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Chess Quotations
In the News
Chess does not exist in a vacuum. – Graham Burgess
This event is terrible for British chess. There has been such hype and it
will take us years to recover. – Leonard Barden (on Kasparov's overwhelming
defeat of Short in their '93 championship match)
The organization of the match verged on the ludicrous. The venue for the
match was changed from Cologne to New York without consulting or even
informing me! The only response to the various problems was 'We are doing
our best, but...' They tended to take the most optimistic interpretation of
any good news, but bad news would be parceled out bit by bit. The dealings
with the PCA leading up to the match were thoroughly depressing and, by the
time I got to New York, I was just sick of the whole thing! – Viswanathan
Anand (on his '95 match against Kasparov)
It was hard to imagine the Myanmar powers-that-be suddenly taking interest
in a Western board game called chess. Usually these guys are too busy
growing opium, and chess would be the strangest venue for the former Burma
to gain international recognition. – Alex Yermolinsky
They don’t understand the first thing about chess. I won this tournament by
a margin of 1.5 points - and still they show no respect! – Garry Kasparov
(on the audience at Wijk aan Zee in 2000 for not awarding him the daily
spectator's prize)
I believe that FIDE is an organization that has fallen into disrepute; that
its policies are flawed and that its leaders need to be replaced. – Yasser
Seirawan
It's not so easy being a whistle blower. Your colleagues feel a bit
uncomfortable because most feel shamed that they didn't state the obvious
themselves. The rascals aren't happy. And trying to get folks of goodwill to
replace those in power isn't easy. They lead comfortable lives and know that
what they will uncover is not going to be pretty… Sigh. Well, even though
we've got a bad position we have to soldier on. – Yasser Seirawan
What FIDE forgets is that the rating system is a measuring tool for
determining the playing strengths of players at various moments in time. It
shouldn’t be used as political weapon but unfortunately it is. When FIDE
does this, it brings the entire rating system into disrepute. By failing to
rate legitimate chess events, by excluding players from its rating lists,
FIDE damages the credibility of its rating system. – Yasser Seirawan
The world of chess as far as I can see is going to hell in a hand basket,
straight down. I mean, Internet chess is growing, fine, but tournaments in
the United States are being canceled, tournament participation is down,
world chess championships, whatever they mean, are a mess. People are suing
the chess federation as we speak, with Susan Polgar and Anatoly Karpov. The
copyrights of chess are being debated, we’re having all the wrong
discussions, we have the wrong leaders with the wrong attitude. Everything’s
wrong! This is a disaster. – Yasser Seirawan
It is extremely unseemly for FIDE to be suing one of the greatest chess
players in history and to be using Federation dues to do it. When FIDE
decided to counter sue Anatoly Karpov, what this effectively meant was that
every chess Federation in the world that paid dues to FIDE was directly
supporting this legal action. – Yasser Seirawan
In the course of a couple of pages he manages to describe FIDE, its
policies, and officers, as impotent, a laughing stock, serial incompetence,
clownish, tawdry, hare-brained, out of touch, ridiculous, knuckle-headed,
horrendous, incapable, isolated from reality, disastrous and disorganized!!
– Tony Miles (on Seirawan's open letter to FIDE)
Fortunately for the chess world we have an Elliot Ness-type hero in the form
of Yasser Seirawan with a mission to clean up the chess world. – John
Henderson
Seirawan, the top-ranked American player, may be the game's last best hope.
One of the few voices of reason in a game full of mad geniuses. – Lev
Grossman
It is hard to believe that someone who speaks so quietly could persuade all
opposed sides to go for a compromise. I quickly understood that the American
Grandmaster is a real diplomat and an extraordinarily crafty man. – Ilya
Govrodetsky (on Yasser Seirawan's role in the title reunification plan)
The last thing I want to do is lead a group of squabbling chess players.
It’s not a lot of fun. – Yasser Seirawan
If chess has an opportunity of moving forward it will take the collective
goodwill of its players and if that is absent, then chess players be damned.
– Yasser Seirawan
Fighting on your own is an ungrateful business: one has to win a lot of
events and gain a reputation that will allow restraining the opponents’
organizational power. – Garry Kasparov
They're still fighting the shadow of Garry Kasparov. It’s not me they should
be fighting. Instead they should be working to improve the situation of
chess worldwide. It is time for more players to stand up and ask not what
they can get out of chess, but what can they do to improve our game. – Garry
Kasparov
If the leading players do not organize themselves soon, classical chess will
all but disappear. – Garry Kasparov
When the politicians screw up, who is first on the cutback list? The best
players in the country, the top grandmasters, who cannot be pleased that
they have one less paycheck coming to them thanks to the experts at
headquarters. Chess professionals know that they are a low priority, and
when things go wrong, they know the politicians will find a way to interfere
with their ability to eke out a meager existence playing chess. And it is
the fault of the politicos that the professional players have it so tough in
the first place. – Stephen Leary
Frankly speaking, FIDE should be dismissed all together and then established
once again. All the thieves and loafers should be dispersed with a filthy
broom, and those who have got a head on their shoulders should stay. –
Yevgeny Bareev
As usual, there is a gap the size of the clot in Dick Cheney’s heart between
what FIDE says and what they do. – Mig Greengard
Everywhere you go in chess there seem to be financial problems. – British
Chess Magazine, July 2000
Some chess players may think they will benefit if the recent FIDE move
towards the copyrighting of chess games goes ahead, but I can assure you
that 99 per cent of the chess community will suffer, and that means you. –
Tim Harding
It's utter howling confusion and the sad part is that chess' upper echelon
is mostly responsible for it; they did it to themselves. They had a golden
opportunity to take chess to the next level and they blew it, instead
knocking chess backward a notch or thirty. – Steve Lopez
The chess world is a mess! – Peter Svidler
Chess used to have class. – Ulf Andersson
Some twenty years ago an English journalist complained that in sports, only
chess and marbles were above suspicion. One wonders what has happened in the
world of marbles. – Hans Ree
The descriptions of the early FIDE’s internal strife and myopic policies
arouse strong feelings of déjà vu; if anything has changed, it is that the
naive, under-funded, chess-ignorant, idealistic, amateur meddlers of Euwe’s
youth have been replaced today by worldly, wealthy, chess-ignorant, cynical,
professional meddlers. – Taylor Kingston
The tragedy of the chess world consists in the fact that in the twenty-first
century, chess is the only one (among the big sports) not to be supervised
by any official corporation in the world. This is nonsense; this is nearly
disaster for chess.
– Klara Kasparova
Serious companies will not sponsor any sport with no professional
management, nor a sport that is at war with itself.
– Klara Kasparova
When potential sponsors learn about the split of the chess world, about all
the conflicts, they usually say: "We'll come when it’s all over." – Garry
Kasparov
No corporate sponsor will enter chess if the situation doesn't change.
Believe me, I know how big business works. And they will not be interested
in sponsoring chess with the grouping we have in control of the game. –
Garry Kasparov
If such giants as Coca Cola, IBM or Intel provide chess with so-called
"advertising dollars", then one of my main objections to FIDE - about its
sources of financing - will be withdrawn. – Garry Kasparov
It does not seem at all unlikely that when Ilyumzhinov's plans get blocked
by the national federations, he could easily give up and go back to Kalmykia,
where there is less opposition, leaving the chess world in bigger chaos than
ever and seriously bankrupt both financially and ideologically, leaving as a
lasting memorial only a steady stream of urine samples for the International
Olympic Committee. – Tony Miles
Everybody knows that the FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov loves to indulge
in wishful thinking. – Garry Kasparov
Either we will do away with the FIDE dictatorship, or (unfortunately, more
likely) Ilyumzhinov and his ilk will simply turn chess into a low farce. –
Garry Kasparov
FIDE has come to resemble, almost exactly, the United Nations itself.
Squabbles, power blocs, international rivalries, lobbying of votes and
behind-the-scenes intrigues - the whole diplomatic way of life is there. –
Garry Kasparov
Apparently, in order to save chess, it must be destroyed. – Yasser Seirawan
(on Ilyumzhinov's policies)
Quick, name this sport: rival world champions, a shady multi-millionaire
commissioner, drug testing, boycotts, and shapely young women parading
around in skimpy costumes. If you said professional wrestling, you get
partial credit. The correct answer, of course, is chess. The governing body
of world chess, led by its eccentric president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, has
launched an all-out campaign to remake this most elevated of intellectual
exercises into a fast-paced, high-stakes spectacle suitable for prime-time
television. In the process, Ilyumzhinov is either rescuing chess or dragging
it down to the level of Tonya Harding vs. Paula Jones, depending on your
point of view. – Lev Grossman
A successful adventurer will never cease to amaze friend and foe with new
daring and unexpected actions. Dull and sober citizens are still wondering
about his latest feat. Was everything really as it seemed? But the
adventurer, always a few steps ahead, is already on to new exploits, leaving
his petty-minded critics bewildered. Such an adventurer is Ilyumzhinov.
– Hans Ree
What if Ilyumzhinov is murdered by one of his business friends? It stands to
reason that this will happen sooner or later.
– Hans Ree
History is littered with examples of comfortable inaction despite the dire
consequences of leaving dictators unopposed. And whilst Kasparov and
Ilyumzhinov can by no means be compared with the likes of Stalin and Hitler
they are dictators nevertheless. Left unopposed they will continue to make
autocratic decisions, which by their very nature are less sound than the
collective, balanced and unselfish wisdom of a true democracy. – Nigel
Davies
I’m glad to see I haven't wasted my life! No player ever benefited from FIDE
as much as Karpov. It's very significant that even he recognizes the need
for change. But I'm not sure that another coup d'état would be helpful right
now. – Garry Kasparov (on hearing of Karpov's negative statements about
FIDE)
If FIDE returns to Karpov and Kasparov, it would mean regress and return to
the past. – Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
Personally, I’m sick to death of Karpov and Kasparov. The realm of chess
politics (impotent men with small minds vying for power over hapless,
poverty-stricken chess players) is even more distasteful. – Jeremy Silman
We know that the world of chess is infected by some diseased people but they
are not properly opposed. Chess is full of cowards and dirt. – Garry
Kasparov
By the time she runs into the classless, egocentric, ignorant and
power-hungry chess organizer/millionaire Luis Rentero, you want to protect
the poor girl by putting the bastard in stocks and pelting him with rotten
fruit. – Jeremy Silman (on Xie Jun)
The Americans got the gold medals and to a person I will speak for them that
their lives didn’t change one iota. It wasn’t like Wheaties came knocking on
the door and said, “My God, we’ve got to get a picture of you guys eating
your Wheaties!” Nobody from Bill Clinton’s office came and said “Look, Bill
needs some help with the Monica scandal, could you guys stand over there for
a photo op?” Nobody got invited to the White House. Nobody got a call from
the commercial sponsor. The U.S. Chess Championship didn’t improve. No
prizes were increased. Nothing happened. – Yasser Seirawan
Lots of distractions, a strong US economy and job market, and a moribund US
chess circuit create poor conditions in which to find the next Fischer. Not
that any of the above things had much to do with Fischer, whose genius would
have found a way to the top had he been born in Antarctica. – Mig Greengard
The life of the American chess master is a vale of tears. – Frias
Laziness and lack of professionalism on the part of chess bureaucrats in
this country has put chess in the US on the brink of disaster. We already
are too weak to defend our home court against marginally stronger European
players, and the worst is yet to come. – Alex Yermolinsky
The avocation of a professional chess player in the US is still something of
a renegade/frivolous/alternative lifestyle, and it is because the USCF
hasn't shown the leadership needed to gain respect for the game and its
leading exponents.
– Stephen Leary
Here in America one of the reasons that the big sports - football, baseball
and basketball - are so popular, is because of people like Michael Jordan.
He's not just a cool person; he makes $47 million a year. And here, that
makes you a hero, whether or not you score the winning shot. If our success
is based on financial means, society will keep saying, loser, loser, to the
chess players. It makes chess professionally very hard. Sometimes I feel
like saying 'OK mum, I'll go back to school and become a doctor. – Yasser
Seirawan
The very concept of security/insecurity is imbedded into the fabric of the
American society. It's all about self-esteem, and when you know you can be
terminated at any minute because some a**holes from New Windsor no longer
have the dough to satisfy their corporate ambitions, it makes you wonder if
you are in the right business. You let that doubt crawl into your mind and
suddenly you're half the man you used to be. No more World Open
Championships for you, my friend. – Alex Yermolinsky
The inner workings of the chess political machinery is usually of no concern
to most chessplayers. But the cancellation of the US Championship has
brought the incompetence of the USCF executives to the attention of the
general membership. One must assume that the reason no one wants to sponsor
the US Championship is because the USCF bigwigs have antagonized and
alienated all the usual funding prospects. Maybe they should consider a
telethon. What is Jerry Lewis doing this time of year?
– Stephen Leary
This is a sad indictment of the apparent mismanagement of American chess in
recent times. – Ron Henley (on the USCF's financial inability to hold the US
Championship)
I suppose it is an exceedingly nice life to be considered the World Champion
without having to actually defend such a title in a match! – Yasser Seirawan
There are many sports where the World Champion is not the generally accepted
top player, and indeed if this were not the case there would be no point in
holding World Championships at all. We could just declare Kasparov Champ in
perpetuity and forget it - as he seems to have done himself. – Tony Miles
From now on, the World Champion must defend his title on the chessboard, not
in press conferences or in the courts.
– Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
Unless we talk about ranks and titles, the organizing body does not really
matter. And if it is just money the chess players are fighting for, then
everything is clear: the one who gives the money sets the rules. – Garry
Kasparov
Does carrying the FIDE title make its carrier ipso facto the strongest
player in the world? Are you not the strongest player in the world unless
FIDE says you are? When Scarecrow asked the Wizard of Oz for a brain, Tin
Man for a heart, and the Cowardly Lion for courage, what did the Great and
Powerful Oz give them? A diploma, a testimonial, and a medal. – Burt
Hochberg
I have signed a contract with FIDE, my signature binds me, and I am a man of
my word. – Viswanathan Anand (on refusing to play in the 1998 WCC match with
Kramnik to determine a challenger for Kasparov)
The chess world has had enough of this negative experience. Imagine the
situation that each successive world champion, right after winning the
title, breaks with the world of chess and makes up his own regulations and
championships. This will get us nowhere! – Alexander Khalifman
I do believe that the Kasparov - Kramnik match can not have anything to do
with any kind of World Championship, be it official, historical, Brain or
whatsoever. I am the legitimate candidate for it since 1998. – Alexei Shirov
Now, two years have passed and the situation is completely different: no one
wants to organize this match. The moment has gone. We cannot hold everything
up for him so it can be organized. Yes, it’s a pity for him what has
happened, but it’s life.
– Vladimir Kramnik
I personally don’t feel any guilt or any responsibility for the situation
that Shirov finds himself in. – Vladimir Kramnik
All this talk about two world champions is nonsense. Kasparov is the only
real one. He proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. To win the title you
have to beat Kasparov in a match. It's as simple as that. – Alexei Shirov
My title cannot be taken away by decree. To be the new world champion,
somebody is going to have to sit down across the table and beat me fair and
square. – Garry Kasparov
Kasparov is like a McLaren and Kramnik is a Ferrari, now we want to see how
they perform out on the track! – Julian Hodgson
Kramnik is a young man in his prime, fearless and very strong. He is
inspired by this big match and needs this sort of challenge. He’s very
modest himself, but he wants to win it and I think he will. – Lord Rennell
(on Kramnik's match with Kasparov)
Watching Kasparov was a revelation. He looked absolutely miserable. He knows
he's beat - it's written on his face. Kramnik knows too. A serene confidence
radiates from him like some sort of chess Buddha. – David Dunbar
I felt I had no openings with White or Black. Kramnik made some bold choices
and my opening preparation was busted. If you think I didn’t prepare for
this match, wait until the tournaments, till Wijk aan Zee. I wasn’t
outplayed on the board, I was outprepared. He did play better than me in the
match, but I don’t know if that’s saying much. – Garry Kasparov (on losing
his match with Kramnik)
In fact you could say that all the failures in this match, his as well as
mine, can be attributed to character. For my part, I admit to being
impulsive. My capacity to remain steady over a long period was, and is,
under-developed. – Garry Kasparov (on his 2000 match with Kramnik)
Only a few people can understand what this actually means. Before this
match, I had only a vague idea myself. There are so many imponderables. The
skill is in organizing one's forces correctly, finding the critical moment
in the game, and then not losing your nerve. – Garry Kasparov (on experience
and the Kramnik match)
He played for the end game. That was a very smart decision. He didn't show
any superiority. I played poorly. I was not up to the task. – Garry Kasparov
(on Kramnik in their 2000 match)
Kramnik was close to catastrophe in the opening. He can boast of only one
game - the second game of the match. All the rest he played with clenched
teeth. – Yevgeny Bareev
In London we saw that the new world champion prevented the last one from
playing his natural game. To be more accurate, Kramnik made Kasparov feel
too inhibited to play his normal, fearless game. Kasparov, for once, was
weak psychologically when confronted by a resolute opponent who gave him
absolutely no fear to feed off. – Jonathan Levitt
I mean when you feel that something goes wrong and when you feel that your
opponent plays better than you at this moment and you have problems in every
game, you simply go down psychologically. I mean this is so natural, and
every chessplayer experiences it at least once in his life. I mean it's
completely normal. And the other way around also. When you feel you play
very well, you get much more positive, you're very spirited. – Vladimir
Kramnik (on the psychological edge he had against Kasparov in their
Braingames match)
I think the main reason is that I simply played better than him during this
match. – Vladimir Kramnik (on why he defeated Kasparov in their 2001 WCC
match)
It was effectively capitulation in the final games. I would love to know
what was going through his mind. – Raymond Keene (on Kasparov's play in his
match with Kramnik)
Kasparov played the kind of chess that was absolutely alien to him. –
Vladimir Tukmakov
Basically, Kasparov was ambushed. Kramnik used a very good strategy and
managed to carry it off. He’s not the first with the idea of trying to
contain Kasparov as he did, but it’s another thing to be able to do it as
well. – Viswanathan Anand
No doubt we will get around to calling it the Kramnik - Kasparov match once
we get used to the fact that the King is dead, just as the Capablanca-Alekhine
match is now referred to as Alekhine - Capablanca, and so on. – Chris
Depasquale
I have paid tribute to the man who beat me and I have vowed that I will
return and win back the title. – Garry Kasparov
He’s got to earn the right to play me again. I’ve told Brain Games that they
have to stick by their contract of providing a proper structure to determine
a challenger for my crown. – Vladimir Kramnik (on Kasparov)
And since I don’t think Mama Kramnikova raised any fools, I don’t think
there will be a rematch. – Mig Greengard
Kasparov would get a shot at getting his title back and would probably play
a title match with Kramnik for free in Washington Square Park if offered the
chance. – Mig Greengard (on a possible rematch)
Hard to imagine him swallowing his pride and playing in the FIDE knockout,
but "the people's ex-champ" doesn't have much of a ring to it, does it?? Oh
well, that is his problem. – Tony Miles (on Kasparov)
Vladimir Kramnik has just won a very tough and very important match for him,
but this match has nothing in common with World Championship at all. –
Alexander Khalifman
If FIDE wants to organize its own events, let them do so, but the chess
world will recognize that they will have nothing to do with a real world
championship. The title is owned by the World Champion, not by an
organization which has lost legitimacy. I stand at the end of a line, which
started with Steinitz in 1886, and this will be so until I am defeated in a
match. With FIDE I will have absolutely nothing to do, and what they say and
do is irrelevant. – Garry Kasparov
I was really shocked when I read the last issue of the German magazine
Schach. Germany is one of the major chess countries in the world and this
magazine is very popular there. There is an interview with Vladimir Kramnik
in the number 12 issue and it goes like this: 'How is it to be the World
Champion?' Always World Champion. At no moment there is something like
Braingames WC. Just World Champion, just like that. And an announcement: ‘In
the next issue we’ll inform you about the FIDE Knockout spectacle!’ Not even
FIDE World Championship but “knockout show”! Just like that. It’s
incredible! And after that: 'We’ll tell you how to determine a World
Champion in a democratic way.' What an irony! OK, it’s not 'democratic way',
it’s just sport! It's not general elections of the World Champion. We just
play chess here, nothing else. – Alexander Khalifman
To win in this championship you have to emerge alive from a river infested
with crocodiles. – Viswanathan Anand (on the FIDE world championship
knockout tournament)
On the one side we have a player, currently number 2 in the rating list, who
won the World title in a fair and square struggle against the world's best
100 professional players who had themselves passed through a tough and
rigorously objective qualification system; on the other side a number 3
player who was selected by the virtue of having lost a qualification match
and after having robbed his fellow-grandmaster of both his money and
legitimate rights to dispute a match against the PCA-WCC-BGN champion. –
Valery Salov
Of course, it’s changed days at the top with Anand and Kramnik having world
titles of one description or another, and Kasparov out in the cold, his only
comfort being his undisputed world No.1 spot - thanks to his good friends at
FIDE. – John Henderson
Of course, now there are two World Champions, and you could argue for a long
time as to which title has greater credibility. This is a result of the
Kasparov - Short match in 1993, when they left the FIDE and set up the PCA.
Let’s put it this way: neither title is what the one used to be. There would
be more prestige to a title if everyone recognized it. – Viswanathan Anand
I share the opinion of both these players: live and let live. Vishy is FIDE
world champion and played super tournaments in Delhi and Teheran. Vladimir
has broken the supremacy of the strongest player for the last 15 years.
Taking into consideration tradition, it is logical that he too regards
himself as world champion and feels like a champion. Therefore, we currently
have two champions, Kasparov, who is as strong as an ox, and a few young
grandmasters who also have great potential. This generates a lot of tension
and interest. What is wrong with that? In boxing there are up to four world
champions in each weight division. From time to time they challenge each
other. These are the really big fights. – Peter Leko
Everybody has their own opinion of the current state of affairs: Kramnik,
Anand, me, and probably everybody in this room. We now have two world
champions of equal strength. Kramnik has 120 years of tradition behind him;
Anand has an organization (FIDE). I recognize only Kramnik as the world
champion, as he defeated me to become it. To become world champion you have
beat your predecessor; the name of the organization, be it FIDE, PCA,
Braingames or Pepsi doesn’t matter. That way you are part of a tradition of
a title, which has only had fourteen holders in almost 120 years. – Garry
Kasparov
We won’t be able to amuse ourselves with the idea of "two champions" for
long. – Garry Kasparov
Chess is thriving. There are ever less round robin tournaments and ever more
World Champions. – Robert Hübner
Winning the world title comes with certain responsibilities. The longer he
waits, the less value his title will have. Kramnik may have some dreams of
his own, but he has to take account of economic realities. Money does not
grow on trees, or fall from the sky; he must take account of what people are
willing to pay money for, and I believe that they are most willing to pay
for a rematch between Kramnik and myself. Kramnik also has a moral
obligation to play me, but it seems as if the new generation has little
respect for moral obligations. – Garry Kasparov
There's this terrible rift in chess. The world chess championship is a
disputed title. You've almost got a situation like boxing. Speaking as a
member of the chess world, it's extremely undignified. – Yasser Seirawan
For nearly nine years fans and players alike have sought after a return to a
stable qualification cycle and only one person on the planet who answered
when you called the world champion to dinner. – Mig Greengard
Maybe Kramnik would like to be remembered as the world champion who brought
the chess world back together? It's a tough call. Would you prefer to go
down in history like Alekhine, who held the title for over a decade but is
just as well known for dodging Capablanca after beating him for the title,
or like Euwe, who gave a rematch to Alekhine just two years after taking the
title and is best known for being a true gentleman? – Mig Greengard
What's up with this "win a title, join the witness protection program"
routine? Say what you will about Karpov and Kasparov, but they were out
there on the circuit knocking heads year in, year out. – Mig Greengard
Today Kramnik has to make a very brave decision. It seems to me that he was
mislead by so-called negotiations, by the idea of a reunification match that
is nothing more but FIDE and Ilyumzhinov’s political trick. If Kramnik
manages to find the right algorithm of behavior, then, I believe, we will be
able to start building a parallel structure with the idea of establishing
some professional association in the future. I am sure that it is impossible
to do it on the basis suggested by FIDE, as today the latter is practically
controlled by a private organization. – Garry Kasparov
After playing in the Dutch tournament last week, Alexei, welcome to Linares!
– Garry Kasparov (when Shirov had to face all the top players in the second
part of Wijk aan Zee, after an easy first part against the lowest rated
participants)
If it was fixed, how come I lost? – Garry Kasparov
When I met Shirov in Wijk aan Zee I talked to him and asked that he
apologize. I said: ‘Alexei, one can get worked up and this is understandable
but now it is time to admit your mistake.’ He didn’t give me any clear
answer - and after this I couldn’t shake his hand before the game. I’m sorry
to say that for the first time in my life I had to disregard this fine
tradition. – Garry Kasparov
I would accept even the softest form of apology or retraction. But he's
preferred to ignore me. This situation could never arise in tennis - he
would be fined so much he would forget how to open his mouth. – Garry
Kasparov
Even in the worst times, we shook hands. – Anatoly Karpov (on Kasparov)
I got a friendly wind in my sails and the rest was nearly automatic. – Garry
Kasparov (on Linares 2001)
So, the old guy can still play! – Garry Kasparov (after his defeat of
Ponomariov at Linares 2002)
A doping problem does not exist in the chess world. Not yet. But when doping
tests are introduced, prominent chess players will be forced to take the
advice of medicine men who can tell them how much coffee they may drink and
if their nose drops are on the black list. And once these contacts are
established, it will be only natural to ask the medicine man if he can give
some help improving the performance. When there will be doping tests in the
chess world, there will be doping. – Hans Ree
A chess player who would discredit the chess world by submitting to these
humiliating procedures, deserves to be expelled from it, greased with tar
and feathers, and avoided like a leper. – Hans Ree (on drug tests for chess
players)
His decision to grab some cash under the table from FIDE and ditch the 3K
Botvinnik Memorial for the FIDE KO is just the latest jab in a career of
back-stabbing and money-grubbing. Come on, Karpov even led the press
conference for the 3K tournament a few weeks before jumping ship! Only a
pygmy limbo champion could get any lower than this. I'm not saying he's the
first unscrupulous, unprincipled weasel to ever appear on the chess scene,
nor will he be the last. Kasparov had his opportunistic rapprochement with
Campomanes after years of kicking him in the shins. Fischer was principled,
but it turned out he holds some rather disgusting principles. Alekhine
avoided Capablanca like a congressman avoids opening his mail. But Karpov's
latest might just put him in the lead of this dubious race. – Mig Greengard
(on Karpov withdrawing from the 3K's event to play in the FIDE 2001 WCC
tournament)
In the chess world those who have kept their senses, are fighting a
rear-guard action, it often seems. – Hans Ree
Lord knows it seems like what goes on at the board these days is the
sideshow and what goes on off it the main event.
– Mig Greengard
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