Aryeh Davidoff:
Yesterday I received the following text from Lev Khariton:

Recently my attention was drawn by the thread "Kasparov, God's Son?!"
authored by my associate Mr.Davidoff", namely by his phrase "...Born
from a Jewish father and an Armenian mother, he changed his name from
Weinstein to Kasparov ..."
Mr.Davidoff's non-committal phrase caused a burst of outrage in
Mr.Holsztynski posting. Here I allow myself to quote him: "This is a
lie. Kasparov didn't change his name.The Soviet authorities did, when
he was a child,because they didn't want to deal with another World
Chess Champion who had a Jewish name. This inhuman Soviet act had to
traumatize a child, who lost his father at a tender age,it had to have
a profound, difficult impact on his psychology, on his character, it
taught him ugly things about the society and power.
I agree with Mr.Holsztynski in one respect. Really, changing his name
taught the young chess player many ugly things about the society and
power, something that we witness in him today.
Maybe, I would not comment on Mr.Holsztynsky's words, if I did not in
the past correspond with him and I have all the respect for his
talented pen and outstanding mind.However, it should be stated with
ample clarity that the Soviet authorities did not display any
initiative in changing Garik's family name. The idea came from inside
the family, namely from his mother (who seems to be a member of his
team even when he plays with computer programs!), Garik's great
teacher Mikhail Botvinnik and his first coach Alexander Nikitin.
The convincing testimony of what accompanied the episode "Garik
changing his name"
can be found in Nikitin's book "Kasparov" (Echecs Payot, 1994). I
bought the French edition of this book in Paris about 8 years ago, and
this what I found at pages 28-29.I will cite the French text and give
my rough-and-ready translation:

"Ce petit tournoi des jeunes sociйtaires du Spartak
prйsenta la particularitй d'etre la derniиre
compйtition disputйe par Garri Vainstein. Les gens
changent de nationalitй, les sportifs de club, mais ses
camarades de classe, lorsqu'ils reprirent les cours вpres les
vacances d'йtй, apprirent que " leur " Garik portait
dйsormais le nom de famille de Kasparov. Changer le nom est un
processus dйlicat. Frйquent chez les femmes, ils se
produit rarement chez les hommes, et gйnйralement parce
qu'ils u sont contraints et forcйs. C'est la mиre de Garik
quit dut se charger pratiquement seule de toutes les dйmarches
pour faire aboutir les formalitйs juridiques. Elle est surtout
la lourde tache de convaincre tous ses parents et ses proches du
bien-fondй de cette dйcision. Et Klara dut endurer bien
des heures de souffrances, verser bien des larmes вpres les
conversations avec la famille de son mari depuis longtemps disparu.
Le grand-pиre tant aime, Lйonide Moissevitch, en fut
particuliиrement affecte. " C'est absolument necessaire,Liona,
essayais-je de le convaincre.Personne ne le laissera oublier son pere.
" Liona se taisait en nous regardant d'un air comprйhensif mais
sombre. Il savait qu'un au plus tфt, avec l'accord de Botvinnik,
j'avais commencй l'offensive auprиs de la mиre de
Garri afin de la convaincre de la nйcessitй pour son fils
de changer son nom. Il prendrais celui de la mиre, qu'elle avait
d'ailleurs gardй вpres son mariage. Des le dйbut, j
"n'ai jamais doute de l'avenir brillant qui attendait le garзon.
Pour avoir travaille au Comitй des sports, je savais quelles
indescriptibles difficultйs, indйpendantes des
йchecs, allaient se dresser devant ce jeune homme au "mauvais"
nom de famille tout au long de l'eclosion de son talent,
particuliиrement lorsqu'il arriverait au seuil du haut niveau. A
cette etape-la on peut encore freiner, votre briser la carriиre
de quelqu'un sans attirer beaucoup l'attention ni susciter trop de
discussions. Le temps poussait prйcisйment Garik ver le
seuil. Il fallait se hвter tant que ses succиs
n'interessaient que ses proches et que d'autres noms de joueurs
йmaillaient les pages des journaux. Nous faillоmes bien
laisser йchapper le bon moment. Des novembre, le garзon
remportait la coupe seniors de Bakou en surclassant tous les
maоtres. Quelque deux mois plus tard, Garri Kasparov devenait le
plus jeune champion juniors de toute l'histoire des йchec
soviйtiques. On commenзa a parler de cette etoile montante
dans les mйdias. Les amateurs d'echecs du monde entier
s'habituerent trиs vite a ce nom sans savoir eu connaissance
des dйtails de l'affaire.
La vie s'est chargйe de confirmer que mes craintes eteaient
fondйes et que cette dйcision difficile s'imposait. ON a
beaucoup parle depuis de l'antisemitisme qui sйvissait chez
nous, tout particuliиrement dans les antichambres du pouvoir. Je
suis convaincu que Garri Vainstein ne serait jamais parvenu jusqu'au
match pour le titre de champion du monde contre Anatoli Karpov, ni en
1984, ni en 1987. On lui aurait brise les reins en cours de route.
Pour ces affaires-la, le systиme soviйtique йtait
trиs au point.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(English translation)
"This small team tournament of the Spartak club was the last one in
which a player named Garri Veinsten participated. People change their
nationality, sportsmen change their clubs, but Garik's class-mates as
soon as they were back to school after summer vacations, learned that
"their" Garik from now on had another family name: Kasparov. Changing
one's family name is a complicated procedure. Women do that more
often, while men resort to it quite seldom and that happens when
generally they are obliged to do so. It was Garik's mother who was
practically in charge of all legal procedures to change her son's
family name. What was most burdensome, she faced the difficult task of
convincing all the relatives and close friends of the necessity of
this decision. Klara had to take many hours of suffering, she had to
shed tears after the conversations with her late husband's family, her
husband who had passed away quite a long while before.
Garik's grandfather, the most beloved of the family, Leonid
Moissevich, was particularly affected by the change of his grandson's
family name. "This is absolutely necessary, Liona, - I was trying to
convince him. - No one will allow Garik to forget his father". Liona
was silent looking at us with understanding but gloomy eyes. He knew
that some time before I had, with the advice of Botvinnik, made steps
to convince Garik's mother of the necessity for her son to change his
family name.He was to take his mother' family name which she had kept
even after her marriage.From the very start I never doubted that a
brilliant future was awaiting the boy.
Working in the Sports Committee I knew what insurmountable
difficulties were awaiting the young chess player with a "bad" name:
his talent could be buried before he could to top level. And at his
stage of chess development it was still easy to stop his progress and
break up his career without attracting too much attention. However,
Time was pushing Garik to the very top. It was necessary to speed up
his progress before the names of other young players filled up the
pages of chess magazines.. We could not allow ourseves to lose the
right moment.In nOvember he won the Cup of Baku, and two months later
he became World Junior Champion, the youngest Soviet Junior
Champion.The media started mentioning the rising chess star. Chess
fans all over the world were getting used to this name without knowing
the details of the "changing name" story. .
Life proved that my fears were well rounded and this difficult
decision was necessary. There was much talk about anti-Semitism in the
Soviet Union,especially in the corridors of power. I am convinced that
Garri Veinstein would have never played a match for the world title
against Anatoly Karpov, neither in 1984 nor in 1987.He would have
been stopped in the middle of the road. The Soviet system knew how to
it very well."

Sorry; Mr.Nikitin, I am sure that Garri would have played a match with
Karpov anyway, whether being Veinstein or Kasparov. True, Jews were
discriminated in many ways in the Soviet Union. Under Stalin they were
deported and killed. But Jewish chess players were always enjoying the
position of the elite in Soviet society. Did anyone prevent Botvinnik
from becoming World Champion. What about such great Jewish players as
Bronstein and Tal? Do you want more names? Boleslavsky, Geller, Stein
to mention only few... From the very outset you were teaching Kasparov
how to change names, friends, principles. How to destroy! Finally he
destroyed FIDE and the World championship cycle, today with his
matches versus computers he destroys the image of the great game.
Suffice it to play over the moves of his match with Fritz. Did anyone
like the 4th game of the match? Or Kasparov's blunder in the 2nd game?
Or the computer's apparently weak play (I would not give more than
1900 Elo!) in the 3rd game? But it all started a long time ago, when
you, Botvinnik and Garri's mother changed his name....

(Aryeh Davidoff) wrote in message . com...
Aryeh Davidoff:
Yesterday I received the following text from Lev Khariton:


[...] Mr.Nikitin, [...]
you, Botvinnik and Garri's mother changed his name....

It makes no sense. Why suddenly Michail Moiseyevich
Botvinnik would would be concerned with such an issue
on his own, why would he suggest or insist that Garrik's
name would be changed to a non-Jewish name?

Knowing the Soviet ways it is obvious that the decision
was made elsewhere, that Botvinnik was only informed
about it and used to smooth the whole thing. He was
something like a consultant to Garrik's mother. I suppose
that he told her: Klara, have some common sense, don't fight
them, it's not worth it. (I don't know much about Nikitin,
but most likely he was just a pawn in this game, a pawn
in someone's hard hand).

There is simply no way that Botvinnik would initiate
such an improper act, offending the memory of the dead
Gary's father, victimiziing a man after his death.
After all, didn't Botvinnik have a lot of other, more
natural things to think about? How could it occur to him?
Someone had to tell him: hey, Michail Moisejevich, you are
a good man, why don't you help this somewhat awkward case,
show them "light".

Regards,

Wlod

(Wlodzimierz Holsztynski) wrote in message . com...
(Aryeh Davidoff) wrote in message . com...
Aryeh Davidoff:
Yesterday I received the following text from Lev Khariton:


[...] Mr.Nikitin, [...]
you, Botvinnik and Garri's mother changed his name....

It makes no sense. Why suddenly Michail Moiseyevich
Botvinnik would would be concerned with such an issue
on his own, why would he suggest or insist that Garrik's
name would be changed to a non-Jewish name?

Knowing the Soviet ways it is obvious that the decision
was made elsewhere, that Botvinnik was only informed
about it and used to smooth the whole thing. He was
something like a consultant to Garrik's mother. I suppose
that he told her: Klara, have some common sense, don't fight
them, it's not worth it. (I don't know much about Nikitin,
but most likely he was just a pawn in this game, a pawn
in someone's hard hand).

There is simply no way that Botvinnik would initiate
such an improper act, offending the memory of the dead
Gary's father, victimiziing a man after his death.
After all, didn't Botvinnik have a lot of other, more
natural things to think about? How could it occur to him?
Someone had to tell him: hey, Michail Moisejevich, you are
a good man, why don't you help this somewhat awkward case,
show them "light".

Regards,

Wlod

To begin with, Botvinnik was not an easy nut to crack. Nobody could
influence him. When almost all Soviet grandmasters signed the
notoriousletter against Korchnoi in 1976 after his defection to the
West, Botvinnik did not sugn this letter. Even Botvinnik's letter to
Stalin in 1936 was not Botvinnik's initiative, but at that time he had
no choice: to save himself and his wife, he had to sign that letter to
the "great teacher".
Most importantly, if you believe that the idea to change Garik's
family name came to someone in high places, the question is whe
Brezhnev? But why did the old moron have to bother himself with Garik,
when he had Karpov and he was quite happy about having the "real"
Russian champion? May be, the idea to change the name came to Aliev,
but at that time he was working in Moscow together with Brezhnev, and
he did not care about Garik and chess.
The thing is that Botvinnik, Klara, Nikitin, well whoever lived in the
SOviet Union, were always feeling uneasy about be Jews, they suffered
from a ceratin complex and they knew that regardless of the situation,
it was better to have a non-Jewish name.And that happened to many
people with Jewish names. Whenever they had a chance, they preferred
any other name but Jewish! I think that the main idea Lev Khariton
wanted to express that this episode, when Garik, most likely without
being asked, changed his family name, affected him badly. He was just
a boy of 12, and such things are for ever engraved in the memory, and
later affect the personality.
It is also wrong to think that Garik was the last of Botvinnik's
worries. Since the moment Botvinnik met him, he gave him all his heart
and time.He suffered very much when Kasparov accused him of being a
stalinist, a communist. This is how Kasparov expressed his gratitude
to the teacher. And changing the name played a role in that! I think
Botvinnik until his last hour was feeling very down when he was
thinking about his ungrateful pupil.


Aryeh Davidoff

You just don't go around changing orphans' names.
Botvinnik could had been concerned with Garik's
Ruy Lopez but the "bright" idea of unJewing
Gary's name was born in a Soviet KGB-propaganda
bureaucratic head, that's how they were progressing
in their careers, that's how they were important.

Once this "wonderful" idea was conceived they
went to Botvinnik. They didn't have to "crack"
Botvinnik. They simply had assured Biotvinnik that
the young boy will have no future under his Weinstein
name. Thus, under these ugly circumstances,
Botvinnik did what he considered the best for Gary.
He had explained the situation to gary's mother.
But no, it was certaqinly not a scenario created
by Botvinnik. Why? Till then Jewish players were
managing to progress as chess players. The things
changed to the worse when Spasski lost to Fischer
and the Rssian hope, Karpov, showed up. He almost
succeeded in cancellation of the Smyslov's and
Kasparov's candidate matches.

(Aryeh Davidoff) wrote in message . com...

(Wlodzimierz Holsztynski) wrote in message . com...

(Aryeh Davidoff) wrote in message . com...

Aryeh Davidoff:
Yesterday I received the following text from Lev Khariton:


[...] Mr.Nikitin, [...]
you, Botvinnik and Garri's mother changed his name....

It makes no sense. Why suddenly Michail Moiseyevich
Botvinnik would would be concerned with such an issue
on his own, why would he suggest or insist that Garrik's
name would be changed to a non-Jewish name?

Knowing the Soviet ways it is obvious that the decision
was made elsewhere, that Botvinnik was only informed
about it and used to smooth the whole thing. He was
something like a consultant to Garrik's mother. I suppose
that he told her: Klara, have some common sense, don't fight
them, it's not worth it. (I don't know much about Nikitin,
but most likely he was just a pawn in this game, a pawn
in someone's hard hand).

There is simply no way that Botvinnik would initiate
such an improper act, offending the memory of the dead
Gary's father, victimiziing a man after his death.
After all, didn't Botvinnik have a lot of other, more
natural things to think about? How could it occur to him?
Someone had to tell him: hey, Michail Moisejevich, you are
a good man, why don't you help this somewhat awkward case,
show them "light".

Regards,

Wlod

[...] When almost all Soviet grandmasters signed the
notoriousletter against Korchnoi in 1976 after his
defection to the West, Botvinnik did not sugn this letter.

Thus we see that Botvinnik was not likely to initiate
changing Gary's name to another (to a nonJewish name).

Most importantly, if you believe that the idea to change Garik's
family name came to someone in high places, the question is whe
Brezhnev? [...]

Don't be silly, don't make the discussion for both of us.
Soviets had people who indeed had nothing better to do
then to be busy with propafganda, etc.

(For instance Soviets went to a great length to make
sure that their first man in cosmos was a "pure bred
Russian", that his background was workers/kolhozniks,
rather than inteligencja, etc).



Aryeh Davidoff

Wlod

PS. It's years since Botvinnik is dead.
It is not nice to make up ugly stories
about him just to put down Kasparov.

(Wlodzimierz Holsztynski) wrote in message . com...
You just don't go around changing orphans' names.
Botvinnik could had been concerned with Garik's
Ruy Lopez but the "bright" idea of unJewing
Gary's name was born in a Soviet KGB-propaganda
bureaucratic head, that's how they were progressing
in their careers, that's how they were important.

Once this "wonderful" idea was conceived they
went to Botvinnik. They didn't have to "crack"
Botvinnik. They simply had assured Biotvinnik that
the young boy will have no future under his Weinstein
name. Thus, under these ugly circumstances,
Botvinnik did what he considered the best for Gary.
He had explained the situation to gary's mother.
But no, it was certaqinly not a scenario created
by Botvinnik. Why? Till then Jewish players were
managing to progress as chess players. The things
changed to the worse when Spasski lost to Fischer
and the Rssian hope, Karpov, showed up. He almost
succeeded in cancellation of the Smyslov's and
Kasparov's candidate matches.

(Aryeh Davidoff) wrote in message . com...

(Wlodzimierz Holsztynski) wrote in message . com...

(Aryeh Davidoff) wrote in message . com...

Aryeh Davidoff:
Yesterday I received the following text from Lev Khariton:


[...] Mr.Nikitin, [...]
you, Botvinnik and Garri's mother changed his name....

It makes no sense. Why suddenly Michail Moiseyevich
Botvinnik would would be concerned with such an issue
on his own, why would he suggest or insist that Garrik's
name would be changed to a non-Jewish name?

Knowing the Soviet ways it is obvious that the decision
was made elsewhere, that Botvinnik was only informed
about it and used to smooth the whole thing. He was
something like a consultant to Garrik's mother. I suppose
that he told her: Klara, have some common sense, don't fight
them, it's not worth it. (I don't know much about Nikitin,
but most likely he was just a pawn in this game, a pawn
in someone's hard hand).

There is simply no way that Botvinnik would initiate
such an improper act, offending the memory of the dead
Gary's father, victimiziing a man after his death.
After all, didn't Botvinnik have a lot of other, more
natural things to think about? How could it occur to him?
Someone had to tell him: hey, Michail Moisejevich, you are
a good man, why don't you help this somewhat awkward case,
show them "light".

Regards,

Wlod

[...] When almost all Soviet grandmasters signed the
notoriousletter against Korchnoi in 1976 after his
defection to the West, Botvinnik did not sugn this letter.

Thus we see that Botvinnik was not likely to initiate
changing Gary's name to another (to a nonJewish name).

Most importantly, if you believe that the idea to change Garik's
family name came to someone in high places, the question is whe
Brezhnev? [...]

Don't be silly, don't make the discussion for both of us.
Soviets had people who indeed had nothing better to do
then to be busy with propafganda, etc.

(For instance Soviets went to a great length to make
sure that their first man in cosmos was a "pure bred
Russian", that his background was workers/kolhozniks,
rather than inteligencja, etc).



Aryeh Davidoff

Wlod

PS. It's years since Botvinnik is dead.
It is not nice to make up ugly stories
about him just to put down Kasparov.

Dear Mr.Holszinsky,
Please use some common sense! You write:Once this "wonderful" idea was
conceived they went to Botvinnik. They didn't have to "crack"
Botvinnik. They simply had assured Botvinnik that the young boy will
have no future under his Weinstein. My question is: whom do you mean
by "they"?? Authorities, or KGB people? But they were all interested
to see Karpov on the chess throne - you admit it yourself. Why were
they to propel Garri to the chess throne, when everyone knew his
origins, knew that he was Veinstein etc.? Karpov suited everybody very
well. And Garri, even with the new family name of Kasparov could only
be a nuisance to those in high places!
And where did you find "ugly words" about Botvinnik? When Botvinnik
was trying to help Garri's family name, he naively hoped to help him.
And of course he could not imagine that in future this "trick" would
affect Kasparov's personalty for the worse. As simple as that! Lev
Khariton and I lived in Moscow and saw what was happening, so to say,
"in the flesh", your evaluations seem to be a bit ephemeric or even
far-fetched, and proceed from hearsay. They lack, what psychologists
call, "felt experience".But this is only the trouble with people who
judge from afar.
Aryeh Davidoff

"Aryeh Davidoff" wrote in message
om...

And where did you find "ugly words" about Botvinnik? When Botvinnik
was trying to help Garri's family name, he naively hoped to help him.
And of course he could not imagine that in future this "trick" would
affect Kasparov's personalty for the worse. As simple as that! Lev
Khariton and I lived in Moscow and saw what was happening, so to say,
"in the flesh", your evaluations seem to be a bit ephemeric or even
far-fetched, and proceed from hearsay. They lack, what psychologists
call, "felt experience".But this is only the trouble with people who
judge from afar.

OK, were you an eyewitness how Garrik changed his name ? You`ve claimed it
was his decision but I doubt it was his decision. Why ? He was too young to
make such a decision. Surely his mother made it for him. Ask her why she did
it. And for sure it`s not an argument against Garrik or against his attitude
toward religions.
You pretend to know everything better about the life of Kasparov`s family
than Garrik himself and his realtives or friends. It`s really pathetic.


Aryeh Davidoff

As usual double regards for you two,
Jerzy

Wlodzimierz Holsztynski wrote (2003-11-16 05:32:58 PST):
Kasparov didn't change his name. The Soviet authorities
did, when he was a child

Bob Lablaw wrote (2003-11-17 13:55:03 PST):
Can you say where you've read this?

Wlodzimierz Holsztynski wrote (2003-11-17 19:56:48 PST):
My copies of Kasparov's autobiographical books
are about 5000km away from me, as well as almost
all my books. I simply read. I am not an historian,
not even a reporter/journalist, so I cannot provide
a source at this time. I hope that someone *knowledgeable
will step forward. This is a well known item.
I am sure that I have read about it in the past from
more than one source.


Bob Lablaw wrote (2003-11-18 02:00:04 PST):

So it was in the autobiography? Thanks, that's good
enough.

_
Can someone confirm what Kasparov's autobiography
actually says about the matter?

(Aryeh Davidoff) wrote in message . com...
Aryeh Davidoff:

Dear Mr.Holszinsky,

Dear Mr. Aryeh Davidoff,

A formal point: please, instead of typing in my name,
try "copy & paste". It is Holsztynski, not Holszinsky.

Now back to the meritum. We have already established
that Mr. Khariton's phrase about GK changing his name
was improper and false.

Now yuo and Mr. K make a claim that it was done
mainly by Botvinnik, which is an utter nonsense.
Let's compare the two possibilities:
it was done by:

(1) Soviet KGB/dptm of propaganda (or whatever);

(2) World Chess Champion Michail Moisieyevich Botvinnik.

End of discussion. It is obvious that the (1) is the case,
certainly not (2).

But for the last time I will humor you, I will address
some of your points. You make a refersnce to the "logic"
of KGB. There is no such simple thing. It was a huge institution,
where even at the top levels there were many people involved,
who tried to preserve or promote their career. The policy
of KGB in some respects could change over the night. It's
anti-Jewish attitude was constant but the methods and means
varied in time (KGB was also against any expression of ethnicity,
for instance against Ukrainian, etc).

You are saying that because of Karpov the Soviet authorities
had no business in nurturing any new, world championship
caliber talent. That's a "fantastic" argument. Kasparov was
12 years younger than Karpov. Soviets certainly wanted another
world champion 12 years after Karpov's peak. They just didn't
predict that things will happen so fast. And they needed
to have a strong representation also for other occasions,
not just for the top title. There were other prestigous titles
important to the Soviet chess domination, which was no more
granted. There were all kind of championships for youngsters:
junior, student... And there were Chess Olimpiads. One more
world class chess player was important to Soviets when West
already had Fischer, Larsen, and more was potentially coming.

It is clear from what Mr. Khariton has written that the
Garrik family opposition to the name change was very strong.
This explains why Soviet authorities had involved Botvinnik.

Somehow you failed to note that the name was not changed to
Gary's mother Armenian name Kasparian but to a "Russian"
(russified) name Kasparov.

(I am sorry to note that you have also written some
prejudiced, misleading and false generalizations. I'll
skip that part, will not address it).

I find the way you abuse facts to disparage Kasparov's
character and Botvinnik, and the way you have twisted what
I have written, unethical.

To me this is the end of this discussion.

Regards,

Wlod

Subject: Aryeh Davidoff: Lev Khariton -Kasparov or Veinstein, What's the
Difference?
From: (Louis Blair)
Date: 11/20/03 11:20 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

Wlodzimierz Holsztynski wrote (2003-11-16 05:32:58 PST):
Kasparov didn't change his name. The Soviet authorities
did, when he was a child

Bob Lablaw wrote (2003-11-17 13:55:03 PST):
Can you say where you've read this?

Wlodzimierz Holsztynski wrote (2003-11-17 19:56:48 PST):
My copies of Kasparov's autobiographical books
are about 5000km away from me, as well as almost
all my books. I simply read. I am not an historian,
not even a reporter/journalist, so I cannot provide
a source at this time. I hope that someone *knowledgeable
will step forward. This is a well known item.
I am sure that I have read about it in the past from
more than one source.


Bob Lablaw wrote (2003-11-18 02:00:04 PST):

So it was in the autobiography? Thanks, that's good
enough.

_
Can someone confirm what Kasparov's autobiography
actually says about the matter?


From Kasparov's autobiography, "Unlimited Challenge", Chapter 1, A Boy from
Baku:
"Many people wonder why I changed my name from Weinstein to Kasparov. After my
father died I went to live with my mother's parents [Shagen Mosesovich Kasparov
and Susanna Bagdasarovna]. It seemed natural to use the name Kasparov,
particularly as they had three daughters and no son..."

George Mirijanian

"Miriling" wrote in message
...

So it was in the autobiography? Thanks, that's good
enough.

_
Can someone confirm what Kasparov's autobiography
actually says about the matter?


From Kasparov's autobiography, "Unlimited Challenge", Chapter 1, A Boy
from
Baku:
"Many people wonder why I changed my name from Weinstein to Kasparov.
After my
father died I went to live with my mother's parents [Shagen Mosesovich
Kasparov
and Susanna Bagdasarovna]. It seemed natural to use the name Kasparov,
particularly as they had three daughters and no son..."

Sounds simple and truly.

Regards,
Jerzy