Kasparov gives interesting assessment of FIDE KO Championships

Garry Kasparov who just won a highly-anticipated match with Vladimir Kramnik, gave his candid assessment on the FIDE Championships.  In an exclusive interview on December 13th, the world's highest rated player commented on the format, the quality of the games, and gave his assessment of individual players. Also included in the article is an analysis of the decisive game in the Anand-Ivanchuk match. He stated that the games may have been affected by the time control and that the Topolov-Shirov match was worthy of a championship. Asked for a prediction of the final, Kasparov stated,

"I would put it this way: Ponomariov demonstrates a stable 2700 level rating. Ivanchuk can play either as a 2800 or sometimes as a 2600 player. A lot will depend on his form. In my opinion the odds are 55:45 in Ivanchuk's favor."

Posted by The Chess Drum: 17 December 2001