The World Chess Championship that's not really is coming up soon in Mexico, and Kramnik, who retains the title of "classical chess champion" (oh please) will be playing with nothing on the line (oh please).
Here's a blast from the past, an article written in 2000 shortly after Kramnik defeated Kasparov in London for the "classical chess" title (oh please - I laughed all the way through the tournament and The International Chessoid, now defunct, had a laugh riot sending up that event). How ironic that Kramnik has engaged in the same feints and dodges and abuses of privilege for the past seven years that he used to "accuse" Kasparov of doing. I hope Anand beats the pants off the man. I'm sick of Russian champions, they have no fricking sense of humor!
By SARAH LYALL
Published: November 3, 2000
The 15-year reign of Garry Kasparov, considered by many people the greatest chess player of all time, ended today when he was overwhelmed by the bravura performance of a lanky young Russian who was once his protege.
The tenure ended quietly and without fanfare, with the 15th game of the 16-game championship match here fizzling to a draw after nearly four hours of play. The draw gave the challenger, Vladimir Kramnik, 25, the half point that he needed to gain 8.5 points to Mr. Kasparov's 6.5, and to win a contest that he had clearly controlled from the beginning.
Despite the disputes that have split the chess world in recent years, with different organizations sponsoring rival matches, there was no doubt in the minds of anyone watching today that an era had ended.
As Mr. Kasparov pushed the button to signal that he was offering a draw -- and the match -- to Mr. Kramnik, a collective sigh, part excitement and part wistfulness at the falling of a champion, swept through the crowd.
''Kasparov is a great player and a great champion,'' said Ricardo Calvo, an international chess master from Madrid, one of many players who descended on the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith to watch the match, sponsored by the Brain Games Network. ''He's brilliant, of course. But 15 years is a long time, especially in chess, and it's time for him to make way for other players.''
Mr. Kasparov played sluggishly and tentatively throughout the monthlong competition, often seeming not to know how to respond to Mr. Kramnik's aggressive maneuvers and implacable defenses.
Although he had earlier hinted that unspecified ''personal problems'' were disrupting his concentration, today he took care to quash the rampant rumors that he had lost his fighting spirit and his will to win.
''Obviously this match was dominated by Vladimir's outstanding preparation,'' Mr. Kasparov said, conceding defeat with a graciousness unusual in someone known for his volatile temper.
But he added: ''I feel my chess strengths are still here. I still believe my performance can be dramatically improved and I intend to show that by playing in tournaments.''
The two will still have to play the 16th and final game of the match on Saturday, even though it will not affect the outcome.
There is a symmetry in the histories of the two players.
When Mr. Kasparov beat Anatoly Karpov to take the title in 1985, he was 22, the youngest world champion ever. Taught chess by his Armenian mother and Jewish father in Baku, Azerbaijan, Mr. Kasparov began to play seriously at 6.
When his father died the next year, he changed his last name from Weinshtein to a variation of his mother's maiden name. His mother, Clara, took charge of his career, and still travels with him and is deeply involved in his everyday life.
Mr. Kramnik was also a prodigy. Born in Tuapse, a Black Sea resort, he learned to play chess at 4 and was winning games against his family within months. By the time he was 10, he had beaten two grandmasters and at 16 he became the world junior champion. When he was 11, Mr. Kasparov took him on as a student at his elite chess school in Moscow.
Mr. Kramnik learned his lessons well. He was Mr. Kasparov's second, or senior adviser, when Mr. Kasparov defeated the Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand in 1995, a role that gave Mr. Kramnik important access to Mr. Kasparov's thinking and style of play and, perhaps, a slight edge in this match.
''Chess has everything to do with the human mind, and Garry Kasparov has one of the most complex minds on the planet,'' Jonathan Levitt, an English grandmaster who works for Mr. Kasparov's on-line chess company, said in seeking an explanation for his lackluster play.
Asked whether his relationship with Kramnik had anything to do with it, Mr. Levitt said, ''Maybe in his deep subconscious he's been saying things like, 'I wish I hadn't shown him this variation five years ago.' ''
Mr. Kasparov, who tends to be dismissive of opponents to the point of rudeness, has long acknowledged Mr. Kramnik's talent. ''There are many players, but they don't play chess -- they move pieces,'' Mr. Kasparov said after seeing his student play in Germany eight years ago. ''Kramnik plays chess.''
After the game today, Mr. Kasparov said Mr. Kramnik's attacking strategy had knocked him off balance. ''Ninety-eight percent of my preparation was for nothing,'' Mr. Kasparov said, adding that he had grown exhausted and dispirited from preparing 10 hours a day just to catch up during the match.
Mr. Kramnik -- whose victory brings him $1.33 million in prize money, while Mr. Kasparov gets $667,000 -- seems to be cut from a different cloth than that of his mentor. While Mr. Kasparov is temperamental, sharp-tongued and irascible, Mr. Kramnik is quiet, polite and apparently unflappable.
Confronted by a succession of agonized facial expressions and unhappy body language from his opponent, Mr. Kramnik remained cool, impassive and focused. The only real emotion that he showed occurred when he won, when he thrust both arms over his head and broke into what for him seemed the rarest of expressions, a smile.
''He's a nice person, and a very serious one,'' said Miguel Illescas, a Spanish grandmaster who was an adviser on Mr. Kramnik's backup team. ''He's been completely concentrating on the match. He only does five things during a match: play, study, eat, drink and sleep.''
Mr. Kramnik, who lost weight and quit smoking to prepare for the match, has said as much himself. ''Daily life does not interest me,'' he once told a Russian newspaper. ''Everything is subordinated to chess, to that one goal.''
Perhaps the Kasparov era has truly given way to the Kramnik era. But many players at the match today were not ready to see it go so easily.
''We have entered a new millennium, and we have a new world champion,'' Mr. Levitt said. ''But Garry Kasparov is still the best player of all time, and I don't think this is the end of him.''
