Winning back the mammoth's tusks
01.12.2004 Twenty years ago, to the day, he entered the hotel Rossija with a minus five score. Last week Garry Kasparov left it with plus five. In a candid interview with Sport Express the winner of the Russian Championship talks about his form, his play, Kramnik vs Leko, and the situation in world chess.
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Interview with Garry Kasparov
By Juri Vasiliev
The following interview appeared on the Russian sport
portal Sport Express
and was conducted by chess journalist Yuri Vasiliev. The full text in
Russian language is available on this Sport
Express page.
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If something is left to be desired then it is to play a
match
against Kramnik and to win the mammoth's tusks.
Immediately after Kasparov's final round game against Grischuk in the Moscow
Super Final Yuri Vasiliev of Sport Express newspaper was hailed by Garry's
mother, Klara Shagenova, who said: "Yuri, exactly twenty years ago, to
the day, we entered this hotel, the Rossija. At that time Garry was playing
Karpov and the score was minus five. Today, twenty years later, we leave the
hotel Rossija with a plus five score in Garik's favour!"
During the closing ceremony one of the most valuable prizes, a chess set made
from the mammoth ivory, was presented to Garry by non other than Karpov himself.
Kasparov receiving a mammoth ivory chess set from Russian sculptor Oleg
Raikis
The white pieces are made of mammoth tusk, the black chessmen are stained
mammoth tusk with stained box-tree
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Oleg Raikis is
a Russian sculptor, specializing in the fields of work with mammoth ivory,
walrus, amber, hard wood. He has created a large number of artworks,
including sculptures and chess sets, which belong to collections of famous
people and collectors all over the world.
Oleg is famous not
only to collectors of modern art, but also to collectors of antiques,
since he is an expert restorer. He is a member of International Federation
of Artists (UNESCO), Chess Collectors International and International Art
Fund. |
Summary of the Sport Express interview
The main points that Kasparov makes in his interview with Juri Vasiliev are
as follows:
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On his recent play: My play in recent tournaments has been disastrous.
The last tournament I won was Linares 2002. After that there followed a
number of fiascos, such as unimpressionable play in the Petrosian Memorial
and disastrous play at the Club championship in Turkey. In that respect,
the result of this tournaments stands out, as the tournament went on my
opponents realized that they yet again must fear me.
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His game against Motylev: I missed the win about six times.
In the beginning I was slightly worse in that endgame but was able to convert
it to a winning endgame. I had made several “only” moves to
make the time control but when the choices became too plentiful, I began
to create “wonders” (blunders).
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The game against Grischuk: The game against my nearest rival
was physiologically difficult to play, because it occurred after the mission
was already accomplished.
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On Morozevich: He offered me a draw, but I declined because his
position was difficult. Morozevich always plays the opening in an unusual
manner. In Biel, this unusual approach is good enough to score lots of
points; not so in the Russian Championship.
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Time controls: Our championship became one the last citadels
of the classic time control. Now there is a lot of talk that this time
control has gotten old. Yes FIDE time control is more dynamic, and is easier
to play with, but look at the quality of games.
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If Kramnik had chosen to participate: The tone and emphasis of
the tournament would have been quite different, as people would naturally
focus all their attention at our rivalry. But since my results have been
good at this tournament. I don't believe that this would have been different
with Kramnik’s participation. Kramnik’s usual tournaments results
are plus 2, plus 3, and I am not even sure if Kramnik has fully recuperated.
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On the Kramnik-Leko match: It was Kramnik who played the more
interesting chess. But as it was hard for him to get through Leko's defence,
the final score looks justified. I am used to the idea that everything
has a just and logical conclusion. Leko played cynically towards the end
of the match, trying to hold up the lead is against Kramnik. I have always
said that Leko is a tough opponent for Kramnik, because while Kramnik plays
chess, Leko is a tennis-player who stands on the back line and volleys;
if he needs to volley the ball across the net five hundred times, he will
do so five hundred times.
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On reunification: I have begun to view the processes of chess
life philosophically: maybe there will be a match, maybe there won’t.
Whatever happens, happens. Yes, it would have been easier to reach an agreement
with Leko. The fact that Kramnik retained his title by drawing Leko is
good. If there is still something I want, it is to play another match with
Kramnik, and to win it.
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On his match against Kasimdzhanov: Four days ago I spoke with
my manager, and nothing was clear still about this match. Maybe something
has changed since then, I do not know. If the match is to take place in
Dubai in January I need to arrange a training session in the country with
a similar climate in December. But this is not easy on a short notice.
Whether or not this match takes place, I hope that the working practices
of FIDE will become history. You cannot ask people to stick to agreements
when you do not keep your own schedule.
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On future tournaments: I definitely plan to play at the Chess
Olympiad in Turin in 2006.
- On the Russian Chess Federation: My thanks go to the President
of the Russian Chess Federation Alexander Zhukov, who's support made this
event possible. We had a great championship. Many things tend to be forgotten,
but the chess games remain, including the games of this tournament. The RCF
is one of the strongest federations in the world and is protecting classical
chess. I hope it will keep up this tradition in the future.
Kasparov interview summary by Ilya Krasik
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