MARK RUBERY CHESS
The 12th World Champion, Anatoly Karpov, conducted a long an in-depth interview with the Russian newspaper Sport Express. In this extract he discusses honour and loyalty…
Q: Once in an interview you commented that in 1962 Korchnoi had deliberately dumped a game to Petrosian. “Their wives were friends and the wife of Petrosian persuaded Kortchnoi’s wife Bella to lobby her husband to lose on purpose. Since it made no difference by that point, he agreed.” Have you ever been asked to deliberately lose a game?
(This is in reference to the 1962 Candidates Tournament in Curacao, where Korchnoi lost two of his four games against Petrosian. Later in 1971 Petrosian was promoted as the next rival to Fischer, as it was believed he had the best chances...)
AK: Yes, it happened in the Candidates Final in 1990 against Jan Timman. The winner of the candidates would earn the right to play against Kasparov. One of the sponsors of the Dutch grandmaster asked me straight out: If you’re tired of facing Kasparov, I am prepared to compensate you to lose the match to Jan. How much do you want?
Q: What was your answer?
AK: Nothing! If I agree, I will lose my self-respect. I believe Jan knows nothing of this episode.
Q: The most painful betrayal in your life? AK: Beliavsky. We were friends and worked together in 1986. A year later he went to Kasparov.
Q: Had you quarreled? Or was it a question of money?
AK: The circumstances that led him to take this step are not known to me. There was no conflict between us. Even if there had been a disagreement, it is morally wrong to immediately go work for the opponent. Finally it comes down to chess secrets and nuances of preparation. But Beliavsky found this perfectly normal. In general, there have been a lot of defectors in chess at all times. Once the world champion loses his title, many around him will switch and try to be part of the winner’s camp. When I became FIDE world champion again many tried to come back, but that train had already left.
Q: Was Beliavsky among them?
AK: No, he knew that the feelings toward him were very negative, not as a chess player but as a person.
Q: Your parapsychologist Vladimir Suchar also switched to Kasparov’s camp. Isn’t that also betrayal?
AK: That is a different situation. Suchar liked to present himself to journalists, telling them what a great psychologist he was. Originally, I had invited Suchar to the match with Korchnoi in Moscow in 1974 as a counter action. In Kortchnoi’s team a parapsychologist showed up and I was tense for this reason. I knew the character of Viktor Lvovich: If he has something that his rivals do not he gains confidence and his forces grow…
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN
“The beauty of chess is it can be whatever you want it to be. It transcends language, age, race, religion, politics, gender and socioeconomic background. Whatever your circumstances, anyone can enjoy a good fight to the death over the chess board.” –GM Simon Williams