BREAKING NEWS: Garry Kasparov comes out of retirement for Saint Louis GCT event!

Magnus wasn't scheduled to play in Sinquefield. That may have been part of why Garry chose that event!

Kasparov couldn't have picked a much tougher field than this... If he doesn't beat all these World Champions in blitz (four of them in the field, and that doesn't include Nakamura, Nepomniachtchi and Anand!) people will say that he didn't impress at all and is overrated. Even if he would win (which he won't), people would say that, well, without Carlsen in the field it proved nothing.

Even at his peak Kasparov was by no means the clear favourite in speed chess events. Back then blitz wasn't as big as it is today. Now everyone is playing blitz all the time, and the level is higher than in the old days. And if Anand could do better than Kasparov in speed chess when both were active, it won't be all that easy for Kasparov after being retired for many years. It's just to look at Anand's score in the latest event to see how tough it is today.

My guess is that Kasparov will end up with an even score in the middle of the field, and that will be a good result. 

In the prediction form above, you can predict everything mentioned: his score, final position and number of wins (along with a few other tournament parameters) 

IBM dismantled Deep Blue because there is really nothing to be gained by winning a rematch with any human world champion, and everything to lose.  They got their money's worth from the matches.  What brand publicity would they gain by winning another match now?  Go ahead, pitch us on why putting up another million+ prize fund and promoting and hosting an event (millions more) would have a great return on investment...we'll pretend we're the IBM marketing department and chuckle quietly.

Did you think Millionaire Chess would work, too?

Kasparov, meanwhile, performed quite well against the top 10 last year, which obviously encouraged him to try his hand officially this year.  He's playing faster time controls because he is smart enough to know that he has the best shot in those time controls, plus his classical rating remains untouched.  It's a no-brainer.

Your understanding of both corporate and GM motivations seems sketchy, at best.  Maybe taking a pass is your best bet...focus on summer school .

Just to throw in, as comparison: In Leuven Anand scored -2 in both the blitz and the rapid section, ending up with -4. Then there was a Jobava in the field (no comparable player this time) and Anand scored a plus against him in both formats. And Anand has always been great at blitz and rapid, and played a title match in classical less than three years ago. So these events are tough.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing.  I don't see Wesley So on the list either.   I think he is ducking those two players.  I love Garry's game though and hope he does well.   I'm very curious to see where he will land, in the top 100 FIDE list.   I think he's still top 10 material, even though he's past his prime.  We'll see.   

Kasparov came 3rd in ultimate blitz last year, behind So and Naka and above Fabi with a 2779 TPR and got 9,5/18..  FOr comparison Naka had 11 and So 10 or 10,5
I think he will finish 4th or 5th here..

Put another way, Rasta, Kasparov finished second from last. There were only four players! While his play was promising, it was also rusty. Kasparov himself wasn't happy with his result. He said there was plenty of reason to be optimistic, but what matters in the end is wins and losses. 

I agree with Kasparov!

I'm hoping he does well, but it will be a tiring event. Nice positions aren't enough, he will have to win games. If he scores +50%, it will be a good event for him. 

I still think Nakamura has to be considered the favorite, as does Emil Sutovsky.

The opposite reaction is quite stupid :-) Brushing off the reigning World Champion in blitz (and previous in rapid) with a remark about that he sometimes scores unimpressive results is silly. And of course quite a few top players are missing, as in all events. But the field does have four Blitz World Champions, plus Anand, Nepomniachtchi, Nakamura, etc. It's an enormously strong event.

Maybe it's enormously strong for most GM's, but we're talking about Kasparov here.  The second greatest player of all-time.  I'd like to see him matched up with Carlsen, So, Nakamura, Kramnik, Aronian, Caruana, MLV, Anand, Mamedyarov, Karajakin, Grischuk, Giri and Ding.  Several of those guys are not playing though, for whatever reason.  It's a strong field, but not the strongest possible field.  The wildcards are no-names (except for Kasparov).   I guess they are blitz specialists though.  They have very high blitz ratings.  They probably win on time often, but lose material against the top Super-GM's.  Just a hunch.

Second greatest? :)

 #31 .. SMyslov I agree with you, but still got more than 50% from US's top 3 seed.

  Kasparov isn't that rusty though, is he?.. He plays simuls all the time, Have been writing chess books and so on..  I think he will get slightly over 50% in this one.

Yes, after Bobby Fischer, of course.  

I'm not agreeing or disagreeing... Let's call Kasparov "the greatest living legend of chess"

Hey there,

Boy, you made me take a breath. I respect what you said. I completed Business & Travel, Hotel Management and even Bartending school in past summers, thank you very much. Check my resume, it's all there. I brought up K vs DB III because I had heard from a reliable acquaintance it might become a possible match, it even became a discussion here with other users. In a forum.

Good evening sir and take care, 

C.J.

"The wildcards are no-names (except for Kasparov).   I guess they are blitz specialists though.  They have very high blitz ratings.  They probably win on time often, but lose material against the top Super-GM's"

You are talking about players like Dominguez and Le, who both have won the World Blitz Championship :-) To say that they win on time and then drop pieces against top players seem rather, well, harsh :-) When Le won it was over 30 rounds, ahead of players like Grischuk and Nepomniachtchi, after beating both. When Dominguez won it was ahead of Ivanchuk and Grischuk, and he was undefeated in the event, where he won against Grischuk.

And as for Sutovsky sounding as if Aronian is some sort of hand-picked blitz patzer to be beaten up by Kasparov, this sort of results are decent enough :-)

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=72529

Technically what the OP said is false.

Top ranked and top rated are not the same thing.  In rank terms, the world champion is number one, even if he is say, third in rating.

Kasparov did not hold the title for 20 years.  Only 15, from 1985 to 2000 when Kramnik dethroned him.

Even if it were 20, that would not be a record for the longest ever.  Lasker had it longer than that, and he to this day still owns that record since the system began with Steinitz as world champion.

.. To my mind ; 'Kasparov's chances, of acquitting himself well, {let alone 'win' the 'blitz' tourney}; Are about the same, as 'Spartacus' in 'Roman' times ; Hypothetically, prevailing, in a 'gladiator' do-or-die, competition ; The same number of years, after he 1st established, his 'champion' credentials. o:

Didn't he do the same last year, and performed ok?