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Journalism of Courage
Former World chess champion Garry Kasparov, who held the title from 1985 to 2000, said the upcoming World Championship match between Ian Neopmniachtchi and Ding Liren “is kind of an amputate event” as it doesn’t include the “strongest player on the planet”.
Kasparov was referring to the Norwegian five-time World Champions Magnus Carlsen’s withdrawal from the match.
“It’s a great show but not a World Championship match,” Kasparov said while talking on the Saint Louis Chess Club broadcast during the first games of the American Cup
World no. 2 Ian Nepomniachtchi is set to play the first of the 14-game World Championship match against World No. 3 Ding Liren in Astana on April 9. The winner of the match will become the 17th undisputed World Champion in chess history.
Kasparov said it’s a pity that Carlsen will not be playing the match since he is the best player on the planet.
“I can hardly call it a World Championship match. For me, the World Championship match should include the strongest player on the planet, and this match doesn’t. I’m not here to comment on Magnus’ decision, but it’s kind of an amputated event. I have my own history with FIDE, so that’s why I’m not going to change my view about the FIDE Championships. It’s a pity Magnus is not there and naturally, the match between Nepo and Ding is a great show anyway, but it’s not a World Championship match,” Kasparov said.
Kasparov also compared it to the 1975 World Championship match when Anatoly Karpov became world champion after Bobby Fischer refused to play. Fischer refused to play the then-standard best of 24 games match and, after FIDE was unable to work out a compromise, forfeited his title instead. Karpov was named World Champion by default.
“It doesn’t diminish the achievements of Nepo and Ding, who qualified fair and square to play this match, but the difference with, let’s say, 1975, when Karpov became World Champion after Fischer walked away, is quite obvious. Fischer stopped playing chess, Magnus has not. And that’s why it’s a very odd situation, especially for the Grand Chess Tour, because we will have the “World Champion” in a month’s time, and the strongest player on the planet at the same time.”
When asked who had the edge in the title clash, Kasparov said Nepo has a slight edge though Ding is more stable than Nepo
“And picking my favourite among these two? I don’t know. Both are very good players. A couple of years ago, I would say Ding, but now after the pandemic, I think Nepo had a better performance, and also he had the experience of playing the World Championship match. He lost the match, but he had some experience, and that probably gives him a slight edge, though I think Ding is probably more stable than Nepo. I think it’s a very, very close call,” he said.
