We were friends, once, but that was a long time ago…
SPRAGGETT ON CHESS
”Ilyumzhinov has been poisoning the roots of chess since he took office, a steady campaign to trivialize the game its players. Time controls shortened, zero tolerance for late arrival, match play eliminated , host sites removed to obscurity, dozens of wild initiatives and millions of dollars promised without results, and, the crowning achievement , FIDE itself is now best known for having a President who enjoys the company of dictators, madmen and aliens.” –Gary Kasparov (August 2011)
Yesterday, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Botvinnik, chessbase quoted some comments by Yuri Averbakh. Who is Averbakh? Apart from being one of the most respected Russian authorities on the endgame, he ” is a contemporary of Botvinnik – Yuri Lvovich Averbakh, Russian chess player and author, currently at 89 the oldest living chess grandmaster.”
Averbakh (left) was considered a close asscociate of Botvinnik for 60 years!
”In the beginning I was fascinated by the personality of Botvinnik. He was always interesting and had his own original views on many things. But then I found out that my objections to anything he said usually fell on deaf ears. Basically it was a monologue, not a dialogue – I was supposed to listen and admire him.” Yuri Averbakh (August 2011
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Then just the other day Chess Vibes quotes some excerpts of Kasparov’s latest NIC article. Kasparov , evidently, is still reeling from the huge disappointment of last year’s failure to oust the eccentric Kalmykian billionaire from the chair of FIDE. Kasparov does not beat around the bush:
”Ilyumzhinov has been poisoning the roots of chess since he took office, a steady campaign to trivialize the game its players. Time controls shortened, zero tolerance for late arrival, match play eliminated , host sites removed to obscurity, dozens of wild initiatives and millions of dollars promised without results, and, the crowning achievement , FIDE itself is now best known for having a President who enjoys the company of dictators, madmen and aliens.” –Gary Kasparov (August 2011)
