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.
Mig,
Thanks for all the answers. Glad to see most of mine were answered (current hierarchy, Kramnik rematch).
Did he talk about his views on where Prague reunification stands, the match with Kasim, and what he thinks of Seirawan's recent proposal? And his views on the ACP tour?
Kapalik
Are you aware of any other Fritz Trainer series which might be coming out besides Kasparov's series on the Najdorf?
I think I heard something about the Queen's Gambit Declined (even earlier than about the Najdorf).
In the spirit of equity, perhaps we can look forward to Mig updating us about Kramnik's travel plans, Kramnik's random thoughts about this and that, and maybe a Q and A with Kramnik during the Kasparov-Kazim match?
Great stuff. I especially liked Garry throwing his weight behind Nakamura.
Sure Greg. If Kramnik invites me over or calls me I'll definitely do that. I give what I have. I'm not hanging up on Anand or telling Vlady to get lost here. The players who whine about poor or insufficient media attention are always those who refuse to talk to us. I'm not going to smear someone who doesn't want to talk to me, but if I don't have any information to give, I can't be blamed for not giving it.
Kapalik, most of those have been covered before. He's just waiting to see what FIDE puts together regarding Prague and Kasimdzhanov. The postponements are clearly a bad sign. As for the ACP tour, he said before that first you need money and organizers. As you can probably tell from his other answers, he's become very pragmatic and dismissive about all these hypothetical events and plans when there is so much uncertainty and things out of his control. He doesn't like to play "what if" and he's tired of being a lightning rod. So he's doing his thing.