Kasparov-Kramnik
Braingames WCC 2000
Commentary by Alexander Baburin
Kramnik is a New World Champion!
The match between Kasparov and Kramnik produced a big surprise: not only Kramnik
beat Kasparov, but he did it very convincingly. Kasparov became the second World
Champion after Lasker who lost his title without winning even one game in the
match. Kramnik missed a win in games 4 and 6, so the score could be even higher.
When I asked my fellow GMs about Kramnik's chances in the match, they all said
that Kasparov would win for sure. Personally I believed that Kramnik had some
chances, despite his previous poor match history. However, I could not imagine
that Kasparov would lose the way he did...
I went to London to see games 8 and 9 and it was an
enjoyable experience. Kasparov and Kramnik played in the Riverside Studios,
which is a TV studio located not too far away from the centre of London. There
are about 300 places available in the studio and when I was there the hall was
almost full. Another 50-60 chess fans usually gather in the canteen, where they
could follow the game on TV screen. All spectators could listen to the
commentary on their headphones. During those two games GMs Short, Speelman and
Rowson were the commentators. I truly enjoyed listening to their conversations,
which keep the spectators well informed about what was going on in the game.
I guess that a lot of people followed the match on the
Internet, where some sites gave good coverage, for example Brain Games plc (www.braingames.net),
Kasparov Chess (www.kasparovchess.com)
and London Chess Centre (www.chesscenter.com).
I heard that Internet Chess Club also covered the event well. However, there was
not any TV coverage of the match in Britain, which is a big mistake of the
organisers of the match, who missed a good chance to popularise chess and
promote their company. I heard that Brain Games plc did not seek TV coverage
because they wanted more people to turn to their Web site. To me this argument
sounds strange ö more people would have learned about Brain Games plc and
their Web site if the match was on TV!
It is not very clear what impact the match and its
result will have on chess. Some people hope that there will be a reunion between
the World Champion and FIDE now, but this probably does not quite fit the plans
of Brain Games plc. By the way, this company has ambitious ideas, but it is too
early to say how realistic they are. Certainly I am not convinced by its plan
that everyone will be allowed to compete in the next World Championship over the
Internet. Even playing blitz on ICC some people cheat, using their computers, so
how they abandon them given a chance to play in the World Championship?!
Personally, I have no interest in playing against somebodyâs Fritz!
Brain Games organisation has its own rating. So, we have
FIDE ratings, PCA rating and now we get yet another rating system! Curiously
enough, in this rating list Anand is only No. 7. Surely it has nothing to do
with his refusal to play the match against Kasparov! At the same time Shirov
takes the third spot and I hope that such a high placing will strengthen his
position in the legal action, which he took against Kasparov in Spain.
Immediately after game 15 Kasparov said that he wanted
another match against Kramnik. I am not sure that sponsors will be easy to find
though. The match, which we just saw, was less than exiting for a chess public,
to put it mildly... So, perhaps the ex-champ should use the idea of one of my
friends, who suggested that Kasparov should immediately play a match-revenge
against... Shirov! That would solve all problems, wouldn't it?! :-) Another
interesting thought is what will happen if Brain Game plc will go bust? So,
let's wait and see what the next few months will bring us. Something may happen
at the FIDE Congress, which is taking place in Istanbul now. Alas, FIDE seems to
be going ahead with its much criticised commercialisation plans...
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