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Kasparov: A Look Back (Part III)

After his win over Anand, it would be several years before Kasparov would play another championship match. After finding a new sponsor in Braingames.net, and a new challenger in the young Valdimir Kramnik, Kasparov defended his title for the last time in the year 2000. Kramnik was something of an unknown at the time; in fact, he had lost a candidates match to Alexei Shirov before plans for an earlier world title match collapsed. Kasparov was widely expected to easily hold onto his title, much as he had in his last two matches.

Unfortunately for Kasparov, Kramnik proved to be a tougher opponent than anyone had anticipated. Kramnik took the second game of the match, held on with draws until the 10th, where he won again, and then drew the next five games to clinch an improbable 8.5-6.5 win over the heavily-favored champion. In 15 games, Kasparov had failed to find a way to win even a single game from Kramnik.

Despite repeated attempts at organizing another match - or series of matches - to reunify the World Chess Championship, Kasparov never got a chance to win back his title. According to Kasparov, his frustration with the lack of progress in this regard was a major factor in his eventual decision to retire from competitive chess. Several proposed matches have been abandoned in the last few years, including matches against FIDE World Champions Ruslan Ponomariov and Rustam Kasimdzhanov.

Kasparov retired in March 2005, after winning the Linares tournament - a result that seemed to signal his return to the top of the chess world. Kasparov leaves chess with a rating of 2812, ranked first in the world, as he has been for two decades. In fact, Kasparov will likely remain at the top of the world rankings for the next year, until his name is finally removed for inactivity.

By leaving, Kasparov has left a void at the top of the chess world. Several players are poised to take over the reins as "the world's best player." Kramnik is still the World Champion; Anand is now the highest-rated active player. There are several young players poised to step into the world of the elite players in the next few years as well, including Sergey Karjakin, Magnus Carlsen, and American champion Hikaru Nakamura. However, it seems unlikely that any of these players will be able to show the kind of dominance Kasparov displayed in the near future.

Kasparov's own future is equally unclear. He has said that he will still play in rapid events, and for fun; how much this means is yet to be seen. He is also interested in taking a leading role in Russian politics, either as an activist or candidate. And there's always the possibility that he will return to chess full-time someday.

Regardless of his future, Kasparov's chess career has left a permanent mark on the world of chess. He was one of the most dominant champions the game has ever seen, and is regarded by many to be the best player of all-time. The chess landscape was change forever when he became champion, and his retirement will likely do the same.

Anand Wins Second Consecutive Chess Oscar

Chess experts around the world voted Viswanathan Anand as the best player of 2004, awarding him the prestigous Chess Oscar by a wide margin. Anand was the only player who appeared on all 445 ballots, and received 279 first place votes.

Anand also won the 2003 Oscar, the second time he has won the award in consecutive years. Anand also won in 1995 and 1996. Garry Kasparov is the only other player to win the award in back-to-back years, accomplishing the feat in 1995 and 1996, as well as 2001 and 2002.

Anand had an exceptional year in 2004, particularly in his specialty - rapid events. He solidified his position as the world's second ranked player; with the retirement of Kasparov, he seems likely to have the top rating in the world as soon as Kasparov's name is removed from the list.

Kasparov finished second in the voting, with Peter Leko in third. Here are the top ten finishers, listed by total vote points, with first place votes in parentheses:

Viswanathan Anand - 5205 (279)
Garry Kasparov - 3664 (60)
Peter Leko - 3485 (43)
Vladimir Kramnik - 3344 (37)
Rustam Kasimdzhanov - 2088 (12)
Veselin Topalov - 1858 (2)
Vassily Ivanchuk - 1398 (7)
Michael Adams - 1378 (2)
Alexander Morozevich - 1128 (2)
Alexander Grischuk - 868

The Chess Oscar has been awarded annually for ten years. It is awarded by the Russian chess magazine 64.