DON'T BLAME KASPAROV!
"I don't know how it's possible to win two matches in a row. I did it,
but I still don't know how I did it." -- Gary Kasparov who voluntarily
renounced the rematch clause.
FIDE is to blame. Both Botvinnik and Karpov enjoyed even greater
advantages than Kasparov.
Ever since 1948, when Mikhail Botvinnik won the title under
suspicious
conditions, the system was designed to protect Soviet supremacy by
making
it almost impossible for an outsider to wrest the title from behind
the Iron
Curtain. Botvinnik had draw odds in a 24-game series, an edge that
enabled
him to keep the title on a 12-12 tie in his first two defenses with
David
Bronstein in 1951 and Vasily Smyslov in 1954.
In addition, Botvinnik had the insurance of a rematch clause which he
invoked successfully after losing his next two matches with Smyslov in
1957 and Mikhail Tal in 1960. FIDE finally struck the infamous rematch
in
1963 before Botvinnik lost to Tigran Petrosian.
In return for ditching the 24-game format in favor of the first player
to win six games, FIDE restored the rematch clause in 1978 as a sop to
Karpov, a favorite of the Kremlin, against Soviet defector Viktor
Korchnoi
whose family was held hostage inside the USSR. This dirty deal
disgusted Fischer. -
THIS CRAZY WORLD OF CHESS by GM Larry Evans (page 13)
Kenneth Sloan wrote:
Quadibloc wrote:
On Apr 22, 7:25 pm, Kenneth Sloan wrote:
Quadibloc wrote:
I wasn't trying to get *personal*. I didn't think that the need to
book a hall for a fixed amount of time was irrelevant to having to
arrange the World Championship match so that it takes a fixed amount
of time - and thus involves a fixed number of games.
Not at all. Simply change the time controls so that each game takes no
longer than HALF the amount of time left until the end of the hall
rental. Disciplined use of this strategy will allow you to play an
unlimted number of games.
For human chess players to move pieces, and then punch the chess
clock, in subnanosecond time intervals is not feasible. Hence, Zeno
cannot be our guide in this, and a chess tournament cannot be allowed
to become a supertask.
John Savard
The mathematician and the engineer consider Zeno's Paradox.
The mathematician knows that it can't be done.
The engineer knows that he'll get close enough.
--
Kenneth Sloan
Computer and Information Sciences +1-205-932-2213
University of Alabama at Birmingham FAX +1-205-934-5473
Birmingham, AL 35294-1170 http://KennethRSloan.com/