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End of an Era: Kasparov Announces Retirement

At an emotional press conference held after the final round at Linares, former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov announced that he will be retiring from competitive professional chess, effective immediately.

Kasparov, frustrated by the uncertain reunification process for the world championship, says he might still play some chess - but only rapid events, and only for fun.

Kasparov, who has been the top-rated player in the world for the past 20 years, left on top, finishing first in his final tournament. He had planned to give the announcement during the next day's closing ceremonies, but decided to announce his retirement immediately after losing his final game of his career.

In next week's issue, we will have an in-depth look back at the career of one of the greatest - if not the greatest - chess players in the history of the game, along with a look at what Garry's future might hold for him. For more information on the press conference, click here for a full report from The Week in Chess.

Kasparov Takes Linares on Tiebreaks over Topalov

Garry Kasparov dominated the bottom of the Linares on his way to capturing first place at Linares 2005, with a 8/12 score. Kasparov took first place over Veselin Topalov - who also scored 8 points - on tiebreaks, based on having more wins with the black pieces.

Kasparov, who announced his retirement from serious chess after the tournament, took control of the tournament in the middle rounds thanks to wins over Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Francisco Vallejo Pons in rounds 9 and 10. He then put the tournament all but out of reach with a brilliant win over Adams with the black pieces in round 12:

White: Adams, M (2741)
Black: Kasparov, G (2804)
Linares, Round 12
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. Be2 Qc7 8. Qd2 b5 9. a3 Bb7 10. f3 Nc6 11. O-O-O b4 12. axb4 Nxb4 13. g4 Be7 14. g5 Nd7 15. h4 Nc5 16. Kb1 Rb8 17. h5 O-O 18. g6 Bf6 19. Rdg1 Ba8 20. Bg5 Be5 21. gxh7+ Kxh7 22. Nb3 Nxc2 23. Nxc5 Na3+ 24. Ka2 Qxc5 25. Na4 Nc2 26. Kb1 Qa3 0-1

Going into the final round, Kasparov held a full-point lead over Topalov. However, Topalov had the white pieces against Garry in the last game, giving him a chance to grab a share of first, even if he couldn't win first place money. Kasparov looked to have solidified a drawn game, but then traded into a losing king and pawn endgame, perhaps under the stress of knowing it was the final game of his career.

White: Topalov, V (2757)
Black: Kasparov, G (2804)
Linares, Round 14
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Bc4 d6 5. d3 Be7 6. O-O Nf6 7. Nh4 Nd4 8. g3 Bg4 9. f3 Be6 10. Bg5 Ng8 11. Bxe7 Nxe7 12. f4 exf4 13. Bxe6 fxe6 14. Rxf4 Kd7 15. Nf3 Rf8 16. Rxf8 Qxf8 17. Nxd4 cxd4 18. Ne2 Qf6 19. c3 Rf8 20. Nxd4 Nc6 21. Qf1 Qxf1+ 22. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 23. Kxf1 Nxd4 24. cxd4 d5 25. Kf2 Ke7 26. Kf3 Kf6 27. h4 g6 28. b4 b5 29. Kf4 h6 30. Kg4 1-0

Finishing 3rd was Viswanathan Anand. For most of the tournament, Anand appeared to be the greatest threat to Kasparov. Unfortunately, he lost steam in the last few rounds, scoring just 1 point in his final 3 games. He lost his final game to Adams, leaving him with a solid but disappointing 6.5/12. It could have been worse, as Vallejo Pons had a winning position in round 12, only to miss the winning move in a simple rook and pawn endgame.

White: Anand, V (2786)
Black: Vallejo Pons, F (2686)
Linares, Round 12
1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 b6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. O-O e6 6. Nc3 Be7 7. d4 cxd4 8. Qxd4 Nc6 9. Qf4 Qb8 10. Qxb8+ Rxb8 11. Bf4 Rc8 12. Nb5 Ne4 13. Rfd1 a6 14. Nd6+ Nxd6 15. Bxd6 Bxd6 16. Rxd6 Ke7 17. Rad1 Rc7 18. b3 f6 19. Ne1 Rb8 20. Nc2 Bc8 21. f4 Nd8 22. e4 Nf7 23. R6d2 Bb7 24. a4 a5 25. h4 Rd8 26. Kf2 Rc5 27. Nd4 Ba8 28. Ke3 Bb7 29. Bf3 Ba8 30. f5 Re5 31. g4 Nd6 32. fxe6 dxe6 33. Nb5 Nf7 34. Rxd8 Nxd8 35. Na7 Bb7 36. Rb1 Kd7 37. b4 axb4 38. Rxb4 Ra5 39. Nb5 Nc6 40. Rb1 Ne5 41. Be2 Rxa4 42. Nc3 Ra3 43. Kd2 Kc6 44. g5 Ba6 45. gxf6 gxf6 46. Rf1 Nxc4+ 47. Bxc4 Bxc4 48. Rxf6 b5 49. Nd5 Bxd5 50. exd5+ Kxd5 51. Rf7 h5 52. Rh7 e5 53. Rxh5 Kd4 54. Rh8 Ra2+ 55. Kd1 Rh2 56. h5 b4 57. h6 Kd3 58. Kc1 Kc3 59. Rc8+ Kb3 60. Rh8 Kc3 61. Rc8+ Kb3 62. Rh8 e4 63. Kd1 Kb2 64. Ke1 b3 65. h7 e3 66. Kd1 Kb1 67. Rb8 Rxh7 1/2-1/2

Peter Leko once had a reputation as a boring player, due to the frequency of drawn games he played. While he has worked to change this view in the last few years, Linares may have reversed any progress he made. Amazingly, Leko managed to draw all 12 of his games, finishing with an even 6/12 score.

England's Michael Adams finished 5th with 5.5 points. After a disappointing start, Adams rallied back to a respectable score by defeating Anand in the final round.

White: Anand, V (2786)
Black: Adams, M (2741)
Linares, Round 14
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 c6 8. Bc3 d5 9. Ne5 Nfd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. Nd2 O-O 12. O-O Rc8 13. e4 b5 14. Re1 dxe4 15. Bxe4 bxc4 16. Nxc4 Nb6 17. Nxb6 axb6 18. Qc2 h6 19. a4 Qc7 20. Red1 Rfd8 21. Rac1 Qa7 22. Bb2 b5 23. Ra1 bxa4 24. bxa4 Bf6 25. Qd2 c5 26. d5 Bxb2 27. Qxb2 Bb7 28. Qe5 Qa8 29. a5 Bxd5 30. Bxd5 exd5 31. a6 d4 32. Rd3 Rd7 33. h4 Qa7 34. Rb3 c4 35. Rb4 c3 36. Qf5 g6 37. Qd3 c2 38. Rc1 Rc3 39. Qd2 Qxa6 40. Rxc2 Qc6 41. Rbb2 Kh7 42. Qd1 h5 43. Kh2 Rc7 44. Rxc3 dxc3 45. Rc2 Qe4 46. Rc1 Kg7 47. Rc2 Rc8 48. Rc1 Rc5 49. Kg1 Kh7 50. Qd6 Rf5 51. Qd7 Rf3 52. Qa7 Qd5 0-1

Finally, both Vallejo Pons and Kasimdzhanov finished with 4 points, tying for sixth place. The result, while predictable, is disappointing for both players; Vallejo Pons has yet to breakthrough in a major event like Linares, while a better result could have given Kasimdzhanov more legitimacy as FIDE World Champion.

For winning the event, Kasparov took home a prize of 100,000 euros. In a measure designed to produce fighting chess, the majority of money at this year's tournament was in the prize fund, instead of going to appearance fees for the players.