Karpov-Kasparov chess nostalgia to sweep Valencia Sept 21
MOSCOW. September 19. KAZINFORM Valencia, Spain later this month will host a chess match between the 12th holder of the world title, Anatoly Karpov, and his successor, 13th world champion Garry Kasparov. The two Russian grand masters will play 12 games on the stage of Valencia's opera theater - four quick games and eight blitz ones; Kazinform refers to ITAR-TASS.
For 58-year-old Karpov and 46-year-old Kasparov this is going to be a historic encounter. Twenty-five years ago, in September 1984 the two clashed for the world chess crown for the first time. The forthcoming match is timed especially for the anniversary, and chess connoisseurs are unanimous the event is to evoke a strong sense of nostalgia. Reliable sources have said the agreement to celebrate the anniversary in this way was achieved last May.
The first match for the world crown in 1984 seemed to be fraught with no great problems for experienced Karpov, who made a very rapid headway at the beginning to gain a more than comfortable advantage of five points to nothing. He stopped right there, though, one victory short of confirming his world title. Kasparov stood firm and there followed a long string of mostly dull draws. At a certain point the ambitious contender managed to turn the tide. That first match lasted four months, during which times 40 games were played. It came to an abrupt and unexpected halt, when the score was still five points to three in Karpov's favor. No winner was named. The then president of the world chess federation FIDE, Florencio Campomanes, appeared at a controversial, dramatic, even sensational news conference to declare the open-ended tug-of-war had lasted for too long and he had the fear the chess players' health might fail. Both contestants claimed they were prepared to fight to the bitter end; Kazinform cites ITAR-TASS.
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