St. Louis (USA), Oct 11: Thirty years to the day, history was repeated as Garry Kasparov defeated Viswanathan Anand in the 10th game of the Clutch Chess Legends contest to win the match with two games to spare.
It was in 1995 on October 10 that Anand took a draw in the 18th game to concede the 20-games Classical World Championship match against Kasparov 7.5-10.5 on the 107th floor of the World Trade Centre in New York.
As per rules, the last two games under blitz time control were still played and Anand pulled back two victories albeit a little too late in the day. The scoreline eventually read 13-11 with Kasparov winning $78,000, while Anand took home $66,000 in the $1,44,000 contest.
Leading the match by five points, Kasparov knew that Anand still had a chance to win the match as the final day had as many as 12 points at stake with each victory worth three points.
Anand started the day with a hard-fought draw and then seized the initiative early in the second game. However, Kasparov kept himself in contention and a wrong trade by Anand cost the Indian ace dearly as he lost in the queen-and-minor-piece endgame.
Kasparov had already sealed the match with two blitz games still remaining and it was Anand’s turn to bounce back as he came back with all guns blazing to win both games.
Kasparov said he was not expecting to win this match but was pleased with the buzz it created.
“I wouldn’t say it’s very important. I am treating it as a show. I am very pleased that a lot of people followed it. It was a big story online. I have to say I did not expect to end this match as a winner. I totally relaxed after the (second) game. All my systems, they just went blank.
“Though I tried, it’s just not the same tenacity that I had before. I had very decent position but I just blew up very quickly. I am pleased that I am back in Saint Louis. I definitely exceeded my expectations and expectations of many others,” said Kasparov after winning the match.
Speaking about the match and his play, Kasparov, 62, noted, “I think I was more resilient than he (Anand) expected,” pointing out that he’d done surprisingly well when both players were low on time.
He also felt that Anand might have had some “psychological discomfort”.
Kasparov explained, “His score against me historically is bad, and I think it’s somehow probably the ghosts of the past visited him during the games.”
When asked about the future plans, Kasparov, summed up his mission: “It’s my sacred duty to come here and entertain people even though my chess abilities are a pale shadow of what they were before.” (PTI)
