The New Man in Charge

By Tiago Santos, Rdio Xadrez Translated by Leandro Salles, Rdio Xadrez Garry Kasparov seems different. However, neither his physical appearance nor his way of walking into a wave of applause has changed in the former world champion. The forty-eight-year-old new man is free of the pressure that surrounded him when he last visited Brazil. His attitude is relaxed, his speech is warm, and he is far more receptive to the public. Apart from being retired and an active political reformer for FIDE or Russia, two of his current struggles he now acts as someone who has recently been awarded a degree in excellence in the School of Oratory and Charisma for the World's Most Successful Businessmen.

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My Great Predecessors by Garry Kasparov

Checkmate Tactics by Garry Kasparov GM Giovanni Vescovi (l) spoke at the start of the event.

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Wearing a blue shirt and light-toned suit and shoes, the once fearsome Ogre from Baku came smiling and waving unassertively to the applause of the audience in the Gauguin conference room, where he would inaugurate the First ADX Chess Festival, promoted by the Association for Chess Development, the sponsor of his visit to Brazil. He was content, flattered by the Brazilian reception, and, for the first time seemed to demonstrate a feeling of gratitude and humility, although in a subtle way, seldom seen in his public career of more than twenty years. With firm and confident steps, Garry headed to the table of seated dignitaries and briefly greeted the organizers, guests, and grandmasters. In attendance were GM Jaime Sunye Neto from the State of Paran, with whom he has contested one of his best games, and GM Giovanni Vescovi of So Paulo, who represents his interests in Latin America. When IM Herman Claudius van Riemsdijk announced him as being the "greatest chess player of all time," he smiled quietly, as if such a statement were an exaggeration.

Kasparov's Fighting Chess by Tibor Karolyi & Nick Aplin

Kasparov seeks the best way to express himself.

Garry warmly greeted his old Dutch friend and asked for the interpreter before he addressed the audience. Seeing her just behind him, he straightened his suit for the third or fourth time, adjusted the height of the microphone, and prepared to begin his speech about the Kasparov Chess Foundation and the press conference that would follow. It was almost 10:40 in the morning of August 30, and there was bright sunshine outside the WTC Sheraton Hotel in So Paulo, when Garry began to talk: "If my memory is not failing, I was here seven years ago, across the street, at the Hilton hotel," said the Russian, as if there were any possibility of a failing memory for a genius with an IQ higher than Albert Einstein's. The difference in the tone and timbre from the muffled and hurried voice of the last visit was remarkable. This was a much more prepared, inspiring, and persuasive speech. It seemed he had practiced it to exhaustion, the same way he once practiced the Sicilian Defense. Kasparov was no longer the egocentric genius known to destroy the will of his opponents at the chessboard; he was a sociable man, trying to persuade more and more people.

Kasparov was available for photos and autographs.

Everything was different now, as he insisted on highlighting: "it's not just the hotel that changed, many things have changed since last time," he said. Be it because of his retirement or due to his new objectives in life, the Garry Kasparov in charge now has another personality. Seven years later, he is more modest. "Many things happened since last time. One of them, as you know, is that I retired, in 2005, but that doesn't mean that I lost my interest and my passion for the magic game of chess," he said. The enthusiasm with which he played his games was now transferred to his public address. Even upon the simplest questions, he reflected and sought to answer in a manner to include, and to be understood by, the largest number of people. This concern with his audience defines his new attitude. The new Garry is sharing his ideas and assembling an army of people who believe and

defend the same ideology. He talks about his plans as if they were a divine mission. "I believe that, as someone who represented the game of chess for so many years, I have a special responsibility towards it." Even Anatoly Karpov, with whom he engaged in the most exciting and tense battles, now receives a special affection from the Russian. When the interpreter translated "arch-rival" as "enemy" in his remark about Karpov, Kasparov insisted on correcting her, demonstrating some knowledge of the Portuguese language: "my friend, friend!," he joked. When he was questioned by a reporter from the Terra website as to whether he would give him the honor of a chess game, he answered smiling in the same ironic way: "of course not." His good mood and his belief that he will change the history of chess, even if he is not competing professionally anymore, seemed as unshaken and solid as the Berlin Defense in which he lost the World Championship match to his one time student Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. Nevertheless, one thing that has not changed in this new Garry is the strength of character to undermine his opponents. He may be retired, but he is still very far from having given up the fight. In an interview of less than an hour, Kasparov distilled his strong convictions about the current FIDE President, who, according to him, is "wasting his time counting how many spaceships land on Earth or visiting his dictator friends such as Libya's Gadhafi"; about Vladimir Putin's regime, which he called "oligarchic dictatorship"; about the World Championship cycles that "abandoned the big cities"; and even about Kramnik himself, who's playing strength, according to Kasparov, is "being dismantled the same way as Deep Blue was."

Kasparov being interviewed for channel SporTV.

He graciously answered everyone, and was full of enthusiasm when the questions concerned the game of chess itself. He promised to establish an office for his Foundation in Brazil and another in Argentina, and later to expand his activities to South Africa. He talked about discovering talents in chess, about video games, and about the use of technology and the Internet to attract children to the sport. He also commented about his best games and revealed his dream of facing the best computer of all time. "The question is whether, in the peak of our performance, we can still beat them, even once," he said. After almost two hours, between his speech, press conference, and recording for TV, Garry Kasparov retired to his room, leaving the men in the hall astonished in his wake; the same as if they had just witnessed one of his masterpieces, such as the one against the Bulgarian Veselin Topalov in 1999, which Kasparov compared to "a direct lightning strike" of inspiration. To those present, who felt his tremendous energy, there remained no doubt that Garry is also conducting lightning wherever he travels.

Links

Rdio Xadrez entrevista Kasparov

O novo homem no comando Palestra completa de Garry Kasparov no Brasil Kasparov/Michel 1-0 Vescovi/Vescovi Filho

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