I spoke with Garry Kasparov on Tuesday, although much of the conversation was about Iraq. (He's pro regime change, as his upcoming article in the Wall St. Journal makes clear.) (Much more from Kasparov will be included in the next Mig on Chess at ChessBase.com this week.)
Kasparov apologized for his ten minutes of outrage at the Linares closing ceremony. He is still hot about the game winning a beauty prize and angry at the journalists who voted for it. "I'm ashamed of my over the top behavior but Rogers and Garcia should be ashamed of their votes."
He added, "If it had been a prize for 'most memorable game' I would have given Radjabov the award myself. It was the first time I lost to someone born after I won the title!" He said that while he was upset after the game and didn't analyze with Radjabov, he did shake his hand afterward and they and Radjabov's father (who has known Kasparov since the early 70's) talked about the game together.
Kasparov said he was insulted by The Week In Chess editor Mark Crowther's recent comments regarding the end of the game, "He deliberately lost on time and left the board without shaking hands with Radjabov." I'm not sure how you can "deliberately lose on time" on move 39 with a few minutes left on your clock in a losing position. Crowther later added, in TWIC 436, "This could be seen on Spanish TV on the days following the game." No surprise that Kasparov talking with Radjabov and his father afterward wasn't shown on Spanish TV, or mentioned by the Spanish writers at the site. Not so much fun.
Kasparov will be playing a large internet clock simul on April 4 on the ChessBase Playchess.com server. The German tech company ZMD, which has used chess and Kasparov in various promotions previously, is sponsoring the event. Kasparov will play from Dresden and will face players who are logging in from ZMD offices worldwide. I'll be coordinating things at their Long Island office. Details will be announced here and at ChessBase.com.
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