Kasparov says no to World Championship

MOSCOW, July 15: Professional Chess Association champion Garry Kasparov today refused to take part in a World Chess Championship finals to ...

MOSCOW, July 15: Professional Chess Association champion Garry Kasparov today refused to take part in a World Chess Championship finals to be held in Lausanne.

Questioning the format charted out for the championship, the PCA champion withdrew from the finals saying “the formula is imperfect and infringing on my rights”.

He conveyed his decision about skipping the championship in a reply to a personal invitation from the President of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, who took the lead in organising the championship to bring Kasparov and Fide world champion Anatoly Karpov face-to-face.

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Traditionally, the world champion takes on the challenger who comes through the Candidate-cycle.

In the letter which will be published fully in the 64th chess review magazine, Kasparov said: “He cannot and would not agree to play in a series of games whose organisation resembles a farce."

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