Kasparov vs Karjakin - Is Kasparov right ?
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Dec 9, 2016
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#2
Yeah, I agree with everything Kasparov said. I'd also add that Kramnik wasn't much and it's a bit of a tragedy that he managed to steal the championship from Kasparov.
I think he won it.
Although he shouldn't have been the challenger, but that's Kasparov himself to blame.
Garry Kasparov was almost alone in failing to praise Sergey Karjakin after the World Championship match, describing the challenger as “drab”. In an interview for Radio Svoboda Kasparov went on to say that it would have been a debacle (or “misunderstanding”) if Karjakin had become the 17th World Champion. Karjakin hit back in some of his post-match interviews, describing Carlsen as a more universal player than Kasparov and saying the former champion “does everything against Russians, so naturally he was supporting Carlsen”.
Karjakin faces the press on his return to Moscow | photo: D Isayeva, Soviet Sport/ruchess.ru - Chess24.
In an interview with Radio Svoboda the 13. World Champion commented on Carlsen's win. He thought Karjakin's play to be inconspicuous. He was a strong grandmaster, but not more - in contrast to Magnus Carlsen who, according to Kasparov, had the qualities of a champion. According to Kasparov, Carlsen was basically better than Karjakin in all phases of the game.
In his customary outspoken way Kasparov said: "A World Champion Karjakin would have been a misunderstanding. After all, all 16 World Champions, starting with Steinitz, are remarkable players, and our chess world is proud of them. It would have been very strange indeed if a player such as Karjakin had outplayed an opponent of Carlsen's class. For such a sensation the stars in heaven really need to be in a seriously unusual constellation."
Kasparov shares the view of other observers that Carlsen had played below his usual level. However, Kasparov did not see political factors, which others had often conjured, at work in the match. "Karjakin has often revealed his loyalty to the regime of Putin. Sometimes he did this very aggressively. Magnus did not care much. There was no political background similar to that of Fischer-Spassky 1972, Karpov-Kortschnoi 1978 or the matches Karpov and I played."-- Chessbase.