MARK RUBERY CHESS

Former world champion, Garry Kasparov, was interviewed on the iconic BBC 4 radio program ‘Desert Island Discs’. Kirsty Young asked questions about his life inside and outside of chess punctuated by pieces of music that were memorable for the former World Champion.

Strangers In The Night –Frank Sinatra “My Trainer in 1976 Alexander Nikitin brought back a cassette with western music for me which was a revelation-Sinatra’s voice is so distinctive”

Symphony No. 40 –Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart “Mozart’s music has an easy flow with depths and strengths. I can make a projection of my life and what was depicted in the film Amadeus”

Etudes, Op.10 - No. 12 in C minor – Frederic Chopin

“With this revolutionary etude you feel you have to make a difference in life”

Overture to Phantom of the Opera –Original London Cast

“This was the first musical show I saw with my wife in 2003 in New York”

Koni priveredlivye – Vladimir Vysotsky “Before every game I played with Karpov in our first three matches I listened to this song because it charged me with energy”

Prelude to Carmen – Georges Bizet

“It is sheer energy, it is blood boiling, it makes me feel more energetic”

The Godfather Waltz – Nino Rota

“If you want to learn more about Vladimir Putin I recommend you read Mario Puzo’s book ‘The Godfather’. It is also one of my favourite movies”

Chi Mai – Ennio Morricone

“From the 1981 film ‘The Professional’ where the main character did everything right in his fight against the system yet still lost…”

Book Choice – ‘The Master and Margarita’ by Mikhail Bulgakov

Luxury Item - A telescope

WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN

‘You sit at the board and suddenly your heart leaps. Your hand trembles to pick up the piece and move it. But what chess teaches you is that you must sit there calmly and think about whether it’s really a good idea and whether there are other, better ideas.’ – Stanley Kubrick (Film Director)

As a footnote, one of Kubrick’s films ‘The Shining’ (1980) was based on a novel by Stephen King. The famous author of horror made a mini-series of his own story in the 1990s, which is based around the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, earlier the host of the 1985 US Closed Championships. An atmospheric, if unnerving venue for a tournament if ever there was one…