Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who held the title from 1985 to 2000, mentioned the upcoming world championship match between Ian Neopaniatchi and Ding Liren is “kind of a controversial event” as a result of it entails “the strongest players on the planet”. Not there. ,
Kasparov was referring to Norway’s five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen withdrawing from the match.
“It’s a great show, but not a world championship match,” Kasparov mentioned throughout the first video games of the American Cup, talking on the St. Louis Chess Club broadcast.
World no. World quantity two Ian Nepomniachtchi is about to play his World Championship opener in opposition to world quantity 14 Ding Liren on April 9 in Astana. The winner of this match would turn into the seventeenth undisputed world champion within the historical past of chess.
Garry Kasparov: “I think this year #grandchase tour Probably the strongest ever as we will have all the top players competing in various tournaments. Magnus is not part of the full circle, but he will be included in the programs and I think there will be a lot of excitement. pic.twitter.com/23uQG4ODXR
– Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) March 20, 2023
Kasparov mentioned that it was a pity that Carlsen wouldn’t play the match as he’s the very best participant on the planet.
“I can hardly call this a world championship match. For me, a world championship match should involve the strongest players on the planet, and this match is not. I’m not here to comment on Magnus’ decision, but it’s a disputed event. I have my own history with FIDE, so I’m not going to change my mind about the FIDE championship. It’s a pity that Magnus isn’t there and naturally, the match between Nepo and Ding anyway A great show, but it’s not a world championship match,” Kasparov mentioned.
Kasparov additionally in contrast it to the 1975 World Championship match when Anatoly Karpov grew to become world champion after Bobby Fischer refused to play. Fischer refused to play within the best-of-24 video games match on the time and, after FIDE was unable to achieve a compromise, misplaced his title as a substitute. Karpov was named world champion by default.
“This does not diminish the achievements of Nepo and Ding, who qualified fair and square to play this match, but the difference with 1975, when Karpov became world champion after Fischer left, is stark. stopped playing chess, Magnus did not. And so it is a very strange situation, especially for the Grand Chess Tour, because in a month we will have a “world champion” and at the same time the strongest player on the planet “
When requested who had the sting within the title conflict, Kasparov mentioned that Napo had a slight edge, though Ding was extra steady than Napo.
“And choosing your favorite of the two? I don’t know Both are very good players. A few years ago, I would have said Ding, but now after the pandemic, I think Nepo’s performance was better, plus he had the experience of playing world championship matches. He lost the match, but he had some experience, and that probably gives him a slight edge, although I think Ding is probably more stable than Nepo. I think it’s a very close call,” he mentioned.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
