six games). The organizer is X3D Technologies, the tech company that sponsored the Kasparov-Karpov match in Times Square last month. They have a promo up here. There is a bit of irony in that Kasparov lost the X3D match to Karpov. At the very least, not a good omen! The Head Ninja will be back from the US Championship in plenty of time for inside reports at ChessBase.com.
(Full disclosure: I was the vice president of content for KasparovChess Online until April, 2002.)
