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What
People Are Saying about Sports Training Programs
Questions
and Answers with
Former
World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov
Story
and Pictures by Jim Egerton
President
& Founder Chess-Now Ltd.
The
ex-World Chess Champion was in Oak Brook , Illinois
recently promoting his “ Chess for Peace” and “Chess
in Schools ” initiatives to the local community.
This was part of a one day festival of chess activities
including a scholastic team chess tournament, a presentation
of awards, and an open Question and Answer forum in
front of students and parents interested in finding
out what championship chess is all about.
As
an ex-world chess champion for 16 years, Mr. Karpov
now travels around the world promoting the use of chess
as a vehicle to increase understanding between nations
and to sponsor chess as a learning tool for children
in school. He was interviewed by the local press and
then stepped in front of a live audience to talk about
those initiatives.
Mr.
Karpov Meeting the Press
His
“ Chess in Schools ” is being supported in
all 17 provinces in Brazil . This is in addition to
programs he sponsors in Prague , Czech Republic and
Lindsborg , Kansas . He believes that chess is “good
for our children ”. It helps them create strategies
which results in better decision making on and off the
board. He is a member of the Parliament in Russia (the
State Duma) and that requires him to stay in Russia
and only travel on the weekends. He still likes to offer
a challenge to a young player when the opportunity arises.
Making
their Way to the Speaker Presentation
Here
are Mr. Karpov's answers:
Q:
Why didn't you play the 1975 match against Fischer for
the World Championship? ( This was a tough
way to start off but a question I am sure he has answered
many times.)
He
said he met Bobby Fischer in 1972 in San Antonio , TX
during a strong international grandmaster tournament.
Bobby had been invited to play but came by to observe
the proceedings. The 1975 match situation was very dynamic
and Bobby kept making demands about match conditions
that never seemed to end. One variable he considered
critical was the age difference of the players. When
Fischer played Spassky in Iceland in 1972 he was 8 years
younger than Boris. If Anatoly had played Bobby in 1975
he would have been 8 years younger than Bobby much less
experienced and a certain underdog. He said it would
have been interesting to see how Fischer would have
reacted facing new situations they had intended to create
during a match.
Q:
How did you get so good?
I
was fortunate to have chess in the household. My father
was a strong 1600-1700 level tournament player. He said
he was lazy at chess and was fortunate to have good
friends that played and a good teacher. Chess books
in the USSR were rare back in that day and one that
he remembers was the Game Collection of Capablanca.
He
was a good pupil in school earning medals and such receiving
a Director of Economy degree from Leningrad University
. He said he likes and plays tennis, skiing, soccer,
billiards and backgammon.
Q:
What openings do you play?
Up
until he was 22 years of age he only played e4. After
that he started to play d4 and then some c4 games as
well. To get better he strongly suggested the “ theory
of endgames and not so much openings. You can earn so
many extra points and half points by being able to calculate
positions that may arise.” (This comment should
be well heeded by younger players who tend to fantasize
about all the pieces and how they should invoke their
whole armies. Instead, practice your endgames.)
For
black he does not fianchetto the King-side bishop. Only
the Queen-side bishop leading to the Queen's Indian
Defense one of his specialties. He plays the Spanish
(Ruy Lopez), Russian (Petroff) and the Caro-Kann.
Q
& A from the Audience
Q:
Any suggestions on how to handle the pressures of playing
in a tournament?
Try
to relax for 1 to 2 hours after the game, especially
if you lose. Be out of the situation and make an effort
to forget the result. But don't relax too much because
there will soon be another round.
Q:
Asked by a young player which drew immediate chuckles
from the audience, what moves do you play to
beat your opponent?
He
replied that he plays the best moves and left it at
that.
Q:
Your reporter asked this question: If you could
rewrite the history of chess during the era you were
involved would you change anything?
At
first he did not understand the question but after getting
it translated, he immediately said: “ Of course
I would like to play Fischer for the championship. He
was trying to negotiate with Fischer during this time
but Fischer didn't like Jews and he didn't like Russians
so there isn't much left”, which drew a few chuckles
from the audience . “As long as you talked about
chess he was OK, however if he had something to say
he would just interrupt people or whoever was talking.”
Karpov
then made the claim that “ if he had won the 1984
World Championship match against Garry Kasparov he would
have been world champion much longer and he didn't think
that Kasparov would have ever been world champion!!!
”
He
was very upset that the officials decided to stop the
match that was in progress. He said we should resolve
our problems and observe the rules that were established
at the beginning. The officials however said since both
of them are Soviet citizens they were not showing favoritism
but they did not do what I said.
Q:
Why aren't there more girls playing chess?
He
answered that more girls are playing and getting better.
He thought they need more role models of women who are
successful at the game and that things should continue
to improve.
Q:
What is your opinion of Magnus Carlsen?
He
is clearly the best player in the world right now. I
think it is great that other countries are creating
players that can challenge for the top. He has great
potential and I think will do great things for the game.
Q:
What is your opinion about the upcoming Anand vs. Gelfand
World Championship match in May 2012? Who do you think
will win?
As
I said Carlsen is the best player in the world and he
is not playing in the match. I think this is a mistake.
Several years ago the chess federation started to destroy
the series of world championship matches and what we
have now is not the best match. In such a short series
of games anything can happen and either player can win
but Anand having the experience of having and defending
his title is probably the favorite.
With
that the Q and A was over and Anatoly Karpov then went
to the area where awards were being presented to the
tournament players.
Handing
out the Awards
Where
Did Karpov Go Next?
So
you think Mr. Karpov immediately flew home to Russia
? Well no, actually he spent part of his next day at
the Cook County Jail observing the inmates playing chess
in the jail. See WGN story for the details: http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-chess-program-introduced-at-cook-county-jail-apr02,0,1426001.story
For
an article describing the program and how it came about
see:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/03/cook-county-jail-chess-pr_n_1399438.html
Karpov
was impressed by the players and said some of them are
ready for tournament play. This “chess in the jail”
program was declared by the Sheriff, Tom Dart, as one
of the best programs they have ever implemented at the
jail. The prisoners paid for the chess sets out of their
own money. Some were interviewed and said that there
is less violence in the jail, inmates have something
to look forward to, they can work on their decisions
and that there is a 150 person waiting list to join
the chess club. In fact the word is that Cook County
has challenged DuPage County to a match. Now that is
putting out the challenge.
Playing
chess in prisons was the topic of a presentation made
at the 2nd George Koltanowski Memorial Conference on
Chess and Education, in Dallas , Texas , November 18-19,
2011. Professor Charles Moura Netto spoke on the development
of cognitive and social skills that can be stimulated
by chess outside a formal educational setting. He spoke
about the Brazilian experience of teaching chess in
prison in the state of Espirito Santo , Brazil , a project
called “Chess That Brings Freedom”. Many of the prisoners
are there for non-violent crimes and being associated
with the illegal drug business. The program has worked
to rehabilitate prisoners through chess. They bring
in local chess experts to teach the prisoners. Prisoners
make boards and sets for 890 public schools upgrading
the culture and means for the people who live in Brazil
. There will be some recognition in the Brazil World
Cup and Summer Olympics about the chess program. He
also said there is a reduction of violence and a lower
recidivism rate in the prisons.
For
a complete list and review of all the sessions at the
Koltanowski Chess in Education Conference, including
the PowerPoint presentations of all the speakers see:
http://www.utdallas.edu/chess/education-camp/second-koltanowski-conference.html
And
where will Mr. Karpov appear next? He is the scheduled
attraction at the National Open chess tournament in
Las Vegas , NV set for June 15 th through the 17 th
at the Riviera Hotel. The year he appeared there previously
set a record for the number of players in the tournament.
Can he top his previous best? Who knows at this point,
but it sure will put some fun back in chess and just
might be the chess vacation of the year.
For
a PDF version of this article hit: Q
& A with World Champion Karpov
In the current
issue of New In Chess Magazine,
former World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov is interviewed
by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam about the role he see chess
playing in developing students.
"From
all the trips I have made I realize that there is a
big demand, for instance, for chess for children. Leaders
of countries, presidents, governments, they are all
looking for something they can present to their youngsters.
Chess can become a part of social programs. We are not
presenting chess in schools because we want thousands
of grandmasters. The world doesn't need them. But we
want to teach children how to think, how to understand
strategies, how to make plans."
On
aligning chess with other world federations through
UNICEF:
"
I proposed this a long time ago, and the international
chess federation could have been the first federation
to sign an agreement with UNICEF. Chess could have been
the first federation, but the first one was FIFA five
years ago. You could see it at the World Cup when the
children were coming onto the pitch with flags and logos.
And we're not even the second federation, because UNICEF
has already made an agreement with the tennis federation.
But we still have a chance to be third."
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