Garry

I barely followed the other games of the Sinquefield rapid and blitz, Garry was all that mattered.

The excitement was mixed with discomfort though. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I have always felt this strong feeling of confidence when watching elite performers. Whether that is Federer, LeBron or Messi, I always expect them to perform well. And Kasparov didn’t.

The discomfort was slowly beginning to transform to shame. I was ashamed that Garry got beaten, that he kept on blundering, that he kept on getting in insane time-troubles, that his hands were shaking. That was not the Garry I used to know, the champion who dominated the world for decades.

I have always wondered what makes legends return once they have retired. Another hero of mine, Fischer, made an even more incredulous come-back, but in his case it must have been the money. He was leading such a miserable life that he probably decided to cash in before it was too late. But with Kasparov? No money can buy the humiliation and destruction of the legend he created with his magnificent career. Both these cases strengthened my belief that legends must never return. The moment they return, the legend is destroyed.

Kasparov heavily criticised Fischer for coming back. Now he did the same thing he criticised Fischer for.

The last day of the blitz was just too weak a balm for the gaping wound of the first four. “Look, he can still do it, if only he devoted himself to study and training…” But he won’t. His life is other things now and playing chess is not one of them.

Kasparov said that this was a huge success for the popularisation of chess. Not really. This was a huge success for the popularisation of Garry Kasparov and, to a lesser extent, the Sinquefield Cup. Chess will slump back to the previous levels of popularity soon enough as if nothing happened.

I was very excited to see Garry play again. Seeing him how he played I felt ashamed. Now I am relieved. The last Najdorf of his career against Dominguez was the final bitter-sweet goodbye and I thank him for that.

 

Alex Colovic
A professional player, coach and blogger. Grandmaster since 2013.
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3 Comments
  • Aug 31,2017 at 11:43 am

    […] friend and colleague Alex Colovic has one of the most popular chess blogs in the world and is always worth reading. A life-long fan of Kasparov’s play, Alex did not […]

  • Joao Rita
    Aug 23,2017 at 9:17 am

    I just got around to seeing the games, I rarely take interest on blitz major tournaments, but, like you mentioned, because kasparov was there I decided to have a look.

    Some games were, positively cringe worthy. Like you I hardly recognize him.

    • Alex Colovic
      Aug 23,2017 at 8:20 pm

      Cringeworthy is a very precise word to describe it!

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